Chapter 78: A Conflict Arises
Caleb Quinn walked up to Henry Sterling.
Both men were tall, and though slim, they completely blocked the doorway to the hospital room as they stood in the corridor.
Caleb Quinn was the president of the basketball club. Earlier, when Eleanor Rhodes and Vivian Lowell were returning to Aethelburg University, Eleanor had been accidentally bumped by Caleb’s bicycle.
After that incident, Caleb Quinn started working as a resident singer at a bar.
Coincidentally, Eleanor Rhodes’s pet clinic needed an assistant, so Caleb Quinn joined.
On days when he had classes at Aethelburg University, Caleb would help manage Eleanor’s social media accounts, communicate with people online about cat adoptions, and verify the potential adopters’ information.
Caleb also knew how to edit videos.
When Eleanor went out on cat rescues, Caleb would tag along if he was free, helping to film or doing small chores like fetching drinks and snacks.
Of course, Caleb wanted to help Eleanor with the "dangerous" tasks, too.
But Caleb had no experience catching cats. Once, after Vivian Lowell caught a cat, she handed it to him to put into a cage.
But the cat struggled so fiercely, and Caleb, afraid of gripping it too tightly, didn’t use enough force, letting the cat escape. He’d had butterfingers that one time.
The two of them hadn’t known each other for long, but Caleb had a cheerful personality, and because he was also from Aethelburg University, he and Eleanor had quickly become close.
That evening, Caleb wasn’t supposed to be helping at the pet clinic. He had just finished editing a video and sent it to Eleanor, asking for her opinion.
When Eleanor didn’t reply, Caleb called and found out something had happened to her, so he rushed to Concordia Hospital that very night.
Now.
Henry Sterling and Caleb Quinn stood face to face. Caleb also had a hand on the gurney. Both men wanted to be the one to push Eleanor Rhodes into the hospital room, and neither would yield.
"I’ve already asked another teacher to cover my class tomorrow morning. And you, thank you for being so concerned about Eleanor Rhodes."
Henry Sterling’s tone was placid, but it carried a chill, as if he was viewing Caleb Quinn with hostility.
"She doesn’t need you here, either!"
Caleb was clearly not as patient. Seeing that Henry Sterling refused to yield, he took half a step forward, closing the distance between them threateningly.
"I’m here to take care of Tanya now!"
Henry Sterling’s brow furrowed. He looked at Eleanor Rhodes and asked, "Who do you want to stay here?"
"..."
Eleanor Rhodes was tired and wanted to rest.
She could feel the effects of the anesthetic slowly fading. Before long, the pain in her shoulder would surely make it difficult to sleep.
She never thought something like this would happen before she even made it into her room.
This was giving her a headache.
Caleb Quinn was a sweet, cheerful junior. He was a great person and treated her very well; she considered him a good friend, a little brother.
But Henry Sterling...
Eleanor Rhodes closed her eyes.
’What girl doesn’t hope that when she’s in danger, the boy she likes will be the first to step up and protect her?’
She was no exception.
When she watched movies, she’d always been drawn to the line, "My beloved is a world-conquering hero. One day, he will ride a seven-colored cloud to come and marry me."
Eleanor Rhodes wasn’t a delicate flower.
But she still hoped that when she was tired and facing difficulties, she could have a shoulder to lean on, someone to depend on.
Before, she and Henry Sterling were friends, so she didn’t dare to ask for more. She could only hope that they would slowly grow closer, that one day he could become her world-conquering hero.
But then Wendy Wynn returned.
It seemed Eleanor Rhodes’s wish was about to be shattered.
But what she never expected was this.
Just when she had given up all hope, Henry Sterling had shown up.
Eleanor Rhodes wavered. She glanced at Caleb Quinn, then at Henry Sterling, and opened her mouth, but no words came out.
’If she said she wanted Henry Sterling to stay, wouldn’t Junior Quinn think she was weak?’
Vivian Lowell and Julian Faulkner arrived at that exact moment.
Vivian Lowell was a bit surprised to see Caleb Quinn. She’d heard Eleanor Rhodes mention him, but seeing the current situation between Caleb and Henry Sterling...
Then, seeing the way Caleb Quinn looked at Eleanor Rhodes, Vivian Lowell suddenly understood something.
"Tanya."
Vivian Lowell, worried that a conflict would be bad for Eleanor Rhodes’s condition, had no choice but to pull Julian Faulkner over with her.
Vivian Lowell’s appearance broke the stalemate.
Both Henry Sterling and Caleb Quinn looked over. Caleb, who had been on the verge of exploding, reined in his aggression slightly upon seeing Vivian Lowell.
"Senior Vivian Lowell."
Caleb Quinn was still polite. "I was about to push Mr. Tanya into the room, but who would’ve thought some professor would be loitering here, refusing to leave."
"Senior Vivian Lowell, can you help me talk some sense into him?"
The night Eleanor Rhodes got drunk, she had told Caleb Quinn a great deal about her and Henry Sterling.
In that instant, Caleb Quinn’s impression of Henry Sterling fell from its pedestal, becoming incredibly poor.
Naturally, Caleb Quinn also knew that as Eleanor Rhodes’s good friend, Vivian Lowell was aware of these things as well.
So it was only natural that Vivian Lowell should share his animosity and help him drive Henry Sterling away!
"Professor Sterling."
Vivian Lowell did as expected and looked at Henry Sterling. "I’m very grateful you escorted Tanya to the hospital tonight, Professor Sterling. It’s just that now..."
She was only halfway through her sentence.
Henry Sterling was about to speak.
From the end of the hallway, Wendy Wynn emerged with red-rimmed eyes.
"Henry."
Wendy Wynn looked like she had been crying. She kept her head lowered, looking heartbroken. The stray strands of hair falling around her ears made her look particularly pitiful.
The moment Wendy Wynn appeared, her soft call of "Henry" sent a shiver down Vivian Lowell’s spine, raising goosebumps on her arms.
She really didn’t want to see this two-faced schemer.
As for Eleanor Rhodes,
The instant she heard Wendy Wynn’s voice, any and all hope in her heart vanished.
She struggled to move, trying to turn her back to Wendy Wynn. Then she said to Caleb Quinn, "Caleb, just push me inside. I’m tired. I want to rest."
Having received Eleanor Rhodes’s permission, Caleb Quinn nodded, roughly shouldered Henry Sterling aside, and pushed Eleanor into the room.
"Caleb, take good care of Tanya. I’ll be right there,"
Vivian Lowell called after Caleb, but she remained where she was, wanting to see what tricks the two-faced Wendy Wynn was planning to pull.
Henry Sterling stumbled from Caleb Quinn’s shove. He watched as Eleanor Rhodes was wheeled away, a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.
Then, Henry Sterling turned to Wendy Wynn.
"Why are you here? Didn’t you say you were busy?"
Wendy Wynn walked up to Henry Sterling and rested her head on his chest, whispering, "I was busy. But... Snowy’s sick. He’s not feeling well."
"I can’t handle taking care of Snowy all by myself. I need you."
After she spoke, Wendy Wynn looked up at Henry Sterling with an earnest expression, waiting for his response.
’Snowy?’
Vivian Lowell froze for a second, then remembered the white Lion Cat.
’Sick?’
Vivian Lowell shot a scornful look at Wendy Wynn and couldn’t stop herself from saying, "You’re really something, Miss Winslow. To have ’coincidentally’ gone to the pet clinic when neither I nor Tanya was there."
"And just as ’coincidentally,’ you adopted the white Lion Cat from the new assistant—the very cat Tanya had specifically put aside for me."
"The Lion Cat was perfectly healthy when it was at the clinic. It goes home with you, and now it just so ’coincidentally’ gets sick."
Vivian Lowell had said "coincidentally" three times, hitting each word with heavy emphasis. Then she turned to Henry Sterling and said, "Professor Sterling."
"Such thoughtfulness from Miss Winslow is a rare thing indeed."
Vivian Lowell had basically laid all her cards on the table.
She had zero goodwill toward Wendy Wynn, and her words were clearly meant as biting sarcasm.
This woman, Wendy Wynn, was full of malicious schemes; who knew what she was plotting!
And she had deliberately adopted the Lion Cat, spiting both Eleanor Rhodes and herself!
"Vivian Lowell..."
Henry Sterling had obviously caught the meaning behind Vivian Lowell’s words. Perhaps thinking she had gone a bit too far, he said her name before turning to Wendy Wynn.
"Didn’t you say they knew? Wendy, you... That cat was originally being held by Eleanor Rhodes for Vivian Lowell?"
The moment Wendy Wynn heard that, tears started to fall.
She shook her head. "No, I didn’t know at first. When I went there, I told the staff I was a friend of Eleanor Rhodes."
"The staff member must have misunderstood and gave me the Lion Cat that was meant for Vivian Lowell. I didn’t know at the time!"
"Before I left, I told the staff member my name was Wendy Wynn and asked her to pass the message to Eleanor Rhodes. That’s why I told you that Eleanor knew the whole story!"
"Henry, I didn’t lie to you. This is all just a misunderstanding!"