Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Chasing Out with the Necklace

Tristan Lawson’s expression darkened, a hint of hostility in his voice. "What nonsense are you talking about!"

"Whether I’m talking nonsense or not, you know perfectly well! Tristan Lawson! Don’t play dumb. Sophie Hughes isn’t even your real aunt. You were a coward back then—if you didn’t have the guts to marry her, you shouldn’t have strung her along! I refuse to believe you can’t tell she’s still waiting for you. Or do you just like it this way? Keeping one at home while stringing another one along? You just love the feeling of being wanted by two different women, don’t you?"

Kyle Sawyer cared deeply for Sophie Hughes, so he naturally paid a lot of attention to her.

No matter the time or place, he was almost always on Sophie Hughes’s side.

Before, when Tristan Lawson kept that mute wife of his hidden away at home, Kyle figured Tristan didn’t care about her, that he didn’t take her seriously, so he let it slide. But now, Tristan was obviously starting to care about the mute woman, and Kyle felt a burning need to stand up for Sophie Hughes.

Tristan Lawson stared at Kyle Sawyer, his gaze ice-cold. "You don’t know the first thing about what happened between her and me, so don’t spout off your opinions."

Kyle was always like this. Tristan couldn’t be bothered to explain anything to him.

Kyle was about to lose his temper.

"Move aside, quickly, move aside!"

Paramedics rushed past, pushing a gurney at a run.

Just as Tristan lifted his gaze to look, Kyle stepped in front of him, speaking with agitated anger. "What do you mean I don’t know about you and her? What opinion did I spout off? I’m just standing up for her!"

With Kyle blocking his view, Tristan couldn’t get a clear look at the person on the gurney.

The paramedics sped past them.

Besides, Kyle was still talking, so Tristan naturally looked away. The last time at The Carmine Club, Kyle had repeatedly called Noelle a "mute," which had greatly displeased Tristan. Now he was spouting nonsense again, and Tristan’s expression darkened even further.

"You’d better get your facts straight. She was the one who backed out back then. If you keep making a scene, don’t blame me for getting nasty."

Kyle knew about this.

The Lawson and Hughes families had a huge falling out over it.

It wasn’t just the Lawson family who disapproved; the Hughes family was against it, too.

Kyle’s voice softened slightly. "Don’t you understand how much Sophie suffered? She did it for you, for the sake of the relationship between the Lawson and Hughes families. That’s why she had no choice but to do what she did. Have you ever once considered her feelings?"

"Enough!" Tristan snapped, thoroughly displeased. "I’m a married man with a six-year-old son. This conversation ends now."

Kyle only knew half the story.

Kyle had been acting out of anger, wanting to stand up for Sophie Hughes.

But what Tristan said was true. He was married and had a son now. If anything happened between him and Sophie, it would make her the other woman.

Kyle fell silent. The air around them grew heavy and cold.

Over half an hour later, the doors to the emergency room opened.

Kyle, looking even more anxious than Tristan, rushed forward.

"Doctor, how is she?"

"She’s not in any serious danger. Fortunately, the fall wasn’t from too high up, and she landed on a lawn. We’ve treated the minor cuts. She does have a concussion, but we’ll need to wait for her to regain consciousness to know the full extent of it."

Kyle let out a sigh of relief. When he had arrived, Sophie’s forehead had been bleeding so much it covered her face. It had been a terrifying sight.

A nurse wheeled Sophie out of the emergency room. She was still unconscious, her forehead bandaged. Her face was deathly pale, her lips completely colorless, and she looked incredibly weak.

Kyle’s heart ached for her, and he followed the nurse to her room.

Once Sophie was settled in, Kyle sat by her bedside, keeping watch.

Since Sophie was out of serious danger, Tristan decided it was time to leave.

He still hadn’t had a chance to explain things to Noelle.

"Tristan..."

Sophie, still unconscious, mumbled Tristan’s name.

Kyle immediately turned and saw that Tristan had already turned to leave.

"Tristan, are you leaving?"

"Tristan... Tristan... I won’t let anything happen to you... Tristan..."

Sophie’s brow was furrowed in distress as she kept murmuring his name.

Kyle thought Sophie needed Tristan.

Only Tristan knew what Sophie was talking about.

’She’s having a nightmare...’

Tristan turned and walked back to the bedside.

Kyle stood up, pursed his lips, and said with a feigned nonchalance, "She needs you more than me. I’ll get going."

Kyle turned and left.

Tristan sat down, his brow deeply furrowed.

After a while, Sophie seemed to calm down and stopped sleep-talking.

Tristan’s dark, ink-black eyes stared at the sleeping Sophie, his expression a complex mask, making it impossible to know what he was thinking.

Tristan hardly slept a wink all night. It was only as dawn began to break that he finally dozed off, slumped over the edge of Sophie’s hospital bed.

When Sophie opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Tristan.

’Even in his sleep, his features were so handsome.’ The corners of her lips curled up. ’He still cared about her; she just knew it.’

She reached out, wanting to stroke his face, but fearing she would wake him, she slowly drew her hand back.

Since Tristan was slumped over in his chair, the pocket of his trench coat gaped open. Sophie spotted a long, thin box inside—it looked like a jewelry box for a necklace.

’When Tristan buys jewelry, there are only two people he would give it to.’

’Either Noelle... or her.’

Sophie carefully slid the necklace box out of his pocket and tucked it under her pillow...

When Noelle Sutton woke up, the sun was already up.

Her attending physician came by on his rounds. Seeing that she was awake, he immediately told her, "Ms. Sutton, you have liver cancer. The worst thing for your condition is getting agitated. You vomited blood yesterday because your anger caused internal bleeding. If you keep this up, your illness will only get worse. I strongly recommend you remain hospitalized for rest and observation. Otherwise, I can’t even guarantee you’ll survive the next six months!"

Noelle took out her phone and typed a reply: "I understand. I won’t let myself get so angry again."

The doctor continued to persuade her patiently, "Your illness is difficult to treat. I know you’re very young, and this is hard to accept. But if you refuse treatment, you’ll have no chance at all. Modern medicine is very advanced. If you respond well to chemotherapy, there might even be an opportunity for surgery."

’But surgery would require a suitable liver donor.’

The doctor had explained all this to her when she was first diagnosed.

’Too many people were on the transplant list every year.’

’Besides, the doctor had also said there was a chance she wouldn’t even survive the chemotherapy.’

’So, she didn’t want to gamble on such a slim chance.’

’At least with conservative treatment, she could live a little longer.’

Noelle was still set on being discharged, so the doctor could only prescribe her some more medication.

When Tristan woke up, he said he was going to buy her breakfast. He didn’t mention anything about jewelry. ’It seemed the necklace wasn’t meant for her after all...’

After Tristan left the hospital room, Sophie immediately opened the necklace box.

Her expression changed instantly.

She had seen this necklace before. It used to be kept at The Orchidelle; it was an heirloom from Tristan Lawson’s late mother.

She wouldn’t have dared to touch something like this. When she had taken the necklace, she’d already planned to tell Tristan that he must have dropped it in the room.

Now, seeing it was something so important, she threw back the covers, grabbed the necklace, and got out of bed, intending to catch Tristan and return it to him.

But to her surprise, just as she opened the door to her room, she saw Noelle Sutton walking toward her.