"You're up, thank goodness. You've been in and out of the hospital more times Lately than in the past twenty years.”

Ariana offered a weak smile, but before she could respond, Sarah cut her off, a bit disgruntled.

"You know what? It took a while for Theodore to finally agree to Let us visit you."

“What? What do you mean ‘finally'?" Ariana asked, puzzled.

Sarah rolled her eyes, a mix of amusement and annoyance on her face “While you were out, Theodore had guards all over your room. No one could get close. We tried to visit you multiple times, to no avail. I even attempted a window entrance, but his guards found me and showed me the door."

Sonia jumped in, “And when you were kidnapped, he went crazy. The man practically turned Eleymond upside down Looking for you."

Ariana was at a loss for words, but a warm feeling spread through her chest.

“It's still hard to believe that Jasper could do such a thing. It's terrifying," Sarah admitted, starting to peel an apple for Ariana.

Sonia seethed, “We all didn't expect him to pull off a kidnapping. With the Anderson building locked down, I wonder where he got the connections to commit such a horrible act."

“The Anderson building is locked down?" Ariana's brows shot up. It seemed she had missed quite a bit.

“Yeah," Sarah confirmed, but then looked thoughtful.

“But, you know, Theodore seems unaffected by the bankruptcy. He still frequents the Mercy Hospital Like he owns the place.”

Ariana furrowed her brows, deep in thought. She used to believe that Theodore's free access to the Mercy Hospital was due to his ties with the Andersons. But now, it seemed he had other connections with the hospital. And Adrian was the one who helped him unseat Darian from the director's position. He was also the CEO of BRD Group. Could it be that Theodore also had ties to the BRD Group?

Sonia broke into her thoughts with a smirk.

“Maybe he’s got some secret CEO life like in those novels."

Her words were meant in jest, but Ariana felt a jolt of realization.

Was it true? Theodore’s power reached far beyond Anderson Group, enough to secure a place in Eleymond's high society.

After some more teasing, they switched topics.

"It's shocking that Brielle is gone too," Sarah said.

“Jasper was crazy, and it seemed to me that he had never really loved anyone.”