Ian patted his chest earnestly. “I helped build this studio from the ground up. It feels like my own child, too. Of course, I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Aurora stood up and gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. “If we keep working hard together, the studio will only keep growing. And don’t worry about Megan. She’s just dealing with some personal matters.”

“Got it, Boss,” Ian said confidently.

Meanwhile, Megan was anxiously sitting beside Leonard’s hospital bed. The sight of him lying there, his body encased in plaster, made tears well uncontrollably in her eyes.

“How did this even happen? You were perfectly fine before. How did it end up like this?” Though her tone carried a hint of blame, her eyes were filled only with worry and concern. Looking at his body covered in casts, not even daring to touch his hand, her heart ached fiercely.

Leonard’s parents sat nearby, their eyes red from crying. Hearing Megan’s trembling voice nearly brought them to tears again.

“It’s a long story,” Richard said with a weary sigh. “For our son, it was pure misfortune—an accident he never should’ve been caught up in.”

Megan frowned deeply, confusion written across her face. “What do you mean? What exactly happened, Mr. and Mrs. Knight?” Her voice had grown urgent without her realizing it.

Leonard, wrapped head to toe in plaster, couldn’t respond. Lying on the hospital bed, he looked almost lifeless—like a fragile shell of himself. Seeing him like that, Megan’s first instinct was to worry, but beneath it all, there was a flicker of pain she couldn’t quite hide.

In the end, it was Richard who forced himself to speak through the grief. “It was a drunk driver,” he said heavily. “Our son was just walking along the roadside when the car came out of nowhere and hit him. After the impact, that man sobered up and fled the scene.”

“He’s still on the run. The traffic camera on that stretch of road happened to be broken, so to this day, Leonard hasn’t woken up.”

Megan’s heart sank, sorrow tightening her chest. “They still haven’t found him?” She couldn’t wrap her head around it—how could someone just walking down the street end up like this? And with the Knights’ resources, how was it possible that the driver hadn’t been caught yet?

Jasmine shook her head miserably. “No. We’ve reported it, but it hasn’t helped at all.”

Megan looked down at Leonard lying motionless in the hospital bed, his face pale beneath the harsh lights. A wave of helplessness washed over her. “Mr. and Mrs. Knight, please don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.”

The couple exchanged a surprised glance, clearly taken aback by her words.

Jasmine hesitated for a moment, then asked awkwardly, “Megan, dear… do you really understand what you’re saying?”

Megan blinked, confused. “Of course. Leonard and I are good friends. I’m just saying I’ll look after him. Is there something wrong with that?” Seeing their strange expressions, doubt flickered across her own face. Had she said something inappropriate? She replayed her words in her head, but no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out what she’d done wrong.