Chapter 4

"Tsk, troublesome," responded Zake as he distanced himself from Serena. 

Passing by Leopold, Zake roughly bumped into his shoulder, venting his earlier frustration. Leopold bowed, pretending to apologise while hiding his face.

"Such a lowly person, ignorant," Zake commented to Leopold in a threateningly subdued tone. Afterwards, he briskly left Serena's room with a firm stride. 

Leopold watched the man's figure and then turned to gaze at Serena, who seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

She quickly returned to her desk and drank fast a glass of water there while steadying his slightly trembling hands. Leopold closely observed Serena's demeanour. 

'An extremely arrogant man and a fragile ex-wife...' he assessed.

Serena appeared bewildered and deeply in thought, having heard Zake's threat. Her mind was preoccupied. Her entire life was spent here; she had nowhere else to go, no family either. She was alone in this world and would die alone...

As tears threatened to fall, she noticed someone from earlier near the door, the courier. "Oh, can I help you?" she asked, forgetting her distressing thoughts.

Leopold bowed, covering his face with the brim of his hat. "I-I'm sorry, Doctor. I was bold; there was something I wanted to ask about my child. But it seems I won't be able to afford the consultation fees—" Leopold turned to leave, but Serena's objection stopped him.

"It's okay, just tell me. This is my break time; I'll consider it as a discussion. How old is your child, Sir?" Serena began jotting down notes on a piece of paper.

'Damn, I'm digging my own grave!' panicked Leopold, realising he'd just made-up excuses earlier. Suddenly, Aster's words came to his mind, and he connected them.

"Um, four years old, a girl. She complains of stomachaches every night—" 

"Every night?" Serena interrupted, her eyebrows furrowing, but she continued jotting down notes.

'Oh no! Did I say something wrong?' panicked Leopold. He cursed himself for getting involved when he only intended to observe Serena from a distance.

But seeing the helpless woman cornered by Zake, he couldn't stay silent. Without thinking twice, he chose to rescue Serena. Now, he regretted his impulsive decision. He'd never been so careless before.

"And then?" Serena asked, cutting off the debate in his head.

"Then... Oh, sorry, doc. I remember why her stomach hurts. It must be because I always forget to feed her... Yes, that's it. Thank you for your time, doctor; you've been very accommodating. Good afternoon..." Leopold bid farewell and quickly walked away, fleeing.

"Wait!" Serena called out, about to chase the courier from earlier. But as she looked around the corridor, the courier seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"How strange, how can a father forget to feed his child?" Serena wondered briefly before dismissing it from her mind.

Meanwhile, Leopold hid in the emergency staircase, his heart pounding. He peeked back inside, afraid Serena might follow him. However, not seeing Serena looking for him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

'Wait, why am I so afraid to meet her? After all, she might never recognise me in the future,' Leopold analysed, puzzled by his behaviour.

He decided to find something to eat, as he had initially planned. But as he was about to descend, he heard a voice from below. He peeked and saw two nurses and a doctor having lunch there.

They were discussing Serena, and Leopold immediately tuned in.

"Did you see Mr. Zake coming here with his new wife? I don't know what charm that woman has; even the ex-husband and his new wife must come here to see her. She looks like an angel, but you know she's greedy, right? Her alimony is rumoured to be huge... Tsk tsk tsk, that woman is lucky," one of the nurses commented casually.

"Hah... Not to mention, the Hospital Board always praises her name. My work is always compared to that woman's. It's so annoying. Just because of a small contribution to the hospital, she acts like the sole owner," the male doctor responded this time.

Leopold furrowed his brow, hearing their comments. Now he understood why the woman looked so downcast. Even at work, she was treated poorly by her colleagues.

'Jealousy is the source of all heartaches. Geez, even educated people aren't immune to bullying behaviour. What do they think this is, high school?' he grumbled angrily. He then had a mischievous idea, urinating on the stairs and directing it to splash on the three people.

"What's this liquid?" one of them asked, sniffing the liquid that landed on their arm and immediately screamed upon recognising the smell.

"Hey!! Who's the idiot peeing up there!! Watch out!" they threatened. The other two realised it, too, and joined in disgust.

"Disgusting prick!" the male doctor yelled, ready to head stairs. 

Leopold quickly zipped up and fled through the main door. He felt satisfied for teaching them a lesson. He disliked pathetic creatures like them, who only knew how to comment and dislike others' success.

If it were about him, he'd be used to it. But why did he feel hurt knowing they were talking about Serena? Was it because he realised the empty gaze of the woman and the loneliness that enveloped her?