Chapter 89: Long-Lost Warmth

Claire stared at the person in the doorway, hardly believing her eyes. Even her nose hurt. She wanted to talk, but she was so worked up, she couldn’t get a word out.

“Hey, is this the friend you wanted to call?” Leon asked, looking at Antony.

“Yeah,” Claire managed to nod and squeak out. She didn’t know what was up with her. She’d nearly kicked the bucket, and now her body felt like it might fall apart.

Antony showed up right when she was thinking about him. Feeling sick and weak, she suddenly felt a warmth she hadn’t felt in ages. It had been four years, and she’d been treated like dirt in prison. How could she expect to feel something like this?

“Claire, why did you fall into the water? I looked for you everywhere but couldn’t find you. If I hadn’t seen a report on the news, I would have thought that the person looked like you and found you. I would have been really worried to death.”

Antony, ignoring Leon in the ward, rushed in and spoke anxiously. At that moment, Claire’s attention was not on Antony’s questions but on his sweaty forehead. In such a cold winter, there was still a fine sweat on his head. He definitely ran here in a hurry.

“Okay, girl. Now that your boyfriend is here, I’m leaving.” Leon saw how worried Antony was about Claire and assumed that Antony was Claire’s boyfriend.

“He is not…” Claire wanted to explain, but Leon didn’t even give her a chance. “Even if you’re a couple and you have a fight, you can’t just jump into the lake, right? You two should talk it out and stop arguing. I’m leaving first. My family is waiting for me to have dinner.”

With that, Leon looked at Claire and Antony, shook his head helplessly, and turned away.

“What? Jump into the lake? Claire, what happened? Why did you jump into the lake? Is it related to the man who came to the hospital last time you were hospitalized?” Antony didn’t really care that Leon had misunderstood that he was Claire’s boyfriend. His mind was full of Claire’s safety. Subconsciously, he thought of the last time Claire was hospitalized and saw Frederick in the ward.

“No, I just accidentally fell into the lake.”

Claire hadn’t expected Antony to mention Frederick. But how should she start talking to Antony? Whether it was Diana or Frederick, Antony couldn’t afford to offend them.

“Accidentally? Claire, you are lying. It is the coldest time of the year, and Moon Lake is now covered with a thick layer of ice. People standing on it won’t necessarily fall down. How could you say you fell in accidentally? Or, in your eyes, am I not worthy of your sincerity and the truth?” Antony unconsciously raised his voice. He was a little annoyed. After he finished speaking, he couldn’t help but think of the rumors in the school back then. Antony thought, “Claire was such a proud princess of the Prescott family, but she did such humble things for a man. Is it that only that man can get her true love?”

“No, Antony, my affairs are too complicated. You should stop interfering. These things have nothing to do with you. The less you know, the better.” Claire tried her best not to let Antony get involved. She was afraid that something might happen to Antony, and she didn’t want to implicate innocent people. The more she said this, the more anxious Antony became.

“What do you mean? What on earth has happened in these years? Claire, can’t you just tell me?” Antony thought of the princess who once lived a life of luxury but now went to fight in an underground boxing ring and got injured again and again. Now, in the dead of winter, she fell into the cold Moon Lake and almost lost her life. Antony could no longer bear it.

“Antony, we are just classmates. My affairs have nothing to do with you. You don’t need to know that. Antony, please leave. I can stay in the hospital by myself. Today is Christmas Eve. You don’t have to stay here with me. Go reunite with your family, okay?” Claire didn’t know what Antony was thinking. But she still wanted Antony to stay away from all this. Especially thinking of what she had found in the prison and how she almost drowned in the lake today, Claire became agitated.

“No! I like you!” Antony turned around, looked at her intently, and said this. Claire’s band, which was binding the corner of the sheet, suddenly loosened. The quilt slipped off.