Pregnant & Ghosted The CEO Begged Me Back

Chapter 37 When Illness Strikes

After returning from the cemetery, Adrian suddenly fell ill.

Illness struck like a mountain falling. At first, it was just a cough—he didn't pay it any mind. Then he started running a fever, and his stomach began to hurt. It got worse and worse. He was seriously ill, but he refused to take any medicine.

He knew it was Grandpa Arthur's punishment. He deserved it.

"Sir, you're running such a high fever. You can't just not go to the hospital and not take any medicine either. It's been three days. If you keep burning up like this, your body won't be able to take it," Mrs. Wright said anxiously, pacing in circles.

She wanted to call Willow, but Adrian had strictly forbidden it.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Was it Madam?!

Mrs. Wright rushed downstairs in surprise, only to see someone completely unexpected—the old master had arrived.

"Old master? What brings you here?" Mrs. Wright looked at Grandpa Ming's not-so-good complexion, sweating bullets. *What kind of chaos are you here to stir up?*

Catherine was supporting Grandpa Ming, desperately shooting Mrs. Wright meaningful looks.

Mrs. Wright: ???

Catherine: *You i***t!!!*

"Where's Adrian? What's he up to? He hasn't come to see me in so long, and he won't even answer my calls," Grandpa Ming said, looking furious as he walked through the door.

"Is he really that busy every day? He can't even take care of his own wife. What's going on with Little Willow? You'd better give me an explanation today!" Grandpa Ming sat down in the living room, leaning on his cane.

"Call Willow for me," Catherine whispered urgently to Mrs. Wright.

Mrs. Wright quickly called Sophie. As for Willow... she didn't dare call her. The sir had explicitly forbidden anyone from disturbing Madam—uh, *former* Madam.

"Old master, please calm down. The sir is ill," Mrs. Wright hurriedly brewed a cup of tea for Grandpa Ming.

"Ill? I think he's avoiding me! Today I'll make sure he has nowhere to hide!" Last night, Grandpa Ming had suddenly dreamed of Grandpa Arthur. He had just stared blankly at him, staring until cold sweat poured down his back, nearly thinking his old friend had come to take him away.

After waking up, his mind was uneasy, so he had rushed over to Adrian's place.

Grandpa Arthur must be blaming his grandson for not taking good care of Little Willow.

Back in the day, when the two of them were soldiers, if it hadn't been for Grandpa Arthur saving him, Grandpa Ming would have met the King of Hell long ago. How could he have the glory and riches of today? And Grandpa Arthur had never asked anything of him his whole life—except, while ill, to take care of his one and only granddaughter.

And this grandson of his, who had always seemed so reliable, had actually let Little Willow be the one to file for divorce. How did that happen!

Thinking of this, Grandpa Ming grew even more enraged, huffing and puffing. Unable to wait for Adrian to come down, he grabbed his cane and started up the stairs.

"Grandpa, what are you doing here?" Adrian came downstairs with a hoarse voice, looking truly unwell.

Catherine was behind Grandpa Ming, desperately signaling with her eyes.

Adrian came down anyway.

Catherine: *You're all idiots!!!*

"How did I come here? If I didn't come, Little Willow would be gone! Such a good wife and you couldn't even take care of her. You've truly wasted your life!" Looking at Adrian like this, Grandpa Ming couldn't even recognize him—eyes not looking like eyes, nose not looking like a nose.

"I told you to handle this properly. Have you handled it properly or not? Why hasn't Little Willow moved back in yet? How can you be so inefficient!" Grandpa Ming struck the floor fiercely with his cane, as if he wanted to pound a hole through it.

"It's handled," Adrian said in a low voice.

"Oh, wonderful. When is she moving back in?"

"We're divorced."

"WHAT!!!!!!" Catherine's soprano voice rang out.

Adrian's voice and Grandpa Ming's voice overlapped.

Silence. The living room was suddenly deathly silent.

"A-Yu, I'm old. What did he just say?" Grandpa Ming rubbed his ears, nearly going deaf. The shock had made him think he'd heard wrong. He turned to look at Catherine.

Catherine's eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open as if it could fit an egg.

"He said... what did he say?" Grandpa Ming grew more and more certain he might not have heard wrong.

"He said... they're divorced," Catherine repeated haltingly.

"Oh. He's divorced," Grandpa Ming nodded.

Good. Now he was certain. Last night, his old friend really had come to take him away.

"You beast! You're divorced! You actually got divorced!" Grandpa Ming exploded with rage. His eyes rolled back—he was really going to faint this time. It was real, because Grandpa Ming had just seen a flash of white light before his eyes, and he was certain it was the gates of heaven.

"Grandpa—" Adrian rushed to support Grandpa Ming, his brow tightly furrowed.

"Kneel! You animal!" Grandpa Ming's trembling hand pointed at Adrian.

Adrian lowered his head and obediently knelt.

"How did you promise me? You said you would take good care of Willow. And now you just say you're divorced? Grandpa Arthur has only been gone for how many years? I wouldn't have the face to see him even if I died!" Grandpa Ming gasped for breath.

"You go find Little Willow right now. Get remarried. Immediately!" Grandpa Ming said, following his own anger.

Adrian kept his head down and said nothing.

"Willow doesn't have any family left in this world. She only has us. And now, you... well done, you," Grandpa Ming looked at Adrian's lack of action, grief and rage surging through him.

He raised his cane and struck Adrian with it.

"Old master, old master, you can't hit him!" Mrs. Wright hurriedly tried to stop him. The old master's cane was solid, heavy wood!

"Dad! Dad!" Catherine snapped back to reality and rushed to grab Grandpa Ming's arm.

"Let go of me!" Grandpa Ming shook Catherine off.

"I told you to win Willow back, and what did you do? You went straight to divorce? Do you have someone else outside? Huh?" Grandpa Ming squinted as he scrutinized Adrian.

"No," Adrian gritted his teeth.

"No? Then why did you divorce Willow? Such a good girl—once this village is past, there's no more temple!" Grandpa Ming shouted until he was dizzy.

"It's a done deal," Adrian said, concise and to the point.

Perfect. Those four words once again ignited Grandpa Ming.

He raised his cane and struck Adrian's back again and again, hard.

"No, the sir is still ill!" Mrs. Wright said anxiously.

"You can't even keep your own wife. Are you even a man?" Grandpa Ming put all his strength into it.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Mrs. Wright rushed to open the door.

It was Sophie.

The moment Sophie walked through the door, she saw her brother kneeling on the ground, being beaten by their grandpa.

"Grandpa, grandpa, if you beat him to death, you won't have a grandson anymore!" Sophie rushed forward to grab Grandpa Ming's arm.

"If I don't have a grandson, I still have a granddaughter. This animal is useless anyway," Grandpa Ming panted.

"Sophie, quickly call Willow," Catherine said, looking at her son like this, crying as she spoke to Sophie.

"Oh, oh, right, right," Sophie took out her phone.

"No one is allowed to call her!" Adrian roared.

Everyone present was startled by him.

"Without Willow, don't you come back either. Get out! Never come back!" Grandpa Ming's eyes were red too.

"Dad!" Catherine was anxious, spinning in circles.

Grandpa Ming was old after all. After just a few strikes, he was dizzy and seeing stars.

Just as he was leaning on his cane, resting and preparing to regroup...

Adrian suddenly coughed up a large mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

In the moment he lost consciousness, Adrian thought—this was his punishment.

It terrified everyone present.

Mrs. Wright quickly called for an ambulance. Sophie cried as she called Dr. Harrington.

And Catherine was supporting Grandpa Ming, afraid something might happen to him.

Everyone rushed to the hospital in a panic.

Dr. Harrington was already waiting at the hospital entrance. The doctors were all in position.

"How did it get this bad?" Dr. Harrington frowned, looking at Adrian lying unconscious in the ambulance.

"Waaah, I don't know either. Grandpa was hitting my brother, and then not long after I got there, he started coughing up blood. Mrs. Wright said he's had a fever and cough for the past two days, and stomach pain too," Sophie cried, completely at a loss.

"Don't cry, Sophie. I'm here. Don't worry. Take care of Grandpa," Dr. Harrington said, putting his arm around Sophie's shoulder to comfort her.

Sophie nodded.

The emergency room door stayed closed for a long time. Finally, Dr. Harrington came out.

"Don't worry. The main cause of the blood was a stomach hemorrhage. Right now, he's too weak and hasn't woken up yet. Let him rest properly," Dr. Harrington reassured everyone.

Knowing that Adrian was fine, Grandpa Ming finally let out a sigh of relief. In just a few short hours, he seemed to have aged several years.

He opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, just shook his head.

"A-Yu, take me back. Leave this to Sophie and Lucas," Grandpa Ming said.

Catherine nodded with red-rimmed eyes and helped Grandpa Ming leave.

"Waaah, is my brother going to die?" Sophie cried, asking Dr. Harrington.

"Silly girl, how could he? I said he's fine. Don't worry. Let him rest properly. Let's go to the room and keep him company," Dr. Harrington said.

Sophie nodded.

Walking into the room and looking at her brother's face, as pale as white paper, Sophie let out a sigh.

*If only he had known this day would come, why did he do it in the first place?*