"You're sick, Caleb. You should be resting, not running around the hospital." He called his son before he started running away again, a little concerned with his current condition.
His son had a congenital heart defect since he was born. At a young age, his son had been in and out of the operating table. Recently, the doctors suggested another surgery. Hopefully, this would be the last one. Then, his son might never need a heart transplant and live just like the other normal kids in the future.
"And you know very well not to talk to strangers." Reprimanding his son, while wondering who Caleb was talking to, just before the elevator closed.
At first glance, he thought he saw someone he knew. But he didn't get a better look.
"Don't be stupid, Oliver." Of course, that couldn't be her. There was no way it was her. His mind was probably playing a trick on him again.
"Amelia, where are you hiding?" For years, he had looked for her.
After a thorough investigation, his men finally stumbled upon a lead. But just like the others, so far, it got him nowhere near finding her, her family, and their child.
Nobody could just disappear just like that. But with twenty million dollars, it was not impossible, remembering that she had taken his father's money.
If she didn't run away. If she hadn't broken her agreement with his father, then his son might be with him today. Caleb would have a brother.
From his estimate, they might be around the same age. Though his son with Amelia might be a couple of months older.
"Yeah, Caleb, you should listen to your Dad," Honey, the woman beside him, said. Her voice suddenly reminded him that she was still around.
Ever since he divorced Hazel, Caleb's mother, Dianne, his own mother had been playing Cupid again, trying to match him with the daughters of her friends.
Honestly, he had lost count of how many blind dates he had to endure just to get his mother off his back. Today, Honey just showed up at the hospital. No doubt sent again by his mother.
"Didn't your Dad teach you not to butt into other people's conversations?" Caleb scowled at the woman by his side, making it clear that he didn't like her.
"News flash, my son." He didn't like her either.
Still, he couldn't be rude. Besides, being the daughter of his mother's friend, Honey's father was also an important business associate. At least, he was giving her a few more minutes before he sent her on her way.
"Anyway, Dad, I think I found my Mom," Caleb announced excitedly. Too enthusiastically. Ignoring the woman beside him.
Almost all of the people on the floor turned to look at them as his son's eager voice reverberated in the hallway.
"Caleb, your Mom is in Milan. You couldn't have seen her here." He reminded his son, remembering that his ex was abroad, busy filming her latest movie.
"No, I'm not talking about Mom." Caleb looked at him as if his son had been the adult and he was the child.
But at that point, he was clueless.
"I found my new Mom. The one that I want you to marry." His son pointed to the closed elevator door. "Didn't you see her? She was just here earlier."
"Nope!" He didn't know what he saw. But at any rate, it didn't matter. "But whoever that was, I'm not marrying her."
Why were his mother and son obsessed with finding him a wife? If it had been up to him, he would have been just fine being single. A wife was just a complication, recalling how disastrous his marriage was with Hazel.
Because of Caleb, he was forced to marry Hazel so he could give his son a legitimate status as the next heir to the Morton Empire. But after a year, he divorced her, knowing that their marriage was a mistake.
At the end of the day, he decided that he just needed his sons. Caleb and his son with Amelia. No one else. Moreover, his sons didn't need mothers who were selfish and could only think of themselves.
"Why not? I'm sure you'll like her. She's beautiful, kind, and funny. She's perfect for our family." Caleb insisted as he slowly guided him back into his room in the children's ward.
Usually, Caleb didn't like mingling with strangers. His son might be a smart aleck, but he seldom talked to him about what he felt. Yet today, his son was exceptionally expressive as if he had suddenly become alive.
Admittedly, he liked this change in him.
Was it because of that woman? Who was she?
"Oliver, you're not seriously thinking of that woman?" Honey asked, seemingly jealous. Honestly, her presence was starting to become annoying.
"You know what, Honey, I just might ask her to marry me." Of course, it was just a ploy, but it was a good way of getting rid of his unwanted date. "So, I think it's only fair that I don't waste any more of your precious time on me."
"Ray, why don't you have the driver take Honey home?" He told his assistant. As expected, Honey tried to protest, but he had enough.
"While you..." He pointed to Caleb once he had put his son back in his bed. "... no more loitering around the hallways. Try to listen to Rosita and the nurses."
"I will only stay in this room and listen to all of them if you promise to marry my new Mommy Sophia," Caleb demanded, crossing his arms across his chest. "Unless you swear, I won't eat or drink my medicine."
"Hey, that's blackmail." But his son certainly knew what he was doing. By the look his son gave him, he meant what he said, and there was no changing his mind.
"Promise me."
Who was this Sophia that she had his son wrapped around her fingers?
"Okay, fine. I swear." He reluctantly agreed with his son. Although he was totally against it, he could never gamble with his son's life. His health and safety always came first.
Usually, his word was as good as a signed document. Still, he was not just going to let some woman into their lives without having her investigated. In the meantime, he had to pacify his son even if it meant lying to him.
Not a few minutes later, Ray returned with urgency.
"Don, we have a problem." His assistant whispered in his ear, detailing the situation, but ensuring that nobody else would hear their conversation.
"Okay, Champ." He tapped his son's head, slightly messing his hair in the process. "I'll step out for just a few minutes. Don't go running again."
Ray quickly led him back to the privacy of his car, where they could discuss the problem in more detail without being overheard.
"Put some men on that area, ensure that they secure the place for now." He knew that his solution was merely temporary, but it would have to be good for now, until he could come up with a more permanent one.
"I'll be on it right away, Sir." The man immediately made a call. "It's already done. Is there anything else, Don?" Ray asked as he put his phone down.
"Is there any update on Amelia's whereabouts?" He ran the biggest mafia in the country with connections all over the world, but he couldn't find one person.
It had been six years. How could she have just vanished into thin air? Disappear without a trace?
"I apologize, Don, but we are still working on the information."
It meant they still had nothing.
"Anyway, there is something else that I want you to do for me." He turned to his assistant. "Look into the incident in the elevator. Find out who that woman was that Caleb was talking to earlier."
Returning to the hospital, he could not help but stop at the entrance when he noticed a developing situation just a few meters from where he had been standing. He didn't know what caught his interest. But suddenly, he walked toward the two people who were locked in quite a heated argument.
"It's not his fault. You couldn't pin that on him." The woman, who had her back turned against him, reasoned with the tall man who loomed over her. Then, he noticed a helpless, elderly man who cowered down behind her.
"It was his fault. He scratched my car. He should pay for the damages." The man insisted. "If he could not pay, I would send him to jail." Threatening the old man with his menacing presence.
"I saw everything." The woman didn't back down from the fight. "If anyone should pay, it's you. You are the one who bumped into his car. So, if anyone was going to jail, it's you."
The woman stood her ground, refusing to be bullied by the more dominating man.
For an unknown reason, he couldn't look away from the scene as he watched everything unfold. He just stood nearby, clearly fascinated by this unknown woman.
When the man lost his temper and abruptly raised his hand with the intention of striking the woman. Unexpectedly, he stepped in and stopped him before his hand reached her face.
"That's no way to treat a lady." He put his body in front of her, shielding her from her attacker.
Damn! What was he doing? He had never acted impulsively like this, acting like the knight in shining armor for a damsel in distress.
Perhaps, it was just instinct.
"What the hell? What gave you the right to..." But the man's words faded as soon as his eyes landed on his face.
Who didn't know him?
"I... I didn't know that you knew Mr. Morton... Here is my contact number." The man immediately offered to pay for the damages and scurried away with his tail tucked between his legs.
"Don't worry. If he gives you any more problems, you call me." The woman assisted the man into his car until the old man drove away. Then, she turned to leave, running in the opposite direction, without giving him a second thought.
"Hey, wait!" He called to her.
"Don't expect a thank you because I didn't ask you to play the hero." She glanced at him but quickly looked away.
Wait! That woman. But she just continued running, leaving him confused and amused.