Deceiving Her Ears: Ignoring Your Call-Chapter 148: The Ruse of Self-Injury

"Has Isaac signed it yet?"

Vanessa hadn’t expected Natalie Kendall to open with such a question, and for a moment, she was stuck there speechless.

She glanced at her son’s pitiful, sickly state, feeling both tenderness and a growing dissatisfaction with Natalie.

"Nat, if you have time, can you come by the hospital? Isaac’s sick."

Vanessa deliberately exaggerated, "It’s pretty serious."

In fact, Isaac had already woken up when his mother made the call to Natalie.

He probably should’ve stopped his mom from making that call, but he didn’t.

Because deep down, he was anxious to see how Natalie would respond—and he hoped she would come.

On the other end, Natalie was silent for a few seconds, then said coldly, "I have a lot going on at work."

That means she wasn’t coming.

Her ruthlessness caught Vanessa by surprise.

Vanessa gripped her phone tightly, unable to rein in her emotions: "Nat, just what could possibly be so important that you and Isaac ended up like this? He’s sick and you still won’t even come see him."

Vanessa wanted to say more, but suddenly the phone slipped from her hand and was snatched away.

She turned, startled, "Baby, you..."

Isaac’s face was pale, his breath labored as he hung up the call.

Vanessa bit her lip, "Baby, you heard all that?"

Isaac set the phone on the bedside table and lay back down, "The Beckett Group has a lot of projects going lately. She really is busy."

"This small thing—you don’t need to bother her."

"I’m fine, just need a nap."

He said this while pulling up his covers, hiding half his face.

Vanessa opened her mouth, wanted to say something, but couldn’t bear to.

"Alright, Baby, you sleep. Mommy won’t bother you. I’ll be right here—just call me if you need anything."

Later on, Isaac’s IV finished, and the nurse came by to remove the needle.

The doctor said he could be discharged, but suggested staying one more night just in case the fever returned.

Vanessa couldn’t relax and immediately agreed to stay overnight.

She left for a bit to take care of something and when she came back, found the person who was supposed to be sleeping in the hospital bed gone.

——

"Ding," the elevator doors opened.

Natalie stepped out, but suddenly halted in her tracks.

The person Vanessa said was "seriously ill" on the phone that morning was now sitting at her doorway.

He could’ve gone inside, but chose to wait out here.

To Natalie, this was probably Isaac’s way of playing the "pity me" card.

Too bad for him—it wasn’t going to get him what he wanted.

Isaac wasn’t sure how long he’d waited.

He’d forgotten his phone, so he had no idea what time it was.

Standing got exhausting, so he just sat down on the floor.

After a while, his body started to chill—he knew the fever had returned.

But he refused to leave.

He finally waited until Natalie came home.

Natalie walked past without even a glance, treating Isaac—seated beside her door—as if he were invisible.

Only when she reached out to enter her code did she realize: she’d changed the door’s pin.

Turns out he’d been stuck outside because he couldn’t get in.

But to her, it made little difference.

No matter what he did, it would never move her.

"Little Ear."

Isaac used the wall to stand up slowly, grabbing her arm just as she was about to go in.

Through her sleeve, Natalie could still feel the heat radiating from his skin.

She frowned slightly, glancing at him.

His face was drawn, the corners of his eyes red—he obviously felt terrible.

She spoke with annoyance, "Why aren’t you at the hospital? What are you doing here?"

Isaac’s voice was hoarse, "Can I make you dinner?"

"Are you a cook?" Natalie’s voice was even colder, "Even if you are, I don’t need one."

Saying that, she wrenched free and slammed the door shut.

She changed her shoes and was about to head inside when, suddenly, a loud "thud" sounded from outside.

Like something heavy had crashed against the ground.