Chapter 296

Looking down at Zinnia asleep against him, Nathan sighed softly. Her brows remained furrowed even in slumber.

With gentle fingers, Nathan smoothed the tension from her furrowed brows, watching as they gradually relaxed.

With a gentle bend, Nathan lifted Zinnia into his arms and carried her out of the room to her own bedroom. He pulled back the covers and tucked her in for a sound sleep.

After breaking down in tears and nearly having a heart attack, Zinnia was at her limit. She badly needed a proper rest.

Nathan stepped out of the room and made a phone call.

“Nathan,” Yannis replied, his voice clear and pleasant.

“Yannis, can you come over tonight?” Nathan glanced at Zinnia, still asleep in the room.

Yannis replied, “What’s wrong? I can come right now.” Hearing the sigh in Nathan’s voice, Yannis, who had been working on some documents, immediately grabbed his coat from the hanger and headed out.

“Zinnia found out a bit about my condition,” Nathan said quietly. “She can’t handle it.”

Zinnia woke up to find that night had already fallen. The tightness in her chest had eased somewhat.

She ran a hand through her hair. Remembering Nathan’s condition, she bolted upright from bed, her bare feet hitting the floor as she hurried out.

“Master,” she called out anxiously. Her voice carried a note of urgency. She didn’t know how she’d suddenly fallen asleep.

Though she’d checked Nathan’s pulse recently and found nothing amiss, the thought of Nathan being ill still filled her with unease.

It wasn’t until she stepped out of the room that she heard voices coming from the living room.

“Yannis,” Zinnia murmured. She spotted Yannis sitting on the sofa and froze for a moment, a bit taken aback.

Yannis wore a simple gray sweater and black dress pants, his well-defined bone structure standing out even in such casual attire. His neck was slightly bent as he arranged a fruit basket in his hands.

Zinnia saw it was a bunny-shaped basket crafted from cantaloupe rind, filled with neatly prepared fruit.

With his head slightly lowered, the sharp angles of his face became even more pronounced. The wall lamp cast a silhouette over his skin, half his face was lit, the other half shrouded in shadow. There was a sharp intensity about him.

‘He doesn’t seem to be in the best mood,’ Zinnia thought.

“Awake?” Seeing her, Yannis softened his expression and made a gentle smile, carefully hiding the concern in his eyes.

“Yannis, where’s Master?” Zinnia looked around the living room, not seeing Nathan anywhere, and felt uneasy. Subconsciously, she wanted to go to Nathan’s room to look for him.

Yannis’s gentle voice stopped her. “Nathan’s in the kitchen baking cookies for you. See?” His words calmed Zinnia’s anxious heart.

Following his gaze, Zinnia saw that, perhaps knowing she’d worry if she woke up and didn’t see him, Nathan had deliberately left the kitchen door open this time. She could see his busy figure inside. A wave of relief washed over her.

If the kitchen door had been closed, she would have gone to check on him. But with it wide open, Zinnia knew Nathan was reassuring her that he was fine.

“Have a seat. You’ve been sleeping all afternoon, hungry? Come have some fruit,” Yannis said, patting the sofa beside him to invite her over. Zinnia wandered over absentmindedly and sat down.

“What’s troubling my sweetie? Did something happen? Want to tell me about it?” Yannis asked gently, immediately noticing the exhaustion on her face.

“Yannis.” Just thinking about Nathan’s illness and how he’d kept it from her for so long made an ache rise in Zinnia’s chest, her throat tightening with unshed tears.

“We don’t have to talk about it right now. Let’s just relax a bit and have some fruit. Look, do you like these?” Yannis nudged the bunny-shaped fruit basket toward her.

“Yeah.” Looking at the cute cantaloupe bunny basket filled with all her favorite fruits, including strawberries, grapes, kiwi, and mango, Zinnia felt a faint smile tug at her lips.

Each piece was cut into charming shapes and so delightfully crafted. He’d even used seeds to dot on eyes and mouths. The sight made

“Have a strawberry,” Yannis offered. He speared a bunny-shaped strawberry with a toothpick and handed it to her.

“Thanks.” Zinnia took it and bit in.

The strawberry was sweet, but Zinnia could barely taste it. Her worried gaze remained fixed on Nathan in the kitchen.

Yannis gently asked, “Sweetie, is something bothering you?”

Zinnia lowered her head. “Yannis, I… I just feel awful.” Her heart ached. She thought, ‘I’m so useless. I didn’t even know Master was sick.’ She felt so helpless and hadn’t even realized her master was ill.

Yannis softened his eyes as he listened to her hoarse, muffled voice, his tone as gentle as warm spring water. “What happened? You can tell me.”

“Master’s been sick all this time, and I had no idea. I must be so useless. If I hadn’t come back today by chance, I still wouldn’t know. He’s been hiding it from me all along,” Zinnia said, her voice trembling with guilt.

Zinnia lowered her face, not hiding anything from Yannis. "But have you ever thought about why Master kept it from you?" Yannis asked gently, waiting patiently for her to finish.

“He was afraid I’d worry,” Zinnia replied, fully aware of why Nathan had hidden it from her. He just didn’t want her to be anxious about him.

“But isn’t the way you are now just making him worry more?” Yannis pressed softly.

“But the more he hides it from me, the more I worry about him,” Zinnia said, her voice trembling. “When I found out he was sick today, it felt like a knife was twisting in my chest. I’m terrified something might happen to him.

“I’m scared something will happen to him, scared that his illness is much worse than I think,” Zinnia spoke each word carefully, her emotions raw.

Nathan was afraid she’d worry, but he didn’t realize that by keeping her in the dark, she could only guess if something had happened to him, left to stew in endless anxious speculation.

These past days, Zinnia hadn’t had a single good night’s sleep.

Yet after learning about Nathan’s illness today, she actually felt a strange sense of relief, like a weight had finally lifted from her heart.

But that relief was quickly replaced by even deeper worries. She began to worry about Nathan and thought, ‘What on earth is wrong with Master? How serious is his condition?’

Hearing Zinnia describe the pain in her heart as if a knife were carving it out, Yannis finally understood why Nathan had kept everything hidden, even when things were so serious.

‘She could barely handle just finding out something was wrong with Nathan,’ Yannis thought. ‘If she ever learned the full truth about his condition, the consequences would be unbearable for anyone.’

Her own health was a ticking time bomb. Yannis understood why Nathan had never dared to tell her. Zinnia had a heart condition. The realization sent a belated wave of fear washing over him.

‘She’s never had an episode before,’ he thought. ‘Few people could withstand a shock like that.’

Nathan stepped out of the kitchen, a tray of freshly baked cookies in his gloved hands, their sweet aroma instantly filling the air. “You’re awake?” he greeted gently.

Zinnia approached him, her voice scratchy from hours of sleep. “Master, let me check your pulse.”

“No rush,” Nathan said with a soft smile. “Let me put these down first.” He bent over and set the cookies on the coffee table, still wearing his gloves, his movements careful and unhurried.