REBORN: MEET MY BROTHERS-Chapter 87: I LOVE YOU

Matilda shrugged away the guards hand that lingered on her arm. She pointed to the counter. "You’ll go there. State that you’re the legal guardian of your grandfather and grant us permission to see him."

Ava became confused. "Why do I have to grant permission for you to see grandfather?"

"Aren’t you supposed to be smart?" Sasha scoffed. "We’re being escorted out of the room because there’s a new hospital policy that only the legal guardian of a patient can visit. And to visit, we need permission from you."

Ava turned to Maximus, and when he nodded curtly, she turned back to her family. She didn’t know what to feel about this information, but a smile appeared on her face. "Is that so?"

"What is that stupid smile on your face? Hurry up and do what your mother asked." Gaulin was getting impatient.

But Ava simply arranged the hand of her bag. "I’m sorry, father, mother. But you’ve both been watching over grandfather for a while. I’ll be glad to take that responsibility off your shoulders. I’ll see you at home."

She would’ve loved to wait to see their reaction, but she held Maximus’s hand and took him inside the elevator.

.

Gaulin, Matilda, and Sasha stared at Ava speechlessly. "She can’t be serious!" Sasha burst out, "Did she just... walk away like that? Like we’re nothing?"

Matilda clenched her fists. "That ungrateful little—she’s testing me! That girl is testing my patience."

Gaulin was eerily quiet. His jaw tightened as he stared at the elevator doors that had closed behind Ava and Maximus.

"What are we going to do now, Dad? Are they going to throw us out since she has refused to give her permission?"

Gaulin took a deep breath. He’d had enough embarrassment for the day. "Let’s go home. We’ll settle this at home," he strained before walking away.

Both Matilda and Sasha were shocked. "That’s it?! You’re going to let her get away with everything she just did, Dad?!" When Gaulin said nothing and just kept walking, Sasha and Matilda were compelled to follow behind him, but they both frowned as they walked out of the hospital.

.

Inside the elevator, Ava smiled as she turned to face Maximus. "Did you do this?"

Maximus shrugged before holding Ava in his arms. "I told you to trust me, didn’t I?" Ava smiled even more as she raised her head to look at his face. "Do they treat you this way frequently?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, little one. It’s okay to say you don’t want to talk about it. But feigning ignorance doesn’t suit your personality."

Ava bit her bottom lips. "It’s not something I can’t handle."

A small smile appeared on Maximus’s face. "I know. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have stood behind you earlier."

Her heart warmed at his words. How did she get so lucky in this life with Maximus?

"How did you find out about all of these anyway?" She asked quietly.

"It’s very unlikely that someone gets kidnapped in this hospital. So, I had Ethan do a little research, and well... He happened to come across this little information about you not being allowed to see your grandfather."

Ava’s smile faltered for a second before she chuckled softly to cover up. Did he also find out about Matilda being involved?

"Did he get information on the mastermind?"

"Not yet." Maximus held her tighter. "But he’s still on it. I promise you, whoever was involved will pay dearly."

She nodded curtly in relief, even if she wouldn’t tell whether or not she was happy about the information. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for Maximus to find out about Matilda’s involvement, but with the care he’s been showing her, she knew he wouldn’t just sit by.

In her previous life, she would have enjoyed this. Her life would’ve been a beautiful fairytale where she was saved by a hot billionaire. But life wasn’t a bed of roses. She’d learnt this the hard way.

Now, she wanted her revenge herself, and she was going to make Matilda and any member of her family involved in her past sufferings pay dearly.

"Thank you, Maximus," Ava said with a small smile.

Maximus tilted his head slightly as he studied her face. "This is new."

"What is new?"

"You’ve never said this to me before."

Ava pouted. He was right. She’d never really thanked him for anything he’d done for her up to this point. And she knew it made her look like an ingrate, but while he did those things for her, she never appreciated any of them because she thought there was a hidden agenda to it.

With everything she’d gone through, thanking someone with an evil agenda was equivalent to being killed again.

Now she was sure that Maximus didn’t have any bad intention towards her, she felt embarrassed for not showing gratitude for those things. "I’m sorry for being such an ingrate."

Maximus pinched the bridge of her nose, not enough to hurt. "I already got used to being engaged to one."

She laughed. "Honestly, I am not."

"Hmm." When Maximus noticed the small frown on her face,

The elevator door opened to Ethan, and on seeing him, Maximus hesitantly let Ava go even if he placed his hand on her lower back as he led her out.

Clearing his throat, "It’s so nice to see you again, Miss Ava. I’m sorry about what happened yesterday."

"Thank you," Ava said with a small smile before turning to Maximus who led her to her grandfather’s room door. Ethan followed behind them.

"Wesley has been waiting for you. You just missed him," he informed Maximus.

"Why?"

"Something about getting your legal team ready in case the Whitlock’s decides to sue the hospital."

"That can be easily discussed over the phone or email. Tell Wesley not to waste his time worrying about things that don’t concern him. I told him I was going to take care of it, didn’t I?"

Ethan nodded curtly. "I can understand his concern. Gaulin looked really mad when he was thrown out of the hospital. The last time he was this mad, well, we both know what happened."

Maximus chuckled dryly, and he released Ava’s waist when they got to the door. All while they were having a conversation, Ava was lost in her little world, thinking about her grandfather. They both watched as she took in a deep breath before pushing open the door.

When she entered the room, "Let him be mad. It’s about time he’s reminded that he can’t mess with someone who’s dear to me," Maximus said dryly as he watched his little wife.

Both men stood at the door, giving Ava a moment with her grandfather.

Ava quickly rushed to her grandfather lying on the bed. Her heart tightened as she watched his unconscious face but she held herself from breaking into tears. "Grandfather, I’m here." She sat beside him and held his hand. "I’m so sorry for not fighting enough to come sooner."

Instead of entering the room, Maximus signalled for Ethan to close the door behind him. "Have your men guard the room. I may as well have a little chat with Wesley."

"Consider it done," Ethan murmured before disappearing down the hall.

Maximus took one last glance at the closed door before he walked away.

~~~~~~

The steady beep from the holster machine was the only sound inside the room. Ava still sat frozen in place beside her grandfather, holding his frail hand as she watched him. It’d been over three hours she’d spent with him, but she’d done nothing other than this.

It broke her heart to see him in this condition, but she was scared that letting go even for one bit would have this disastrous effect.

Her shoulder tensed when she felt a hand on her arm, but when she looked up and saw Maximus, she smiled faintly.

"He would be fine."

"I know." Ava turned back to her grandfather. "It’s just that the wait is killing me. He should’ve woken up by now, Maximus. Why is it taking so long?"

Maximus gently stroked her arms. "I had some special chefs prepare something for you." Ava followed his line of sight to the dishes on the table.

"When did you prepare all of that?"

"Some servers dropped by earlier, but that’s not important. The important thing is for you to eat before it gets cold." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"I’m not hungry," Ava said honestly.

Maximus sighed as he crouched beside her chair so they were at eye level. "You don’t have to be hungry to eat, little one. You have to eat to stay alive." His eyes flickered to William. "I know you’re worried about him, but starving yourself won’t help."

She pouted as she stared at the dishes arranged on the table, and her stomach let out a soft growl. "See? Even the little guy agrees with me."

After a little hesitation, she eventually followed Maximus to the table.