Self

Chapter 35

On the other end, Yara paused, and a flash of him and Xandra, all smiles and holding hands in a picture, crossed her mind.

She replied detachedly, “If you’re sick, go to a hospital. I’m not a doctor.”

Then, she hung up.

Her voice was so nonchalant, as if Yale was just some random guy.

Yale’s anger bubbled, and his body shook. In a fit of rage, he hurled the phone at the wall, smashing it to pieces.

Mary stood there, gaping. “Um, hello? That was my phone!”

Yara’s cold words had Yale fuming, and his stomach twisted in pain.

Proud and peeved, he stomped upstairs and slammed his bedroom door shut, locking himself in.

Did she think he was helpless without her? What a joke!

Mary eyed her trashed phone and sighed, thinking about that call. She could not figure out what the young master was playing at, pushing away Yara, who was such a catch.

Later that afternoon, after she was done cleaning, Mary knocked on the bedroom door.

“Young Master?”

There was no answer. She figured Yale was still stewing, so she shrugged it off and left.

Later, Charlotte rolled up to the villa, breezed through the door with a quick scan of her fingerprint, and stepped inside.

“Hey, Yale! I’ve got a message from Mom. It’s about dinner with Ms.

Chart, the woman with a Ph.D. from Coltrane University. Yo, you in there?”

Charlotte’s brow creased as she dialed Yale’s number, only to hear his ringtone nearby. Glancing down, she spotted his phone on the coffee table.

His phone was there, so he should be, too, right?

She headed upstairs.

“Yale, are you in there? Mom wants us to meet the Charts for dinner. You got that?”

She kept knocking, but there was no answer.

What was the deal? There was only silence from the inside.

Charlotte’s frown deepened, and she called Mary.

“Young Master is home, and he looks pale. It must be his stomach acting up again. He’s been too quiet. I hope he hasn’t passed out or something.”

So, Charlotte grabbed the spare key and unlocked the door.

There he was, lying on the floor, ghostly pale and still.

“Yale!”

The cold IV drip started, and the deep, relentless pain eased up a touch.

Yale’s eyes fluttered open, his throat parched. “Water…”

Zachary, seeing him awake, quickly handed him a glass.

Yale took a sip, soothing his dry throat, and then shook his head, waiting for Zachary to set the glass down.

“Yale, are you doing better? Charlotte freaked us out. She said you’d fainted, so we all came running.”

Chapter 35

“Seriously, Yale, you’re always so chill, then bam, hospital. You nearly gave us a heart attack.”

Yale looked around at everyone gathered. The hospital room was buzzing with visitors.

Shane, Michael, and a handful of others had all shown up. Charlotte was at the bedside, her eyes clouded with concern as she watched over him. Even Jean had made an appearance.

However, there was one glaring absence–Yara was nowhere to be

seen.

Yale’s lips twisted wryly. She sure had a heart of stone.