Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 316: Exactly, care

Finally, lunchtime was over. Ryan took advantage of Mia’s trip to the restroom to send Alice a quick message, checking in on how things were going on her end.

For some reason, doing this always made him feel like he was sneaking around, like a thief. It felt weird to message Alice when he was with Mia, and even weirder to message Mia when he was with Alice.

At this point, he felt like a firefighter, constantly putting out fires everywhere. It was exhausting.

With Mia, he had to be on the lookout for any signs of trouble, making sure to catch anything off before it became a bigger issue.

But with Alice, it was a real crisis. Even though Ryan couldn’t imagine sweet, gentle Bella actually killing someone, the system had warned him about it, so he couldn’t just ignore it.

Sweet and gentle, huh…?

Ryan shuddered involuntarily, his body reacting before his mind could catch up.

He had regained his memories now. He remembered being locked in a basement for two weeks, forced to do things he didn’t want to do every single day. Bella didn’t seem so sweet and cute anymore.

Ryan still didn’t understand why the system had erased his memories, or why it had specifically erased the ones about Bella. From what he could tell, it didn’t seem like those memories would have affected his mission with Alice.

If his main mission had been about Bella instead of Alice, then maybe erasing his memories would’ve made sense. But that wasn’t the case, right?

Ryan’s mind wandered in circles, but he couldn’t come up with any answers. Alice seemed busy and hadn’t replied to his message yet.

Luckily, Alice had a habit of keeping him updated on her schedule. Otherwise, Ryan would’ve been really worried by now.

It was funny—he was the assistant, yet he never reported his whereabouts and was always trying to sneak around. Meanwhile, Alice, the head of a mafia organization, was always patient and kept him in the loop. Ryan couldn’t help but wonder who was really in charge here.

When Mia came back, her clothes were wet in spots, but her expression was as stubborn as ever. She clacked her little leather shoes as she walked over to Ryan, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d gotten into a fight with the faucet in the restroom.

Ryan pulled out some tissues and carefully wiped the water off Mia’s clothes. He didn’t ask any questions—if Mia had wanted to say something, she would’ve already. There was no point in asking now.

“Let’s go check out that $10,000 thing. We need to hurry up.”

With their break over, it was time to get back to business. Ryan didn’t mention how serious the situation was, and Mia just nodded obediently. She knew what was at stake.

Their goal was clear: find out where that $10,000 had gone. Even if it wasn’t directly related to the string of setups and accusations, Ryan felt like he had to investigate, even if it was just to satisfy his own curiosity.

That $580,000 had been Clara’s father’s last-ditch effort to save his daughter’s life. It was literally life-saving money, and Ryan couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

By the time they left, the police who had been stationed outside the hospital earlier had already left, and the hospital was back to normal operations.

Ryan made sure his mask was securely in place and held Mia’s small hand as they walked toward the hospital.

Since coming out of the restroom, Mia seemed a little different, but Ryan couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He chalked it up to her stomach still hurting from laughing too hard earlier.

“By the way, Ryan, don’t you think this whole thing is really weird?”

Ryan had been sneaking glances at Mia’s expression, but her sudden question caught him off guard.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, ‘what do I mean’? I’m talking about Clara’s hospitalization.”

Mia pouted, clearly annoyed. She pinched Ryan’s hand hard enough that he winced and let out a sharp “Ow!” before she reluctantly let go.

Ryan was confused. He didn’t think he’d done anything to upset Mia, but clearly, something was bothering her.

Some things were better left unsaid, though. Seeing Mia get serious, Ryan knew he couldn’t brush this off, so he straightened up and focused.

“What exactly do you mean? The money?”

Mia just rolled her eyes at him. Ryan could read that look—it was saying, “You’re an idiot.”

“No, not that. I’m talking about Frank’s suicide.”

Seeing Ryan’s still-baffled expression, Mia sighed and patiently explained.

“Look, you said Frank last visited Clara two weeks ago, right? But he died three days ago.”

“Sure, his death brought in a lot of money, but that only solved one problem.”

“To keep Clara alive—really alive—there are two things you need. One is a lot of money for her treatment, and the other is…”

Mia trailed off, her big blue eyes sparkling as she looked at Ryan, like a teacher waiting for a student to fill in the blank.

A pop quiz? Ryan wasn’t prepared for this. He awkwardly scratched his nose, trying to think.

Now that Mia had pointed it out, Ryan realized something didn’t add up. He had always thought Frank’s death was a noble sacrifice, but now it felt like there was a veil over the whole situation, making it hard to see clearly.

“Second is… care?” Ryan ventured cautiously, eyeing Mia’s small fist, which was already raised in front of him, ready to strike if he got it wrong.

Luckily, Mia’s fist just hovered in the air for a moment before she pulled it back with a satisfied little hum.

“Exactly, care.”

“I just thought of it now. You see, that $10,000 was spent, but it didn’t seem to do any good. It’s like they’re deliberately neglecting Clara.”

“For someone who’s sick, it’s all too easy to be mistreated by the world.”

Mia paused here, her cute little eyebrows knitting together as if she’d just thought of something unpleasant.

“What’s wrong?” Ryan asked.

“Nothing… It’s just, you mentioned Clara’s already showing signs of self-destruction, and she’s not happy.”

“So, if the people hired to take care of her are slacking off, she probably wouldn’t even complain. Especially now, she doesn’t have anyone to complain to.”

“Frank’s goal was only half-achieved. Sure, he kept Clara alive for now, but what’s the point of living like this? How is it any different from being dead?”

Mia’s question was sharp, and maybe a bit emotionally charged, but Ryan understood exactly what she was getting at.

If this was true, then Frank’s sacrifice wasn’t as selfless as it seemed. It was more like an escape.

He couldn’t handle his daughter’s illness, so he gave up his life for a slim chance at saving her. But did he ever stop to think about what would happen to Clara after he was gone?

Now that he was dead, Clara had no guardian, no one to take her out of the hospital. Was Frank planning for her to stay there forever?

Or had he already decided that Clara was beyond saving, and his final act was more about his own guilt or his desire to escape?

As harsh as these thoughts were, they were the reality. Clara’s situation hadn’t improved much since Frank’s death.

Was this really the kind of thing a selfless father would do? Had he really not considered the issue of care at all?

Ryan didn’t want to think this way about the dead, especially not about a father.

But if things weren’t like this, then maybe Frank had left some kind of backup plan. Had they missed something in their investigation so far?

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