Not One, But Two!

Chapter 55

Abigail felt like she could no longer finish the food she was eating. What does Greg mean by that? Is he blaming me for not letting his mother meet his child? Abigail frowned as she felt her insides boiling with fire.

Greg had been spending quite some time with Abigail, so he could gauge her temper by then. He knew that she was about to get mad, so he quickly changed his tone to avoid conflict. "How about we do this? My mother hasn't met Arianna as she has been unwell recently. If I hadn't stopped my mom from coming to see her granddaughter, she would've probably run over with her arms wide open. I'm fine with you returning to Marona, but I was wondering if you could leave the kid here for a while. I'm not fighting for child custody—I just want my mother to enjoy some time as a grandmother. My mom was the one who brought me up while starting Global Inc., and it was really hard for her. After she found out about her granddaughter, she felt really guilty since she hadn't managed to complete her duties as a grandmother in the past five years. I promise I'll send the kid home once you say you miss her, okay?"

If Greg was honest, he couldn't recall talking to anyone else in such a tone. Abigail noticed it too. She could be a little self-centered, but she wasn't an unreasonable person. She was the one who wanted to give birth to the kids, and she was the one who made a move on Greg in the past. If they looked at the situation that way, then both Greg and Valerie were victims. They weren't wrong to ask to spend some time with Arianna.

Although Abigail was rather worried, she still nodded in the end. "I'll go home and ask Arianna about it. If she's okay, then I will respect her choice." Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

Greg curled his lips into a smile after seeing that she had loosened up a little. He knew that he had to use a gentler approach in order to change this woman's mind. "Thank you." This was the first time Greg had ever thanked anyone.

Abigail froze because she couldn't believe what Greg just said. "What are you thanking me for? Are you thanking me for letting my daughter stay, or are you thanking me for standing in front of a knife?"

"Both, I guess. You might have raped me five years ago, but you gave me such a huge surprise after five years. I'm willing to forget our past now that I have this adorable child around. Whenever you need me, I'll always be there," Greg offered.

Abigail knew that Greg was a man of his words. "Anything at all?" she asked playfully.

"Of course," he replied.

"What if I asked you to marry me?" Greg froze once he heard Abigail's words. He knitted his brows together instinctively, and Abigail immediately noticed the look on his face. "I was just joking. Why would I ever want to marry you?" She let out a chuckle before lowering her head to continue eating. However, the eyes beneath her thick lashes dimmed for a brief moment.

Maybe I'm only saying these things because I'm especially vulnerable after getting injured. How could he ever marry me? How could I ever get married to him? Abigail focused on getting rid of the awkward and uneasy feeling in her. "There's something that I'd like to tell you," she finally uttered in a soft voice.

"Hmm?"

"Actually, five years ago, I gave birth to—" Abigail was about to tell Greg that she had given birth to twins, but her phone rang before she could finish her sentence. "Hold on. Let me pick up this call." Abigail hurriedly walked out with her phone when she saw that it was a call from Hugh. Greg had sharp eyes, so he had seen Hugh's name the moment her phone rang. This made him rather angry. That man really doesn't know when to get lost. Does he want to be my daughter's stepfather? He'll have to ask for my permission first!

However, Abigail had no idea what Greg was thinking about. She brought her phone out of the ward and headed to a corner in the walkway, where she stopped in front of the window before picking the call up. "How's your injury? I hope there's no inflammation." Abigail was a doctor, so her first question naturally had to do with his health.

Hugh had been angry before that, but he seemed to calm down after hearing her first question. "Don't you know how strong I am? I'm doing fine. Don't worry."

"You shouldn't fool around with your life just because you're young. I won't always be around to save you in time." Abigail sighed. She simply couldn't understand the reason Hugh didn't value his own life. "I got it," Hugh replied. He had a warm, fuzzy feeling in his heart.

"How's Alissa?" Abigail asked.

"Yeah, I was just about to tell you about her," Hugh uttered in a deep voice.

"What happened to Alissa?" Abigail got nervous upon hearing his words.

"Calm down. She's fine. However, I won't be able to bring her back to Marona as I have other matters to handle. I have to go back to the headquarters for a while," he explained.

She heaved a sigh of relief after hearing his explanation. She was aware of Hugh's identity, but there were still things that she didn't know about. For example, she knew that Hugh was part of the Grey Territory, but she didn't know what sort of organization it was or how powerful they were. She was completely clueless about the location of his headquarters. Fortunately, she didn't care much about such matters.

"Alright. You can send Alissa over to me," she said after hearing that Hugh had other matters to handle. "I'll take care of her, and you can handle your matters."

Hugh felt rather uneasy all of a sudden. "Abbie…"

"Hmm? What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing much." Hugh intended to tell her the truth, but after the phone call he had just received, he was worried that he wouldn't be able to get out in one piece after he returned to the headquarters this time. He decided that he didn't want to drag Abigail down. "You can go to Kent if you need anything. He'll know how to handle things."

"I got it." Abigail was used to such occasions as Hugh had a tendency to disappear for a period of time each year. He had always returned safely in the past, so she wasn't too worried. Hugh didn't want to end the call, but he then heard Greg's voice on the other end of the line. "The food is getting cold, Abigail. You should eat now. Think about your stomach! Do you want to go to the emergency room again?" Greg had to admit that he was doing this on purpose. What sort of secret conversation is she having? Why does she have to go all the way to the corner just to talk?

The corner of Abigail's mouth twitched in annoyance. Can this guy be any more childish?

"Alright. You should go eat, then. You need to take care of your health." Although Hugh was unhappy about the situation, he still gave in as he cared about Abigail's health.

"Okay. Let me know the flight details for Alissa's flight back, okay?" she uttered.

"Got it." After that, Abigail ended the call and turned around, only to find Greg standing behind her. "What's this? Do you like eavesdropping on my phone calls?"

"Do I look like I'm eavesdropping? I'm just here to tell you to go back and eat your meal. Why did you have to go so far just to pick up a call? I'm not interested in listening to your couples' talk," he grumbled.

"That's true. I do prefer to have some privacy when talking about lovey-dovey stuff," she replied before walking away. Greg remained frozen in his spot. What? Were they really talking about lovey-dovey stuff? How shameless is that? "Look, Abigail. I don't care if you date someone, but I don't want you to affect my daughter," he hissed.

"How does dating someone affect your daughter? Are you sure you'll never date anyone?" she asked in return.

"I can do that!" Greg insisted. The moment the words left his mouth, Abigail stood still in her spot before turning around to give him a thoughtful gaze. He seemed to realize what he had just said, so he quickly changed his words. "At least I wouldn't allow other women to appear in front of my daughter," he muttered.

"Fine. Don't forget what you just said. I'll be watching you," Abigail replied casually before walking off. Did he just say that he won't allow other women to show up in front of his daughter? I'd like to see what happens when his girlfriend comes over to him.

However, Abigail didn't voice her thoughts, as she didn't want to sound like she was jealous. After both of them returned to the ward, they were still rather awkward and uneasy because of what just happened. Abigail cleared her throat before speaking. "There's something that I'd like to tell you," she said.

"I'm listening," he replied without looking up. This would've all been done if Hugh hadn't interrupted us, he thought to himself. However, when Abigail realized that Greg didn't seem too curious about what she wanted to say, she decided that she didn't want to tell him about it anymore. She wanted to see how he would react when he saw two Ariannas. "Forget it. I don't want to talk about it anymore," she told him.

"You—" Greg felt like he was constantly trying to guess what was going on in Abigail's mind. "Forget it. I'm going to visit my mother." He stood up and walked out of the room.

Abigail munched on her food a while more before she headed to Valerie's room as well.

The moment Greg entered the room, Valerie let out a laugh. "I heard you got beaten up by someone else, huh?"

"Who's the big-mouth who told you about this?" Greg was already rather frustrated when he had been in Abigail's ward, but his face turned even darker after his mother began teasing him. "The whole hospital knows about it. You were sitting on the bench in the corridor sulking like a young girl who was bullied, you know."

He felt even more annoyed. "I didn't want to get too petty with her!"

"Is that so? Since when did you have a rule of not hitting women? Furthermore, you have never been one to let those who have struck you on the face go so easily, if they even dared to hit you in the first place," Valerie argued.

"Well, she's Arianna's mom, isn't she? On top of that, she stood in front of a knife for me," he uttered. Abigail hadn't intended to eavesdrop on their conversation, but her body stiffened after she happened to hear their conversation. Did I really hit him that hard?

Valerie chuckled. "Yeah. Our family is indebted to Dr. Kain. She treated me to good health, and she gave birth to a precious little girl… All of that is hard work. You need to treat her well, you know?"

"I got it. Don't worry. I'll fight anyone who dares to bully either one of them." Greg's words left Abigail frozen in her spot. She knew that he probably said it for the sake of his daughter, but it still felt good to know that someone was watching out for her.

She quietly knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Valerie asked.

"It's me, Abigail."

Greg froze for a moment, but Valerie was glad to welcome her guest. "Come in."

When Abigail walked in, she was all professional. "How have you been feeling in the past two days, Old Madam Buckley?" She spoke while reaching out to feel for Valerie's pulse. She knitted her brows together for a brief moment.

"What is it?" Greg had been staring at Abigail, so he didn't miss the slight change in her expression. The look in Abigail's eyes had only lasted for a brief second, but Greg noticed it anyway.

"It's nothing. Have you had any difficulties with your breathing recently, Old Madam Buckley?" Greg felt nervous the moment he heard Abigail's words.