Chapter 272

Zinnia pressed her lips together and furrowed her brows. “James’ body can only be nurtured with care. His heart has been injured before; he can’t get angry anymore. He needs to avoid overthinking. If something like this happens again…” Her voice trailed off.

The truth was, James only had a few years left, at most, ten. If he suffered another shock during this time, no one could say what would happen.

James’s body had long been weakened, relying on careful maintenance in recent years. He suffered many injuries when he was younger, which didn’t seem serious at the time. But as he aged, various chronic ailments began to surface, some of which were untreatable.

Fortunately, we discovered it in time this round. If not, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

“His heart was injured? What happened?” Yannis jerked his head up. Victor, Devin, and Layla immediately knew trouble was brewing.

“Just tell me. Does this have something to do with me?” Yannis demanded. He looked at their faces, and he knew they were hiding something.

Layla opened her mouth, searching for a way to change the subject. “Yannis.”

They refused to tell him outright. Yannis’s gaze turned frosty as he reined in his surging emotions. “Zinnia, what kind of heart injury was it? And when exactly did it happen?”

Zinnia caught the look on their faces and realized she’d overshared. Apparently, Yannis was unaware of James’s heart injury. Zinnia hesitated, glancing at Layla and the others.

“Don’t look at them—look at me,” Yannis ordered, his voice steely. “They wouldn’t dare stop me. All you need to do is tell me the truth.” He knew Zinnia could see right through it.

Devin and Layla exchanged glances, then nodded at Zinnia, giving her silent permission. After all, if Yannis wanted to know, he’d find out sooner or later, whether Zinnia told him or not. With their permission, Zinnia felt a bit less pressured.

“It looks like a gunshot wound,” Zinnia said softly. “The bullet nearly pierced his heart. Judging by the injury, it must have happened about seventeen years ago.” Zinnia was certain of what she saw.

“Seventeen years ago,” Yannis murmured, the timeframe echoing in his mind. He looked up; his eyes locked onto Devin. “Was it because of me?”

Devin looked at his stubborn gaze and sighed. “Yannis, do you remember when you were rescued and first woke up, why you couldn’t see Dad? It was because he was injured.

“Back when you’d just been saved from the drug den, Dad went in alone to get you out. As he was about to get you onto the helicopter, a bullet was fired at you.

“Dad took the bullet for you. It hit dead center in his chest. A mere millimeter away, and Dad would have been gone.” Devin’s low, measured voice recounted the events slowly.

The sudden revelation of a truth buried for seventeen years felt like a key wrenching open the long-standing rift between James and Yannis.

In that moment, Yannis glimpsed the deep, unspoken love his father had always kept hidden. Yannis’s lashes quivered slightly.

“You guys go get some rest. I’ll stand watch over him,” Yannis said.

Yannis glanced at James, who lay unconscious on the hospital bed, his eyes lingering on the oxygen mask covering his father’s face as the rhythmic beeping of the monitors filled the room.

Suddenly, it hit Yannis that his father had truly aged. His throat tightened.

‘He’s not the father who used to chase me around with a stick, putting up an act for Mom, shouting that he’d beat me to death,’ Yannis thought.

He was old now, too tired to chase after him anymore. Stripped of his usual oversized coat, James now wore only a thin hospital gown, revealing his increasingly gaunt frame.

Only now did Yannis realize how much his father had withered away. The man who had always seemed so tall and unbreakable in his memory was slowly, bit by bit, fading away.

The premium VIP suite had multiple resting areas. With James still unconscious, none of them could bring themselves to leave.

“Come on, Zinnia. Let me take you to get some rest,” Layla said softly, taking Zinnia’s hand. Zinnia shot a worried glance at Yannis.

“Go rest with Layla. I’ll be fine on my own,” Yannis said gently, ruffling her hair.

It was past 1 a.m. Zinnia, who usually kept a good routine, looked especially tired now. Zinnia murmured, pursing her lips.

It was a rare opportunity for Yannis to finally have some time alone with James, and the others tactfully withdrew.

James would be deeply touched if he woke up the next morning to find that Yannis had kept vigil by his side all night.

Only Yannis and James remained in the hospital room.

Yannis looked at James’s pale, chapped lips. He stood up, took the water cup and a cotton swab from the bedside table, dipped it in water, and gently moistened his parched lips.

Leaning over, Yannis gazed down at James lying in the hospital bed. The cold white overhead light illuminated his eyes, revealing the undisguised worry in their depths.

In the dead of night, all was quiet. Yannis kept vigil by the hospital bed, bending down now and then to gently moisten James’s parched lips.

James was sleeping soundly. The doctor said this illness had really drained his energy and spirit.

A faint sound came from the door behind him, and Yannis turned his head. Zinnia emerged, a robe draped over her shoulders. She walked softly toward him.

Yannis was surprised to see Zinnia emerge. As she approached, he quietly pulled up a chair for her. Zinnia settled beside him.

Yannis looked at her. “Why did you come out? Can’t sleep here? Should I have someone drive you home?”

“No, I won’t go back. I’ll stay with you,” Zinnia said.

Zinnia tossed and turned, unable to sleep at the thought of Yannis being out there alone. Yannis‘ heart skipped a beat, but a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“Yannis, don’t worry. As long as James gets plenty of rest, there won’t be any major problems.”

Zinnia recalled the scene she had just witnessed. Under the cold, sterile hospital lights, Yannis sat in the chair, his tall, elegant frame draped in beige pajamas, sharp features strikingly handsome yet softened by the shadows.

‘But in truth, Yannis wasn’t as indifferent to James as he appeared on the surface.

‘I’ve actually heard plenty of people say that the relationship between Yannis and James is as bad as it gets.

‘The last time I happened to run into James, I could really sense just how strained things were between father and son,’ Zinnia thought.

Zinnia couldn’t help but feel that, although James always spoke harshly to Yannis, deep down he was actually a little intimidated by his son.

He longed to get closer to Yannis but didn’t know how, so all he could do was use sharp words to provoke Yannis into arguing with him, even if it left him fuming in the end. Yet he never seemed to tire of it.

For James, what mattered was that his beloved youngest son was willing to talk to him. Even if it meant bickering, quarreling, or being left exasperated, James still found it worthwhile.

A father’s love always seemed so reserved. They long to be close to their children, yet never quite knew how.