Ch. 1211..1220

Chapter 1211 Let Her Be Happy

Five days later, Sally went to pick up Amanda and Lucian from school in the afternoon, then drove straight to Timothy's house with a bunch of gifts in her car.

Everyone at Forlisle Medical, as well as Timothy's friends, knew it was his daughter's first birthday that day. However, Timothy did not organize a birthday party for Asel, as Johanna disliked crowds.

Instead, he only invited Cooper and a few other friends to celebrate Asel's birthday together.

Even though that was the case, the gifts from his business partners and friends still filled up the living room.

As soon as Sally parked the car, Amanda darted into the mansion eagerly while Lucian walked toward the entrance at a moderate pace. Just when he was about to enter the house, he turned around abruptly and glanced at the outside of the mansion.

When he and Amanda used to stay there in the past, he noticed someone spying on them on their way to school one day.

Right then, the feeling of being observed by someone pervaded him once again.

At that moment, Sally walked over with the car keys in her hand. Noticing Lucian looking around as though he was searching for something, she asked, "What's wrong, Luc?" "Nothing." The boy shook his head in response before turning around and going into the house.

Aware that Sally was a formidable fighter with strong countersurveillance capabilities, he concluded she definitely would have noticed if someone were stalking them in secret. Perhaps I'm overthinking.

Meanwhile, in the mansion across the street, a tall man stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, his purple eyes fixed on Sally and Lucian as they entered the house and closed the door behind them. The person standing next to the man inquired, "Mr. Juksford, that child looked in our direction earlier. Did he discover something?"

The mansion they were staying in was fairly far from Timothy's house. Furthermore, the floor-to-ceiling windows were made of one-way glass, which meant that no one could look into the house from the outside.

Yet, Lucian had stared precisely in their direction, seemingly looking right at them.

"How can a child notice us when Sally didn't?" Zephyr twiddled with the silver cross pendant in his hand, unbothered.

Ever since he saw the ultrasound image, he started paying attention to that child.

It was said that a silver cross pendant had a calming effect and could ward off evil spirits, so he commissioned a craftsman to make one for him and even had the name of his future child carved on the pendant.

At the sight of Zephyr constantly staring at the silver cross pendant with his head lowered, the man beside him could not resist the urge to voice a suggestion. "Mr. Juksford, I can start making the preparations now if you wish to take Mrs. Juksford away."

However, Zephyr raised his arm slightly in rejection. "It's fine. She can't see, anyway. Just let her be happy for a while more."

After all, he had something else to handle in Jadeborough.

Meanwhile, the first thing Amanda did after she rushed into the mansion was to greet Timothy. Upon spotting Asel, who was dressed in a pastel purple dress, she ran over to her and cupped her cheeks, giving her kisses on her face. "Did you miss me, Asel?" Amanda asked affectionately.

"Yes!" Asel hugged her and pecked her on the cheek as well.

Johanna had been tired that afternoon, so she napped for a longer period in her bedroom. As she went downstairs after her nap, she coincidentally heard Amanda's voice, which caused her heart to soften. "Mandy," she called out.

"Aunt Jojo!" Instantly, Amanda let go of Asel, wanting to pounce on Johanna.

Next to Amanda, Timothy reacted promptly, picking her up in his arms. He then leaned closer to her and whispered in her ears, "Mandy, your Aunt Jojo can't see, so hug her after she has walked down the stairs. Okay?"

Since Johanna was standing on the stairs, Timothy worried she would trip and fall along with Amanda when hugging the latter. After all, she was visually impaired then. Though Amanda was unable to fathom the reason Johanna had become visually impaired after not visiting her for a while, she nodded obediently and stood still.

Once Johanna descended the stairs, Amanda went forward and wrapped her arms around her godmother's legs. "Aunt Jojo, I miss you so much!"

"I miss you too." While speaking, Johanna lifted the little girl into her arms.

She could not see what Amanda looked like right then but could feel that the latter had grown taller and chubbier. In fact, Amanda had gained so much weight that she had a hard time carrying her.

Worried that Johanna would tire herself out while also taking the baby's presence into account, Timothy merely let Johanna carry Amanda for a short while before taking the little girl away from her arms. Then, he held Johanna's hand, guiding her to the living room.

Chapter 1212 In His Dreams

Johanna let Amanda sit beside her, then reached out to caress the little girl's face. "Your cheeks are so round. It seems like you're eating well these days, Mandy."

"Aunt Jojo, are you hinting that I put on weight?" Amanda complained.

"Of course not! You're still growing, so you should eat more," Johanna said and planted a kiss on Amanda's forehead.

Hmm, I don't think I've heard other people's voices from the moment I got downstairs, only Timothy's and Amanda's.

With that thought in mind, Johanna could not help but ask Amanda, "Is your mommy here?"

Timothy felt his throat tighten. Just as he was about to say something, Amanda answered without hesitation, "Mommy is sick. Daddy is accompanying her while she recuperates abroad. She'll be back when she's recovered!"

Johanna did not know about that matter.

Not long ago, she had Timothy give Genevieve a call, as she wanted to pay a visit to the latter and Amanda. However, he persuaded her to invite Genevieve over in the future instead, claiming that it would not be easy for her to move about.

Why didn't Timothy tell me Genevieve is sick and currently recuperating abroad?

"Don't worry, Aunt Jojo. Mommy and Daddy will be back after a while." As Amanda reassured Johanna, she placed her gaze on the latter's stomach.

"Aunt Jojo, are you really pregnant? Don't pregnant ladies have big tummies? Your tummy is so flat, though," she remarked afterward.

A soft smile appeared on Johanna's face. “It's because I've just gotten pregnant not long ago. The baby will grow in my womb as time passes. As the baby grows up, my tummy will become bigger too." "Oh," Amanda responded. A beat later, she added curiously, "Then, when this baby girl is born, will she become Lucian's wife as well?"

Right then, Lucian happened to enter the living room with Sally.

When he heard Amanda's innocent question, a rare hint of awkwardness clouded his calm countenance.

Johanna, on the other hand, burst into laughter. After she stopped giggling, she said, "That won't do! Lucian already has Asel as his wife. He can't have two wives!"

"Oh, that makes sense." Amanda nodded in agreement.

Afterward, Timothy pointed at the pile of gifts in the corner of the living room and suggested to Amanda, "Mandy, it's tiring for Asel to open all those gifts alone. Why don't you help her?" "Okay!" Unwrapping presents was Amanda's favorite activity. Feeling excited, she held Asel's hand and brought the latter to the pile of gifts.

Lucian also found a spot to play by himself.

Sally greeted Timothy and Johanna before handing him some flowers and gifts. "Cooper has to take care of some matters at the office, so he can only be here at half past six," she said. Furrowing her brows, Johanna asked, "Have I heard your voice before somewhere?"

"This is General Loake's daughter. You've met her before," Timothy explained while placing the bouquet of roses from Sally in a vase on the coffee table. "She got married to Cooper not long ago," he then added.

"Ah... But I thought you have feelings for Armand?" Johanna asked, seemingly yet to catch on to the situation.

Why did she get married to Genevieve's brother all of a sudden?

Leaning over, Timothy whispered in her ear, "She thought the heart that Armand uses belongs to Ethan. Hence, she tried to keep Armand by her side. You know, she's just yearning for the past."

"Yeah, I know." An amused look appeared on Johanna's face as she replied, "Didn't your first love die for you? You've spent many years thinking about her as well."

In a trice, Timothy felt uncomfortable. He served her a glass of smoothie prepared by the housekeeper before cooing, "Darling, that's all in the past. Let's not talk about it anymore."

Johanna responded, "Aren't you the one who started it?"

"Yes, I did. It's my fault." He apologized immediately and asked her to entertain Sally while he went to the kitchen to prepare some fruits.

"Ms. Loake, why did you get married to Cooper?" Johanna brought up the topic from before again.

Cooper had made it clear that he did not want to involve Timothy and Johanna in that mess again. Since the Gaudette family had nothing against them, Sally decided not to tell Johanna the truth about her marriage to Cooper.

"He likes me, so he dragged me to get married to him," she answered.

Chapter 1213 He Is Cunning

Johanna was stumped for words. Although she did not interact much with Cooper, she knew he was not a rash person from the many years they had known each other.

At the thought of something, she asked, "Is it because you're the daughter of a commanding officer?"

Sally grunted an acknowledgment and added, "Probably."

Ever since Johanna lost her sight, she barely watched the news. Coupled with Timothy not mentioning anything to her, she was unaware that trouble had befallen the Loake family. Hence, she presumed Cooper married Sally to gain some benefits because the latter's father was a revered commanding officer of the army.

Did he do it for Specter Corporation?

The conversation ended quickly since Sally was not a talkative and friendly person, not to mention that Johanna was not close to her.

Johanna served her a cup of coffee before entering the kitchen.

At that moment, Timothy was about to leave the kitchen with a bowl of freshly washed fruits. Upon noticing Johanna's entrance, he raised his hand to support her, then fed her a cherry.

"You don't have anything to talk to Sally about?" he asked.

"I'm not close to her, so how would we have anything to talk about?" Johanna ate the sour-sweet cherry and whispered, "Why did you hide Genev's illness from me?"

"I was afraid that you would worry," Timothy explained, his voice a little hoarse. "I was very anxious too at that time since you lost your sight," he added.

"What happened to Genev?"

Timothy felt a sharp pang of guilt upon hearing her question. His lips parted as though he wanted to say something. However, he recalled it would not be ideal for Johanna to get too emotional due to her pregnancy.

"Armand didn't tell me," was what he said in the end.

Timothy is an exceptionally skilled surgeon with shares in General Hospital and Forlisle Medical. Yet, instead of having Genev be treated locally, Armand brought her overseas to seek treatment. In that case, she must be severely ill.

With that thought in mind, worry clouded Johanna's face. "Have you called Armand?"

When she did not get a reply from Timothy after a long time, she thought he did not hear her, so she pinched his wrist and repeated, "I'm asking you if you've ever called them."

"I couldn't reach them. Cooper's the only one who contacts Armand," Timothy answered.

Relieved to learn that Cooper had been keeping in touch with Armand and Genevieve, Johanna did not ask any other questions.

Cooper arrived at the mansion before half past six.

Upon discovering that Johanna had lost her sight and that her condition could not be cured by the overseas ophthalmologists they had hired, he suddenly felt bad for her and Timothy.

It was because of Sylvie's ruthlessness that Johanna only regained consciousness after being in a coma for a year. Later on, she fought with Timothy and broke up with him. Not long after their reconciliation, Zephyr abducted her overseas, and it took her a few months to return to the country. Just when her life was finally becoming stable, she lost her sight.

During the meal, Johanna asked about Armand and Genevieve from time to time, and Timothy, who sat beside her, had a guilty expression on his face. It pained Cooper to watch their interaction.

Afterward, using a cigarette break as an excuse, Cooper pulled Timothy out of the house to speak to him in private. "Armand and Genev might not have passed away."

Stunned, the latter raised his head to look at him.

Cooper continued, "Since Zephyr managed to escape from that ship, I believe they also didn't die. I received this piece of news not long ago, but I didn't tell you as I wasn't sure of its authenticity. Nevertheless, I decided to tell you about it because it seems to me that you're blaming yourself a lot today."

"Since you've said so, they must still be alive, then." Timothy breathed a sigh of relief as the guilt weighing on his heart dissipated.

"Are you looking for them? Do you need help?" he then asked.

"It's fine. If they are alive, they will return when they feel like returning. There's no need for us to find them." Cooper rejected him in a flat tone.

Timothy nodded. Suddenly, his gaze darkened. "Where's Zephyr?"

Never in his wildest dreams could he have thought that Zephyr was able to escape from the jaws of death again.

By hook or by crook, he had to take revenge on the latter for kidnapping and torturing Johanna for such a long time.

Cooper replied, "I heard that he built a good rapport with some Chanaean government officials to do business here. He's a cunning person who's cheated death multiple times, so it will be difficult to find his whereabouts."

The look in Timothy's eyes turned vicious. "No matter what it takes, I'll find him," he growled, hatred evident in his tone.

He vowed to kill Zephyr with his own hands.

In the middle of their conversation, they were alarmed by the sound of porcelain shattering and panicked gasps from within the mansion, prompting them to run back inside.

Chapter 1214 Nuzzled Against His Palm

When Cooper returned to the house hastily, the broken pieces of porcelain on the floor by the dining table caught his gaze. It seemed that the plate used to hold the cake was shattered. At that moment, Sally was squatting on the ground with Amanda in her embrace.

The little girl had her arms tightly wrapped around her head. Her face was pale, and she was groaning in pain.

Cooper squatted down and asked anxiously, "What happened, Mandy? Where does it hurt?"

"My head hurts."

Amanda did not know how to describe the pain in her head. It was just agonizing to her. After replying to Cooper, she started crying and even tried to bang her head against Sally's arm.

There were many reasons for a child's head to hurt, and Timothy could not diagnose the cause of Amanda's headache just from observing her.

He told Johanna to take care of Lucian and Asel before driving Amanda and the others to the hospital. On the way there, he phoned the lead pediatrician in advance.

Amanda kept crying from her headache, so she lost her voice before they even reached the hospital.

Even though she was in Sally's embrace, she could not stay still. If not for Sally's tight grip on her body, she might have smashed her head against the car window. Eventually, she bit Sally's arm. That diverted her attention, and her head did not seem to hurt as much.

Soon, Amanda fell asleep in Sally's embrace.

When they arrived at the hospital, the pediatrician quickly drew some blood and did a non-invasive CT scan of Amanda's head.

By then, it was already past nine in the evening, so many of the consultation rooms were already closed. However, Timothy was able to use his connections to obtain the results of Amanda's blood test and CT

scan.

Genevieve had a rare blood type, but neither of her children inherited it. Her coagulation disorder, which she recovered from later on, was not passed on to her children, either.

Therefore, Amanda's blood test and CT scan showed that she was healthy and fine.

Timothy glanced at Amanda's CT scan results and asked Cooper, "Does Mandy secretly stay up late at night to watch cartoons? Inadequate rest can cause children to have headaches as well."

In Cooper's opinion, Amanda was an obedient child who always listened to them, going to bed at half past nine after bathing.

However, they would not know if she secretly pulled all-nighters to watch cartoons because she slept alone and had a tablet in her room.

Nevertheless, Cooper was relieved to learn that Amanda's headache was merely caused by inadequate rest.

Planning to let Amanda stay at the hospital for one night, he told Timothy and Sally to return home. However, Sally said, "Lucian will be taken care of at Timothy's place. I'll accompany you here." With that, Timothy could only head home. Before leaving, he requested that Cooper give him a call if anything happened.

Right then, Cooper noticed a circular stain on the left sleeve of Sally's close-fitting pink sweater.

That observation reminded him of how Amanda had bitten Sally in the car to alleviate her pain. He then went to the nurses' station and asked for some ointment and bandages.

After returning to the ward, he sat Sally down and carefully rolled up her sleeve.

The blood had dried on Sally's sweater and skin. Once her sleeve was rolled up, Cooper noticed the small and deep bite marks on her arm.

It was clear that Amanda had exerted much force when she was biting Sally, yet the latter did not even frown from the pain.

Cooper felt an ache in his heart.

He wiped the wound with a cotton swab soaked with iodine solution and cleaned the blood stains around it. After disinfecting the wound, he applied ointment to it and dressed it with bandages. Once that was done, he raised his head and looked at Sally. "Does it hurt a lot?"

"No, it doesn't." Sally was speaking the truth. It was not painful for her, which was why she did not flinch in the car. Nevertheless, she did not expect Amanda's teeth to be so sharp to leave such deep bite marks on her.

Sally knew Cooper cared a lot about her upon seeing the concern and distress in his eyes.

"I'm not lying. When I was training in the army, my comrades would break my arms every few days by accident. It was painful," she said softly.

Compared to the pain she experienced in the army, the bite she got from Amanda was nothing

Cooper cupped Sally's cheeks with his hands as he said in a low voice, "I know you're capable, but you're still a human. You're not made of steel. I'll be concerned if you get hurt and bleed." Her heart softened at his words, and she nuzzled her cheek against his palm.

"Mmh, I understand," she replied.

Chapter 1215 I Want Candy

Thinking that Amanda's headache was caused by a lack of sleep, everyone brushed it off and simply tried to let her get enough rest.

However, at five o'clock in the morning, Amanda's headache acted up again. She would have fallen out of bed if Cooper, who was at her bedside at the time, had not reached out to catch her.

"Uncle Cooper, my head hurts..." Amanda whined, knocking her head against Cooper's chest in hopes of alleviating the headache.

Cooper's heart ached terribly when he saw that her eyes were red from crying. Seized with a sense of urgency, he had Sally call one of the doctors on duty into the ward.

Amanda's CT scan results from before showed that she was fine, yet the headache was tormenting her to the point where she wanted to bang her head against the wall. The doctor examined her but could not find the cause of her headache, and they dared not prescribe any medication for her, either.

As such, Cooper had no choice but to call Timothy and have him come over.

The latter arrived to see Amanda biting her lip from the pain. He quickly put a rubber mouth guard on her and gave her half a dosage of sedative.

It was dawn by the time Amanda wore herself out and went to sleep.

At present, Cooper asked Timothy frantically, "Didn't you say the headache was caused by a lack of sleep? Why did it recur all of a sudden?"

"I don't know," Timothy confessed. He had been a surgeon for years, yet that was the first time he had come across a case like Amanda's.

All her medical tests showed that she was fine physically, but her obvious pain and discomfort suggested otherwise.

Just then, Sally piped up, "I recall Harry putting something like a device in Mandy's ear."

She was giving Amanda a bath the other day when she noticed the scar behind the little girl's ear. It was only after she asked Cooper about it that she learned what had happened.

Timothy was reminded of that matter as well. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "The human brain is an extremely fragile organ. That micro-explosive device is made of aluminum alloy. As it's embedded inside Mandy's ear, over time, the bacteria on the surface of the metal could have slowly spread into her brain..."

That said, the non-invasive head CT scan and the magnetic resonance imaging he ordered to be performed on Amanda did not reveal any signs of bacterial infection in her brain.

When Cooper heard Timothy's explanation, he balled his fists.

He would have ripped Harry into pieces if the latter were still alive.

Later, Timothy called in a few of the most prominent pediatricians in the country. Using the medical equipment available, those pediatricians thoroughly examined Amanda's head.

Halfway through the examination, Amanda woke up and wailed that her head hurt. In the end, Timothy resorted to giving her another shot of sedative.

Standing at the side, Cooper was distressed to see the pain Amanda had to go through.

Even he knew that there was only so much sedative the human body could take. He did not want Timothy to administer any more doses to Amanda, but for as long as she was awake, the headache would continue to torment her.

Meanwhile, the doctors called in by Timothy had run all sorts of tests on Amanda, but those tests came back normal. Her brain was completely fine.

The results left these doctors stumped. Much like Timothy, it was the first time they had come across a case like Amanda's. Following that, the pediatricians held a meeting in one of the conference rooms to decide their next course of action, but none of them could come up with a feasible solution.

They did not want to prescribe any medication, either.

On that note, they failed to figure out the cause of Amanda's headaches, so they hesitated to give her medication when her condition was such an anomaly.

As things were, the doctors' hands were tied, but Timothy could not bear to see Amanda cry the moment she woke up. She was in such pain that not even her constraints could keep her from struggling wildly. Desperate to calm the child, he begged the pediatricians to prescribe something for her.

The doctors ended up prescribing common painkillers for Amanda. They were not quite as effective as everyone had hoped, but at least she stopped trying to hurt herself after taking them.

Cooper's whole attention was on Amanda at that point. He had Bertilla take over the company's affairs in his absence while he and Timothy pulled strings and consulted renowned pediatricians from everywhere.

Sally noted how much Cooper seemed to have aged within such a short time. He even looked like he had lost some weight.

It caused her heart to ache.

She, too, contacted her acquaintances, who were surgeons from military hospitals, but none of them could make sense of Amanda's condition despite running all kinds of tests on her. Amanda did not wake up until it was past ten o'clock. The painkillers had probably kicked in, so though her head still hurt, it was not so intolerable that she would cry.

When she woke up and saw Sally at her bedside, she called out feebly, "Aunt Sally."

Sally immediately rose to her feet, leaned close to Amanda, and asked gently, "Are you hungry?"

Amanda shook her head, then pursed her pale lips. "My mouth tastes bitter. Can I have candy?"

Sally grabbed her bag from the chair, only to find out she was out of candies after she opened it. Caressing Amanda's face, she cooed, "Wait here. I'll go buy some for you." "Okay," the little girl replied.

The next moment, Sally summoned a nurse into the ward and had her keep an eye on Amanda. Only after that did she leave the ward and hurry to the first floor of the inpatient department to buy candies from the vending machine.

She bought a few packets of gummies and flavored drops.

After taking the few packets of candies out from the vending machine dispenser, she shoved them into her bag. To her surprise, she heard someone call out to her, "Ms. Loake."

Sally thought the voice sounded familiar, so she turned around to see who it was.

Chapter 1216 Eyewitness

While waiting for the famous pediatric surgeon from Dartan to arrive, Cooper heard his phone ring again. It was a call from Bertilla.

He tried to suppress his anger and frustration as he answered the call. "What is it?"

"Mr. Sutton, this has nothing to do with the company," Bertilla explained before Cooper blew his top. "The people investigating matters in Baykeep called me earlier."

Cooper had gotten a few calls from those men as well, but he was too busy to answer, so they could only contact Bertilla instead.

At that, Cooper's fury diminished slightly. "Did they find anything?" he asked somberly.

"I can't really go into detail about it over the phone," Bertilla said apologetically. "But I've emailed you the information."

Cooper hung up and clicked on the email from Bertilla.

Phineus and Gerald were not from the same military division, but they were on good terms. When Cooper mentioned that he wanted to look into Gerald's case after the man was framed, Phineus made a few special calls.

As a result, the men Cooper rallied to look into Gerald's case, including the police officers in Baykeep, all had easy access to surveillance cameras in town.

For the past couple of months, those men had turned over every rock in the vicinity of Ninette's residential area before finally finding an eyewitness.

It was a woman who happened to live in the same building as Ninette. On the night of the incident, the woman was on a video call with her family and did not notice that Ninette was in the background.

When the men went through the surveillance footage and realized that the woman had been on a video call during the time of the incident, they reckoned she might have recorded something else. Hence, they tracked her down and inquired her about it.

Luckily, the woman had a habit of recording her video calls with her family. She retrieved the recording from that fateful evening, and sure enough, there was some suspicious activity going on in the background.

Those carrying out the investigation for Cooper saw Ninette get out of the car, followed by the driver, who proceeded to carry an unconscious Gerald out of the backseat before entering the building with Ninette.

From the looks of it, Ninette probably paid the driver to have him carry Gerald into her place. However, the driver unexpectedly got into an accident after leaving the residential area.

Cooper's brows were tightly furrowed by the time he finished reading the email.

Before he could dive much further into his thoughts, he got a call from the foreign surgeon's assistant.

At that sight, Cooper quickly answered the call and was informed that the surgeon had come out into the arrival hall. He looked up, and when he spotted the two blond, blue-eyed men walking toward him, he clutched his phone and hurried up to them.

After shaking hands and exchanging a brief round of pleasantries, Cooper ushered the two men into the car and sped off to the hospital.

The cause of Amanda's headache remained unknown, and Cooper dared not let her have too many painkillers. The sight of her crying every day from her headache and the fact that her appetite deteriorated greatly made him feel miserable.

There were other foreign pediatricians who had come by to examine Amanda as well, but none of them could find the cause of her headache.

Callum Rosenberg, otherwise known as Dr. Rosenberg, was one of Lilian's contacts.

Lilian had been worried about Amanda after learning of the little girl's strange illness, but she was so busy that she could not travel to Chanaea. As such, she arranged for a doctor to examine Amanda. Cooper later found out from Lilian that Callum was an acclaimed pediatric surgeon in Dartan. The surgeries he had carried out in his twenty-odd years of practice had all been successful too. As of then, he was Cooper's best hope in treating Amanda.

When Cooper brought Callum and the latter's assistant to the hospital, he found Steven in Amanda's ward, so he asked curiously, "Why did you come all the way here from Baykeep? Where's Sally?" Steven replied, "Ms. Loake said she had an errand to run. She only left after I came."

Cooper was not in the mood to learn about his wife's errands. Seeing that Amanda was asleep, he reckoned Sally had given her painkillers because she had wailed from her headache. That broke his heart again.

Left with no choice, he brought Callum to see Amanda's attending doctor.

Callum flipped through Amanda's CT scans and assessed the examination results for her other vital organs. When he was done, he asked Cooper in Ustranasion, "Does her mother have any diseases?"

Chapter 1217 A Strong Smell Of Traditional Medicine

Cooper was stunned for a moment before he answered truthfully, "Her mom has a rare blood type, but hers is normal."

"It might be a genetic disorder, which could be why nothing was found even after so many tests were run on her," Callum explained. "Don't worry. I have experience in treating a child with a similar condition before. This disease is mild and easy to cure."

Cooper had been in distress due to Amanda's headache lately. Hearing the doctor's reassurance finally took a load off his mind.

"Okay, thank you so much," he replied.

The dispensary at General Hospital had all the medicines Callum needed. Moreover, they were delivered immediately.

Upon receiving the medicine, Callum gave Amanda a subcutaneous injection. At about five in the afternoon, the little girl woke up. For the first time, she complained about being hungry instead of having a headache.

Cooper had instructed Steven to buy some food long before Amanda was awake. He opened the container and fed her the warm broth within it.

All of a sudden, he whiffed something, and it caught his attention.

Lowering his head, he leaned closer to Amanda and perceived a strong smell of traditional medicine on her. "Mandy, did you take traditional medicine this afternoon?"

Previously, a doctor had prescribed some traditional medicine for Amanda. Cooper prepared it according to the instructions and fed it to Amanda, but it did not work, as her headache did not subside. Thus, he stopped feeding her the medicine.

Amanda thought for a while before she answered, "A doctor came to see me this afternoon, but I didn't take any medicine."

Cooper fed her another spoonful of broth and said, "Maybe this smell of traditional medicine came from the doctor's attire, then. Do you want to watch cartoons?"

Having been tormented by the recurring headaches lately, Amanda tried to recall what had happened in the afternoon now that she suddenly felt better. However, nothing came to mind.

With her train of thought interrupted by Cooper's question, her attention was diverted as well. "Yes!" Amanda chirped.

The little girl had a great appetite, finishing the entire bowl of broth before leaning against the pillow to watch cartoons.

Afraid that Amanda's headache would recur, Cooper requested that Callum stay for a few more days. He then instructed Steven to bring Callum and his assistant to the hotel and even booked them a presidential suite.

Right after Cooper cleaned Amanda's hands, Timothy knocked on the door and entered the ward with Asel in his arms.

About an hour ago, Timothy received a call from Cooper, who informed him that a doctor cured Amanda's headache. Delighted by the good news, he brought Lucian and Asel to the hospital, even carrying plenty of toys with him.

At once, Amanda stopped watching cartoons and played blocks with Asel on the bed while Timothy and Cooper talked by the window.

Hearing that Callum had cured Amanda's headache with a single injection, Timothy looked up the medicine and wondered aloud, "Mandy was given an injection of this medicine before, but didn't it have zero effect on her?"

After some contemplation, Cooper remarked, "Maybe the dosage he injected is different?"

The medicines Callum requested were all from the dispensary of General Hospital. Besides Cooper, there were other doctors present at that time. None of them noticed Callum adding other substances to the medicine.

Once Timothy compared the dosage and discovered that they were indeed different, his doubts were eliminated.

Right then, Lucian walked over and said, "Uncle Cooper, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" Cooper asked as he lowered his head.

Lucian pulled Cooper to the couch and placed a laptop on the coffee table before them.

"Remember the string of digits you asked me to check? I've done it. I also restored a recording file that was deleted from her phone, though I'm unsure if it will be helpful to you," the boy explained. Cooper told Lucian to play with Amanda and Asel before he clicked open the recording file. As soon as he listened to the first two seconds of the recording, he sensed something was amiss and quickly put on earphones.

Based on the recording file, Ninette was on a call with a man. She told the man she had brought Gerald to her place but could not do anything because Gerald was unconscious.

Then, the man instructed her to use medication.

As per his instructions, Ninette used medication on Gerald. By the time he regained some consciousness, she had chickened out and called the man again. Under the man's command, she used another way to inject the liquid into her body, making it look like she was raped.

Chapter 1218 Cast Him Aside

When Cooper read the email at the airport, he felt that, at most, the video could only prove that Gerald was brought into Ninette's place in an unconscious state. However, the lawyer could refute it by saying that Gerald was only pretending to be unconscious to enter Ninette's house so that he could assault her. That was why Cooper's brows were tightly furrowed then.

Nevertheless, the recording file could prove Gerald's innocence entirely and that Ninette and her accomplice conspired to frame him.

All the evidence he had then was enough to get Gerald out of prison.

Immediately, Cooper took out his phone and called Sally, but all his three attempts failed to reach her.

What on earth is she busy with?

The next morning, Amanda woke up energetic and told Cooper she wanted some scones. It seemed like her headache was completely gone.

Despite her recovery, Cooper had her stay at the hospital for another two days and even asked Callum to check on her. Only after Callum confirmed that Amanda's headache would not recur could he finally heave a sigh of relief.

Then, he instructed Steven to send Callum and his assistant to the airport while he brought Amanda and Lucian to Timothy's place for a meal.

Afterward, Cooper found time to visit Robert and handed the latter all the evidence that would be useful for Gerald's appeal.

He decided it was best for Robert to handle the matter as Robert was in the military and also Gerald's longtime friend.

After the discussion, Cooper asked Robert, "Do you know where Sally went?"

Robert was taken aback. "Isn't she with you?"

It had been a while since he last saw Sally, and he had always assumed she was with Cooper.

Cooper shook his head. "No, she didn't even pick up her phone when I called her a few days ago."

Robert's reaction made it clear that Sally did not contact him. Hence, Cooper did not ask another question and took his leave.

A week later, the martial court of Jadeborough military district held a retrial of Gerald's case.

Although Ninette and the driver involved in the case were dead, the evidence presented proved that Gerald was framed, so he was quickly acquitted and released.

Cooper was entirely at ease after finding out about the judgment.

This scheme was planned down to the last detail. If not for that woman recording an important scene by chance, I'm afraid it would take much more time and effort to find evidence.

Cooper had kept his promise to Sally since Robert and Gerald were released.

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and dialed a number.

At first, he thought the call would not go through again, but it did, much to his surprise.

When all Cooper heard was silence from the other end of the line, he said, "Didn't I ask you to look after Mandy? Why did you leave her at the ward? Where have you been? Your father's case had a retrial, and he was acquitted."

He spoke so much, yet there was no response from her. "Sally!" he called out, furrowing his brows subconsciously.

Moments later, Sally finally murmured, "I'm sorry..."

Before Cooper could respond, she ended the call after saying goodbye.

Goodbye?

Cooper clutched his phone for a long time and redialed Sally's number after he snapped out of his daze. To his dismay, that time around, the call did not go through.

Soon, anger coursed through him. His grip on his phone was so tight that the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

This woman... She left without a word and ignored my calls. Now that she finally answered my call a few days later, the only words she said were "I'm sorry" and "Goodbye." She even hung up on me and turned off her phone! Is she casting me aside after using me now that her father was acquitted?

Chapter 1219 Will Not Let Her Leave As She Pleases

When Melissa heard the doorbell, she quickly wiped her hands and went to open the door. It was a courier with a document for Cooper.

"Thank you." Melissa took the envelope into the house.

Seeing Cooper standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, she wanted to hand him the envelope. However, she felt his mood suddenly turn for the worse as he exuded an icy aura that sent chills down her spine even from where she stood.

Melissa was worried that Cooper needed the document urgently, but fear deterred her from approaching him.

After moments of grimly staring at his phone, Cooper seemed to have realized someone was near him. He tilted his head and looked toward Melissa. Coldly, he asked, "What is it?"

"Mr. Sutton, here's a document for you." Melissa walked over to him and passed him the A5-sized envelope before scurrying away.

The sender's address was not labeled on the envelope, but "Ms. Loake" was written in the field for the sender's name.

Cooper's breathing slowed down. As he opened the envelope, he wondered if Sally's response on the phone earlier was because she had to deal with something. Furthermore, she had an aloof personality and was a woman of few words.

Cooper took out a thin document from the envelope. Once he read what was written on the cover, his expression sank, and he opened the document forcefully.

Sally had signed the last page of the divorce papers. What remained was for Cooper to sign it so the agreement could be legally binding.

Suddenly, something metallic fell out of the envelope and rolled next to his feet.

He bent down to pick up the metallic item and realized it was that wedding ring.

To think that a minute ago, I was still making excuses for that woman by assuming her sudden disappearance was due to something she had to settle and convinced myself to stay calm. But in the end, it was just as I had imagined. Now that Gerald's and Robert's cases have been overturned and they were acquitted, her goal is achieved. Naturally, it's time for her to leave. Sally Loake, you're an ungrateful woman! Cooper spent a few minutes suppressing his anger before making a call. "Find out where Sally is!" he instructed coldly.

We still haven't dealt with the Gaudette family. There's no way I'll let her leave as she pleases!

With a dark expression, Cooper tore the divorce papers into pieces.

Sally was considered part of the military, so her countersurveillance skills were strong. There was no trace of her even after the people Cooper sent to track her down had turned every stone in Jadeborough. Cooper was in a bad mood since the phone call with Sally the other day.

In fact, his mood worsened when he learned that he had spent so much money, but they still could not find her through thousands of surveillance cameras. The entire staff in the company walked on eggshells, as there was always a gloomy look in his eyes that were covered by his glasses.

Even Bertilla was afraid. He would not enter Cooper's office unless it were necessary.

I remember that Mr. Sutton wasn't as furious as he is now when I reported Ms. Genevieve's passing to him last year. Moreover, Mr. Sutton is great at hiding his emotions well and never loses his temper in public, nor lets his bad mood spill over into his work. What's going on?

Two female assistants were gossiping in the office in their free time. "Mr. Sutton is so terrifying these days. I could feel his hostility piercing through my body even though I was two meters away." "Same here. I don't even dare to send things into the CEO's office now."

"Hey, do you think Mr. Sutton was in a relationship and then got dumped? I saw a ring on his finger. I wonder if it's a wedding ring."

"Who could be so blind as to dump Mr. Sutton?"

Bertilla, who was in the same office as them, overheard their conversation. When he thought of how Cooper demanded him to go all out searching for Sally and linked that to Cooper's current state, a conjecture formed in his mind.

So is Mr. Sutton livid because he was dumped by Ms. Loake?

Chapter 1220 Plenty More Fish In The Sea

While Bertilla was chewing on that thought, a supervisor of the project team pushed open the glass door and placed a document on his desk. "Bertilla, this is an urgent document. Please get Mr. Sutton to approve it quickly!"

The supervisor knew Cooper had been in a bad mood recently, so he quickly left after placing the document down.

Bertilla opened the document and verified that it needed to be signed urgently. With that, he turned around, planning to ask an assistant to send it over.

However, the two assistants who were gossiping earlier on pretended that they were busy.

Bertilla's lips twitched. He took the document along with the rest that required Cooper's approval and headed to the CEO's office. After knocking on the door, he heard Cooper say coldly, "Come in." Chills went down Bertilla's spine.

Bertilla cautiously walked into the office and gently placed the documents in the pending section. Then, he said carefully, "Mr. Sutton, the project team has a document that needs your signature urgently. Please sign it before you head off today."

Bertilla wanted to dash right after he spoke, but Cooper stopped him. "Have you found her?" the latter asked in a frigid tone.

Biting the bullet, Bertilla replied, “I haven't—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Cooper slammed the fountain pen in his hand onto the document. "You're so f*cking useless! It's been a month, yet you still failed to track down a woman!" Bertilla dared not make a sound.

There would have been a chance to find Sally if she were an average person. However, it was a tough job even for soldiers because of her strong countersurveillance abilities. They were at their wits' end. After a long while, Bertilla could not help but blurt out, "Mr. Sutton, there are plenty more fish in the sea."

Cooper narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

Bertilla glanced at Cooper and said tentatively, "Mr. Sutton, you're tall, handsome, and wealthy. There are so many women who like you. Ms. Loake took you for granted, and it's her loss that she left." "She's being ungrateful after what I've done for her. Do I have to let it slide now that she wants to leave as she pleases? In her dreams!" Cooper sneered. "Track her down! I must settle the old and new scores with her!"

Afterward, he gave another instruction to Bertilla. "Continue to look for her. Even if she died from an accident, bring me her corpse!"

Bertilla acknowledged Cooper's orders. After he left the office and closed the door behind him, he could finally catch his breath.

Still, he wondered how Sally was ungrateful toward Cooper.

In the CEO's office, Cooper could not quench the flames of his anger. He frustratingly took off his tie and unbuttoned his sleeves for a breather.

At the sight of his phone screen lighting up, he picked his phone up from the desk and asked impatiently, "What is it?"

Steven could tell Cooper was not in a good mood recently, so he was not surprised to hear the latter's harsh tone. "There's something I have to attend to. You'll have to pick up Amanda and Lucian from school later in the afternoon."

Cooper did not ask what Steven had to do. He merely replied with a grunt of acknowledgment and hung up the phone.

Seeing the documents that he crumpled on his desk, Cooper massaged his brows. He could not seem to get rid of the irritation in his heart.

As a person who would not lose his temper easily, he always stayed calm no matter how difficult the situation he encountered was.

However, when he thought of how he had put so much effort into helping Sally get her father out of jail, only to have her end their partnership and cast him aside, fury washed over him.

Cooper did not mind if he were betrayed by his business partners or his friends, but not Sally.

After regaining his composure, he reviewed the urgent documents and signed them. When he checked his watch and saw it was getting late, he took his coat and left.

By the time he arrived at the school, many parents were already present. The place was surrounded by various luxurious cars.

Cooper did not get out of his car. He reached out an arm and opened the glove compartment in the passenger seat, thinking of smoking. Unexpectedly, he saw a few packs of menthol cigarettes wrapped in floral packaging.

Previously, Sally had been driving the same Bentley to pick the twins up from school. As she was also a smoker, she sometimes bought a few packs of cigarettes from the store and kept them in the glove compartment.

The image of her smoking suddenly appeared in Cooper's mind her soft, pink lips holding the long menthol cigarette and the smoke she puffed covering her beautiful face.

The woman looked aloof but alluring at the same time, beguiling those who saw her.

When Cooper realized he was thinking about that ungrateful woman, he became even more frustrated. He did not want to smoke anymore and slammed the glove compartment shut.