My CEO Ex: Let Me Go.-Chapter 77

"Alright." Eliza knew she had convinced Alexander.

I left the hospital room, the cool breeze brushing against my face.

Reaching the stairwell, I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone to call Vivienne.

I had to stay tonight.

Isabella’s distress call had been hung up by Vivienne—could I blame Vivienne for that?

No.

Her intention was simple; she didn’t want me to go to Isabella tonight. She didn’t know that Isabella had an emergency.

Could I blame Isabella?

No.

She trusted me enough to call me in a moment of need.

I could only blame myself.

I had a responsibility I couldn’t escape from in this matter.

Vivienne’s call went unanswered, and when I tried again, it went straight to voicemail.

I assumed Vivienne was angry with me and didn’t want to pick up.

After a moment’s thought, I typed out a message to Vivienne:

"Isabella is severely injured. Her call to me was a cry for help. No matter what, I bear an unavoidable responsibility. I will stay and take care of her tonight. We can discuss everything else tomorrow when I get back. Please stay at home and wait for me."

I sent the message.

I stood outside for a while, then returned to the hospital room.

The next morning, I checked my phone and scrolled to the conversation with Vivienne. No response.

I stepped into the hallway and called Vivienne again, but it was still turned off.

I thought for a moment, then dialed Gabriella’s number.

"Sir, is there something you need?" she answered.

"Gabriella, give me Vivienne’s number. I need to speak with her."

"Sure." Gabriella must have figured something out. She knew it was probably because Vivienne was upset with me and refusing to pick up.

Two minutes later, Gabriella came back on the line, sounding helpless. "Sir, Miss Vivienne says she won’t answer."

I fell silent for a moment, muttering, "If she won’t answer, then so be it."

...

Before long, Isabella woke up.

Her eyes fluttered open, and the first thing she saw was me standing by her bedside. A smile of relief spread across her face.

She reached out her hand, and I stood up to hold it. "How are you feeling?"

"It hurts," Isabella said weakly.

"I’ll call the doctor," Eliza immediately offered.

Isabella clutched my hand. "Alexander, I was so scared. Why didn’t you answer my call yesterday? I thought you didn’t love me anymore. I was trapped in the room, and the fire came at me. No matter how much I screamed, it didn’t help. The fire hurt so badly, I thought I was going to die. If you didn’t love me, I figured I’d just die right then."

I felt a slight shift in my gaze, but there was no real reaction in my heart. I simply whispered, "Don’t think like that. I just didn’t hear it."

"It’s not your fault. Just stay with me, Alexander. You will stay with me, won’t you?"

"Don’t talk too much. Just focus on resting and recovering. You need to heal."

"As long as you’re here with me, I’ll heal just fine."

The doctor quickly arrived to examine Isabella.

I stepped out of the room to give them space.

Around 10 AM, Eliza had already arranged for visitors to come.

It wasn’t a small matter when the lead actress got injured during filming. Especially since the investors were Stellar Entertainment Group, and the injured person was Isabella. The crew had been even more proactive in coordinating with Eliza.

Four people came to visit—an assistant director, someone from the production company, and two actors: Julian, who played Landon Mercer, and Lily, who played Lena Donovan.

When they arrived and saw me, the assistant director stepped forward first. "CEO Hawthorne."

The others followed suit, calling out, "CEO Hawthorne."

"I didn’t expect you to be here, visiting Miss Isabella?"

"Yes," I replied. "I’ll step outside for a bit. Don’t let me keep you. Please go ahead."

I left the room, making sure to give them some space.

I walked around outside for a moment.

After a while, I figured the crew would be leaving soon, so I turned to head back.

As I passed a corner on the way, I overheard a conversation between the production person and Julian.

The production person was saying, "You weren’t there at the time, were you? It shouldn’t have been that serious, right?"

Julian recalled the situation at the time. "Everyone was really anxious, but thankfully, the rescue came in time. The fire didn’t spread too much. I remember when I was pulled out, the only thing that had been burned was the left pant leg. I didn’t see any other injuries, but it’s possible I might have missed something."

"It’s probably not that you missed anything. I heard from others that it was the same—her left leg was fine, the clothes underneath were intact. How bad could the injury have been? Nowadays, these Talent Agents love to exaggerate. If Isabella’s medical records were released, the fans would tear the set apart. She’d get to build a victim persona, too. They’d already told her to be careful..."

The producer’s associate seemed to think both Isabella and Eliza were exaggerating the injuries to gain some marketing leverage.

For instance, some fans on the official Twitter were already calling for Isabella to be given more screen time because of her injury.

The production team, however, was helpless.

Empire of Shadows, based on a novel, followed the story from the perspective of Julian’s character, Landon Mercer. Naturally, his role had more screen time than Isabella’s. So, how could they give her more screen time without altering the core of the story?

"Let’s not talk about this. Regardless of the reasons, her injury is a fact. That’s the production team’s oversight. Director Calloway is staying positive, and we’ll cooperate fully," Julian said.

"The progress of filming will be delayed quite a bit, though."

“It’s a small issue.”

“I heard CEO Hawthorne stayed here all night because of it. Looks like he really cares about Miss Isabella.”

“That’s rare, indeed.”

They didn’t say anything more and waited for the assistant director and Lily to return. The four of them left together.

I watched their retreating figures, deep in thought.

Julian’s version of events was completely different from what Eliza had told him.

Julian said the rescue had been timely, but Eliza claimed the production team had made a major mistake that delayed it.

Julian and the producer’s associate both said the burn was limited to the left leg and wasn’t severe. But Eliza had said Isabella had over 20% of her body burned—this was a whole different story.

And from the way the producer’s associate complained, it seemed like Isabella’s burn might have had something to do with her own actions.

Logic told me I shouldn’t be so quick to doubt Isabella.

Still, Vivienne’s Status Update suddenly flashed across my mind, shaking the image I had of Isabella.

I searched online for videos of the incident, but most were too short to make much out. All I could see were flames and smoke, with people shouting to put the fire out.

I stayed silent for a moment before calling Jane. “Jane, send me the footage of Isabella’s injury.”

Jane responded immediately, “Alright, CEO Hawthorne. I’ll retrieve it now.”

I hung up and quickly dialed Victor Sinclair.

“Hello, Alexander. You were looking for me?”

“Yes. Victor, I need to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest.”

“Alright, I’m listening. I’ll tell you everything I know. What’s your question?”

“Who told you to come find me yesterday?”

At the first question, Victor fell silent.

“Who told you that Isabella’s injuries were serious?”

Victor remained silent.

I gave a faint smile, my voice calm but firm. “Victor, I know you’re close to Isabella, but you need to think carefully about who your true friends are.”