Meanwhile, in the emergency ward…
“Ugh…”
Seated on the stool, Atlas stared blankly at his second brother, who was sitting on the side of the bed, enduring the bruise on his cheek. The corner of Hugo’s mouth still had dried blood, indicating a deep cut.
This was what Atlas had to lie about.
Atlas canceled all his appointments, and his assistant, Allen, was efficient enough to handle the workload. Persuading people was Allen’s best asset. Moreover, nothing was more important than Atlas’s family.
In other words, no meeting or work would make Atlas attend with this family situation at hand.
Atlas had to lie about all of that for this guy.
“So?” Holding his arms firmly across his body, Atlas shook his foot as his leg rested over the other. “Are you going to explain what happened to you? And why you ended up here?”
Hugo, wincing, paused and snapped his exhausted eyes at his older brother. “I didn’t end up here. I slept here.”
“Oh, wonderful!”
“First Brother—ouch.” Hugo clicked his tongue, peeling his finger from the corner of his mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me Penny is like that?”
Atlas tilted his head slightly. “Like what?”
“Like… that!” Hugo stressed, struggling to find the right words to describe his little sister in her drunken state. “Did you know what she did to me last night?”
“No.”
“First Brother, why are you so calm?”
“Because I told you beforehand that she’s not herself when she’s drunk,” Atlas reminded him in a matter-of-fact tone. “But instead of listening to me, you snuck a drink into her hospital room when she should have been resting. Look what you got.”
Hugo winced in frustration, ruffling his hair as he hissed.
“So? What did she do to you? Did she punch you in the face? Kick you, perhaps?”
“She stomped on me,” Hugo stressed with a deep huff. Instead of shock, Atlas furrowed his brows.
“That’s all?”
“What do you mean, that’s all?”
Atlas didn’t say anything further, frowning. ’She only stomped on his face, but to me, she…’ He closed his eyes and sucked air through gritted teeth, trying not to touch that abominable memory that lived rent-free in his mind.
“First Brother, why do you look so disappointed that I got stomped on?” Hugo’s frown deepened. “She made me sober up so instantly.”
“Is that so?” Atlas’s lack of reaction to Hugo’s sentiments upset the latter, but Atlas wasn’t one to care much about that. “How did you get her to sleep?”
This time, it was Hugo who didn’t respond. With this, Atlas arched a brow and squinted.
“Did you beat her?” Atlas asked, since he hadn’t seen Penny because he came here first. “Hugo, tell me the truth so I can arrange your early admittance to this hospital.”
“I wouldn’t hurt Penny, alright?” Hugo breathed out as he slowly closed his eyes. When he snapped his eyes open again, he held Atlas’s gaze. “I just… I stabbed her…”
“… with a syringe! On the leg!” he added quickly, feeling an intense fire ing from Atlas’s direction. His voice rose a bit, causing others in the emergency room to look over. Hugo offered them a kind and awkward smile before facing his older brother again.
“You sedated her?” Atlas asked solemnly.
“I had no choice. If I didn’t, things would have been bad… for both of us.”
Recalling last night’s events, another deep sigh slipped past Hugo’s nostrils. Last night, Penny had been telling him goodnight just after two shots of vodka. He’d teased her about being a lightweight, insisting she should drink more.
So, Penny stayed up. But before she could even drink her third shot, her eyes closed, and she seemed to nod off while sitting up. Hugo only meant to tease her awake, so he poked her shoulder.
Who would have thought she would suddenly grab his finger before reopening her eyes?
’That’s the same look in her eyes that night,’thought Hugo as he sensed danger the moment he locked eyes with her. “Good thing I am trained enough. Otherwise, I would’ve gotten hurt.”
Not that Penny was stronger than Hugo. In terms of strength, Hugo would win easily. However, he would never hurt Penny, even if she came at him with a butcher knife. Thus, his reason for resorting to sedating her.
“It’s a good thing there was one lying around,” he muttered, sensing Atlas’s raised brow. “Fine, I was carrying it around in case I needed it. There’s no telling who might approach her in the middle of the night, right?”
Atlas shook his head as he listened to Hugo’s mumbling. “Anyway, Hugo, did anything else happen last night?”
“Well, nothing much.”
“Did she say anything?”
“Hmm…” Hugo hummed a long tune, staring at Atlas before he suddenly smiled. “Nothing.”
His reaction only made Atlas suspicious. “Are you sure it’s nothing?”
“I would tell you if there were anything, but she’s like a killing machine—how did you survive it when she got drunk with you?”
“Don’t ask.” Atlas’s expression remained flat and neutral. “I do the questioning; you do the answering. After all, you were the one who looked for trouble last night. If you hadn’t been able to contain her, it would’ve been a big problem. Remember, curiosity killed the cat.”
“I understand that now,” Hugo conceded. “Next time, I’ll listen to you without a shadow of a doubt.”
“Good.”
Hugo cleared his throat, curious. “But seriously, First Brother, what did she do to you?”
“Did you hear what I said just now?”
“Right. You do the questioning, and I’m only allowed to answer.” Hugo nodded, repeating his older brother’s earlier remarks.
“Anyway, get yourself together. Don’t show your face to Mom and Dad, and especially not to Penny.”
“What am I going to say when she asks about last night?”
Atlas took a moment to think of an answer. “Tell her you got drunk. If they accidentally see you, say you fell down the stairs because you were drunk.”
Wasn’t that excuse a little shameful for someone with Hugo’s standing?
“Got it?”
“Yes, First Brother.” Hugo nodded. “I got it.”
“Good.” This time, Atlas rose from his seat and gazed down at his second brother. “Until you don’t look like a wreck, don’t show your face. Penny’s going to be discharged today, so behave yourself.”
Having said that, Atlas strode off coldly without looking back. Watching him leave, Hugo sighed for the umpteenth time and laid down. He rested his arms beneath his head, staring at the ceiling and recalling last night’s events and what Penny had told him.
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