Chapter 11

The photos from the private investigator made Sophia Laurent's lips curve slightly.

She had long noticed Emily Lowell's ambiguous behavior with the Lowell brothers. After severing ties, she immediately arranged surveillance.

Victoria Lowell always praised Emily as a proper lady from a noble family.

What would she think upon seeing these photos?

"Good work. Keep monitoring."

Sophia saved the photos and locked her phone screen.

The timing wasn't right yet. These pieces of evidence needed to wait.

After sending Oliver Granger back to Pearl Group, she headed straight to the sanatorium.

The Valdemar family affairs were complicated. After the wedding, everyone became occupied.

When she left Alexander Valdemar's hospital room to meet shareholders that day, no one even questioned her whereabouts.

Henry Chamberlain, Alexander's secretary, had called to show her the marital home, but she declined citing work commitments.

With the company just taken over, she simply stayed at the office.

Now that the bidding was over, she could finally visit Alexander and inquire about the chief physician's schedule.

The Valdemar Sanatorium had a tranquil environment with tight security.

Surprisingly, the guards let her through without question.

Pushing open the hospital room door, only the hum of medical equipment broke the silence.

The afternoon sun was blocked by heavy curtains.

Sophia yanked them open.

The blood-red sunset illuminated the entire sky, instantly brightening the room.

She stretched her neck and approached the bed.

Alexander remained as she first saw him - encased in plaster, tubes everywhere.

His pale face, the only visible part, was breathtakingly handsome.

Dragging a chair over, Sophia sat and stared at his thick lashes.

"Alexander, can you hear me?"

No response.

She sighed. "If anything happens to you, all that hard-earned empire will benefit others."

The man on the bed didn't move.

Sophia remembered the cold, decisive Valdemar patriarch from before.

Ruthless in business, unapproachable at parties.

Countless socialites pursued him, yet none could get within three feet.

Now this unattainable flower lay quietly in a hospital bed.

Almost unconsciously, she poked his cheek.

Snapping back to reality, she quickly withdrew her hand.

Turning, she met a security guard's shocked gaze at the door.

Sophia: "..."

She expected surveillance, but not this blatant.

Defiantly, she glared back.

The guard averted his eyes.

Embarrassment fading, she poked Alexander's cheek again.

"Alexander, if you don't wake up, the Valdemars will undergo drastic changes."

Pre-marriage investigations showed Alexander's situation was worse than hers.

At least the Lowells occasionally remembered familial bonds.

Except for Patriarch Valdemar, the entire family saw Alexander as a thorn in their side.

"I heard the Patriarch consulted a master at Red Leaf Temple, who said my birth chart could bring healing..."

Sophia relayed what she'd heard from Richard Lowell.

"Resorting to metaphysics - does that mean modern medicine has failed you?"

Her eyes suddenly brightened.

"Let's make a deal. Can I borrow Dr. Whitmore? It's not like you're using him now."

Seeing no reaction, she started counting: "One, two, three—"

"Silence means consent."

"Alexander, you're such a good man."

She adjusted his blanket and stood, missing the faint twitch of his finger.

As Mrs. Valdemar, Dr. Whitmore received her promptly.

The world-renowned neuroscientist had created numerous medical miracles.

Only Patriarch Valdemar could have secured his services.

Hearing Alexander's prognosis tightened Sophia's chest.

Even for a stranger, the slim chance of a vegetative patient awakening was suffocating.

"Dr. Whitmore, could you treat another patient?"

He said Patriarch Valdemar's approval was needed.

After thanking him, Sophia headed straight for the Patriarch's room.