恶霸鲁尼 奖学金

[ At Nathan\'s Private Villa… ]

It was already evening when Jane woke up. She just found herself lying on a bed in an unfamiliar place. It took her a few seconds before it registered in her mind that she was in Nathan\'s villa.

She sat up and leaned her back on the headboard of the bed. She massaged her temples as her head still throbbed a little.

"Miss Jane… do you feel unwell?" A tiny voice was heard by her bedside. She was surprised to see Little Ethan.

Her expression changed the moment she saw the little child. Before she could stop herself, Jane grabbed the boy and wrapped him in her arms.

Ethan rejoiced when Jane suddenly hugged him. He tapped her back, comforting her. Unknown to her, Jane\'s heart was filled with different emotions right now. She was reminded of the shocking discovery in Stephen\'s office.

"Miss Jane. Don\'t be afraid. You are safe here." Ethan continued stroking her hair.

Jane just tightened her grip on Ethan\'s body. She was still shaken after knowing she got pregnant. She felt so lost. She couldn\'t fathom how it happened. If she got pregnant, what happened to the baby? Why she couldn\'t remember anything? Who was the father?

Hugging Ethan made her feel a little bit better. When she finally calmed down, Jane let go of the boy. "I\'m sorry." She apologized, looking away. She was not supposed to hug the boy, otherwise, Nathan would pick a fight with her again.

"Don\'t apologize, Miss Jane. You can hug me as much as you want." Ethan was grinning from ear to ear. He couldn\'t hide his joy.

Jane\'s heart felt the warmth of Ethan\'s love. It\'s just that she had to ignore it and pretend that she didn\'t care.

"What happened to me?" Jane decided to change the topic.

"You collapsed in the clinic. Uncle Stephen got furious at my Dad. He blamed him for what happened to you. Fortunately, Uncle Aiden and I arrived on time. We calmed those guys."

Jane wasn\'t happy to hear that. Nathan\'s and Stephen\'s friendship started to fall apart because of her. She had to fix this before things could get worse between the two. Nathan would hate her more because Stephen started to go against him because of her.

"Where is your Uncle Stephen?" Jane failed to realize that she was speaking to Ethan in a gentle manner. She wasn\'t aware of it.

"He is at home. Do you want to see him? I will summon him as soon as possible."

Jane tried her best not to smile. Ethan was too charming to ignore. She only bobbed her head in response.

"Okay, Miss Jane. Just stay here. Drink your milk and dinner. Miss Cherry prepared this for you." After giving the tray of food to Jane, Ethan left the room to call his Uncle Stephen.

Aiden and Nathan were in the living room when they saw Ethan leaving Jane\'s room. 

"Is she awake now?" Nathan asked his son.

Ethan just glared at his father before nodding his head. "Yes, she\'s awake. She\'s looking for Uncle Stephen. Dad, I\'m calling him now. Don\'t stop me. Miss Jane wants to see Uncle Stephen."

Nathan\'s face darkened when he heard that. He couldn\'t explain but he was annoyed because the moment she woke up, she started looking for Stephen. Now, he began to think that there was something going on between the two.

Nathan turned to Aiden with a serious expression on his face. "Tell me honestly. What do you know? Are they a couple? Do they have a history together? What did Stephen say?"

"Hey. I know nothing!" Aiden was too defensive, raising his two hands as he responded. "Why don\'t you ask Phantomflake herself?"

Nathan just glared at him. But Aiden just smiled meekly. Then he anchored his arm around Nathan\'s shoulders and whispered, "Why don\'t we listen to their conversations? I heard from Chantha that this house is filled with so many spying devices just to monitor Phantomflake\'s movement."

Nathan maintained his stoic facial expression. He didn\'t want to admit it but Aiden was right. He planted several spying devices around the house, except in the bathroom. This way, he could monitor Phantomflake.

Nathan planted a bug in Jane\'s bedroom so that he could listen to her secretly. Getting an idea from Aiden, Nathan simply went to the study room as he waited for Stephen to come. Aiden was left in the living room together with Ethan.

A few minutes later, Stephen arrived and entered the house. He was immediately welcomed by Ethan. 

"Uncle Stephen… Miss Jane is waiting for you in her room."

Stephen stroked his hair and smiled faintly. "I understand. I\'m going to see her. Is she feeling better now?"

"I think she\'s fine now. She was done eating her dinner." Ethan promptly responded.

Stephen nodded before he headed upstairs. He knocked three times before Jane acknowledged his presence.

A hint of gentleness could be seen in Stephen\'s eyes as soon as he saw Jane. "Don\'t stand. Just stay." Stephen stopped her when Jane attempted to stand when she saw him.

"Stephen…" She called his name.

Stephen\'s heart skipped a beat when he heard that.

"How are you?" Stephen slowly approached her. He had the urge to hug this fragile woman before his eyes.

"I\'m better." She weakly responded.

"Why do you want to talk to me?" Stephen asked her.

Jane fell silent. It seemed that Stephen had no idea yet that she opened his computer and discovered something about her past.

"I…" Jane paused for a moment. She didn\'t know if she was ready to hear the story from Stephen. As her doctor, she could sense that Stephen knew something about her past.

"Just tell me… Don\'t hesitate," Stephen urged her.

"I want to talk about you and Nathan. He is your best friend… Am I right?" Jane directly said.

"Yes… why?" Stephen was puzzled why Jane opened this conversation with him.

"Then… why are you fighting with him because of me? Stephen… I\'m the bad person here… not Nathan. I wronged him, that\'s why he hates me. But I want to redeem myself by doing a different thing. You arguing with him because of me will just make him hate me more. Stop doing this, Stephen." Jane begged him.

Nathan who was secretly listening in his study didn\'t expect Phantomflake to say these words to Stephen.

"I… I\'m just trying to protect you." Stephen responded in a low voice.

"No need to protect me, Stephen. Nathan will not harm me." She tried to convince him. "I don\'t need protection from anyone," she added.

"But he tortured you. Your body is still weak…" Stephen reasoned out, expressing his concern for her.

"I deserved it. I killed his beloved woman. I took away the mother of his child. Of all the people… You must understand him… his hatred toward me… because you are his best friend." Jane sounded like she was lecturing and reprimanding Stephen.

"You should apologize to Nathan. Don\'t defy him anymore. I must make amend… so please, stop making things difficult for me, Dr. Stephen." Her voice sounded distant, making Stephen realize his mistake.

"I didn\'t mean to hurt my best friend… I\'m just worried about you. Knowing him, he is capable of hurting you." Stephen lowered his gaze.

"It\'s okay for me to be hurt… than you hurting Nathan\'s feelings. Don\'t break his heart. He is your best friend while I\'m just your patient."

"But you are not just…" Stephen was not able to complete his words. "Okay. I\'ll apologize to Nathan."

"Thank you. I owe you this one." Jane heaved a sigh of relief.

Stephen didn\'t know what to say anymore. But Jane was not yet done with her conversation with him. Now she needed to confront him with something else.

"Stephen… There is something I wanna know. What happened to me six years ago? What happened to my baby? Perhaps… you and I…" Jane couldn\'t bring those words up. It felt so wrong to have a baby with Stephen.

On the other hand, Stephen was caught off guard. "Did your memory return?" Stephen asked her as soon as he recovered from the shock.

"No. I can\'t remember anything. But… when we were in the clinic… I… saw my files. I\'m sorry but I opened your computer without your consent…" Jane admitted to Stephen.