Chapter 572 Nightmarish Reality

That gentle yet reassuring voice snapped Christina out of her frenzied state instantly.

A warm pair of hands then reached out to hold her arms steady, and a familiar fragrant scent filled her nose. Her body instinctively went limp and fell into the man’s embrace.

Suddenly, the look on Christina’s face changed as she clutched at her tummy and panted in pain. “M–My tummy hurts, Nathaniel!”

She was so worried about Sharon’s safety that she ran all the way to the hospital, only to be hit by such shocking news upon arrival. The amount of physical and emotional stress placed on her body was too much for her to bear, and this was its way of giving her a warning.

Nathaniel tensed up the moment he heard that. He quickly scooped Christina into his arms and shouted in panic, “Get a doctor over here, Sebastian! Hurry up!”

Gideon froze as he watched Nathaniel and Sebastian run off in a hurry. It wasn’t until they were out of sight that he slumped weakly to the floor.

Oh, no... I think I might have messed up again...

With both Christina and Sharon in danger, even Nathaniel struggled to look after them.

It wasn’t clear how Julia and Charlie found out about it, but they had ended their vacation in advance and rushed over to the hospital.

Julia’s eyes reddened the moment she entered the ward and saw Nathaniel sitting next to Christina’s bed with a lifeless look on his face. “What happened, Nathaniel? How is Christina doing?”

Charlie wrapped an arm around Julia’s shoulder and said, “Maybe you should save the questions for later, Julia. I’m sure Nathaniel is worried sick about Christina right now. We can always ask them what happened when she wakes up.”

Julia nodded and wiped her tears off her face.

Charlie shot Nathaniel a glance and let out a sigh. “Nathaniel, your mother and I are going to pay Sharon a visit now. We’ll help look after her, so you just stay here with Christina. Don’t overwork yourself, or she’ll be upset when she wakes up.”

As Nathaniel did not respond, Charlie couldn’t tell if he had even heard what he said. Charlie then grabbed Julia by the hand and led her out of the ward.

Upon arriving at the floor where Sharon’s ward was, they saw a suspicious–looking man peeking inside.

“Who are you? What are you doing?” Julia yelled at the man, frightening him so much that he turned around and ran off immediately.

Julia was about to give chase, but Charlie stopped her and said, “Don’t bother chasing him. This hospital has surveillance cameras everywhere, so catching him won’t be a problem. I’ll have someone pull up the footage later. Right now, our main priority is to find Sharon’s doctor and ask him about her condition. We’re here to help Nathaniel and Christina relieve some of their burdens, not create more problems.”

Julia nodded obediently and did exactly as Charlie said.

Christina woke up from a nightmare shortly after Julia and Charlie left her ward.

Nathaniel kept calling out to her, but she simply sat there and stared blankly at the ceiling.

That drove Nathaniel’s anxiety levels through the roof. “Look at me, Christina! That was just a nightmare! Everything is all right!

Dreams are the opposite of reality, remember? Your mother’s surgery was a success. The doctor said she’s in no danger.”

Christina turned toward Nathaniel and stared blankly at him for a few seconds before snapping out of her dazed state.

“My mother is fine, right?” she asked anxiously while grabbing his hand.

“Yes, she’s fine,” Nathaniel reassured her.

As Christina yanked her blanket off and tried to jump out of bed, her gaze fell upon her tummy, and she quickly recalled the pain she felt earlier.

“My baby...” she sobbed while rubbing her tummy.

“The baby is fine. Hey, stop crying,” Nathaniel said.

Christina threw herself into his arms and wailed, “I’m sorry... I’m sorry I didn’t take good care of our baby... I had a dream where I lost my mother and my baby! I was so scared, Nathaniel!”

Nathaniel simply hugged her tightly and comforted her. He waited until she had fallen asleep before leaving the ward.

Sebastian, who was on standby outside the door, asked, “We have caught the person who hurt Ms. Zapler. Shall we hand her over to the police, Mr. Hadley?”

“Find a secluded spot and lock her up for the time being. We’ll let Christina deal with her when she’s emotionally stable. How is my mother–in–law doing?” Nathaniel replied coldly while massaging his aching forehead.

“Her condition is stable. If everything goes well, we should be able to transfer her to a regular ward by tonight. Your parents have arranged for the best doctors and nurses to look after her. Mr. Lucas and Ms. Camila are still unaware of the situation at the moment.” Sebastian replied.

Charlie and Julia had taken care of the kids before coming over to the hospital, and Christina had kept a tight lid on everything, so the kids were still in the dark about Christina’s condition.

Sebastian would not be able to handle those kids on his own, especially if they threw a tantrum.

“We mustn’t let them find out about this. Have some men watch over my mother–in–law in secret. Do not let Gideon anywhere near her. She does not want to see him,” Nathaniel ordered sternly.

Gideon was more or less responsible for Christina’s hospitalization, and Nathaniel wasn’t exactly known to be a forgiving person.

Those who hurt his loved ones would have to pay dearly for it, and Gideon was no exception.

However, Nathaniel also knew that Christina would likely prefer to resolve the matter herself.

“I understand,” Sebastian replied.

Having taken care of Christina and Sharon, it was time for Nathaniel to handle the problems at work. Nathaniel had dismissed the board of directors and rushed over to the hospital after receiving the call from his driver. That was not the first time he had done something like this, so it was only natural that the board of directors were not too happy with him.

As the board of directors were no pushovers, Nathaniel would have to provide them with a satisfactory explanation somehow.

As much as Sebastian would like to help Nathaniel out, there was only so much he could do as an assistant. Ultimately, it would be more effective if Nathaniel addressed the issue in person.

After all, no one in Hadley Corporation dared argue with him.

When Sebastian switched on the camera for the video conference and pointed it at Nathaniel, the directors, who were badmouthing him, all fell silent in an instant.

Nathaniel had a gloomy look on his face as he stared them down.

Percy Sutton, a chubby–looking man who claimed to be the second–in–command at Hadley Corporation was the first to speak up. “Mr. Hadley, the guys from Raveworks Enterprise said you stood Mr. Labarge up for no reason. Because of that, he has decided to collaborate with another company instead. This will result in a thirty percent cost increment for our project at the bay.”

The board of directors was in an uproar after hearing that.

Everyone was busy expressing their opinions on the matter.

Nathaniel simply let out a cold chuckle and suppressed their outrage by asking, “Who told you we can only have Raveworks Enterprise as our only supplier for the project?”