Chapter 462 Two Months
That year, when Rose found out she was pregnant, she had been overjoyed. She had taken the eight-hour flight from New York to Paris just to see Ryan.
She knew the address of his company, but she didn’t know where he was living.
So, after calling him, she went straight to the company’s headquarters and waited outside.
Ryan hadn’t said much on the phone.
He simply came to pick her up.
And then...
They parted on terrible terms.
Rose had tried to find out how he felt about the baby, but Ryan had been cold—almost cruel. He had told her not to get her hopes up about the child.
His words had broken her heart.
The next day, Ryan hadn’t tried to stop her from leaving.
He’d arranged for someone to buy her a ticket and see her safely back to the United States. He hadn’t let her linger or given her any reason to stay.
Looking back now, Rose finally understood.
Ryan had done it on purpose.
He had left the hospital just to pick her up.
He’d already been seriously ill, and the longer she stayed around him, the greater the chance she’d notice something was wrong.
She had always believed he’d chosen to stay in Paris because he couldn’t stand being around her and wanted to focus on the company.
She had never imagined that he’d actually been in Paris for medical treatment.
"What’s wrong, Ms. Bennett?"
Robert noticed the sudden pallor in Rose’s face and looked at her with concern.
Rose came back to herself.
Her fingers curled unconsciously. When she spoke, her voice was slightly hoarse.
"It’s nothing. Why was his condition so serious back then? Why did he have to stay in the hospital for so long?"
Robert fell silent for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"Ryan’s medical history is more complicated than I originally realized. Before the tumor was diagnosed, he’d already been dealing with another serious problem. There was evidence of prolonged exposure to a toxic substance."
Rose’s expression changed.
Robert continued, "We don’t know the full circumstances surrounding it, but the exposure had affected his overall health significantly. It put considerable strain on his immune and organ systems, and it complicated the treatment of everything that came afterward. By the time the brain tumor was diagnosed, he’d already been through a great deal."
Rose’s lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
A chill settled over her.
Ryan had never told her any of this.
Not once.
As for who had been responsible for the poisoning...
She already had a fairly good idea.
Ryan had stayed out of the Knight family’s recent power struggles. If someone had managed to poison him over a prolonged period, the danger had almost certainly come from someone who had access to him regularly.
Someone close.
Someone inside the family.
Powerful families had never lacked ways to destroy one another.
Once money, influence, and succession were involved, even blood ties could become secondary.
Rose couldn’t help thinking back over everything that had happened.
The collapse of the Knight family’s second branch.
The battles that followed.
The people who had been pushed aside one after another.
And now Ryan.
His body had endured too much for too long.
Until it had finally reached its limit.
She remembered the way he’d looked at her over and over again, telling her he didn’t want a future with her.
The way he’d pushed her away every time she tried to get closer.
Back then, she’d thought it was because he didn’t love her.
Now...
For the first time, those decisions seemed to have an explanation.
"Long-term poisoning doesn’t happen by accident," Charlotte said coldly. She had barely recovered from the journey, but there was no trace of fatigue in her expression now. "Whoever did it had access to him. And in a family like the Knights, that probably means someone close to him."
Her jaw tightened.
"The Knight family really is a den of wolves."
She turned toward Rose.
"I still don’t understand one thing. Why did you marry into that family in the first place?"
Rose lowered her eyes.
It had been an accident.
But now that she knew what she knew, even that accident no longer seemed quite so accidental.
She had become a pawn.
Her value had been calculated, her position carefully used by people who wanted something from Ryan.
Everyone knew how much Rose’s presence could affect him.
A young woman with no comparable power or influence, suddenly placed beside Ryan Knight.
A wife who could be used to restrain him.
Rose slowly exhaled.
"Mr. Robert," she said, her expression settling into calm professionalism, "would you mind gathering all of Ryan’s previous medical records? I want to go through everything—from his earliest treatment to his most recent scans. Would that be possible?"
Robert’s eyes lit up.
"Of course."
He was more than pleased by her request.
"Come with me."
He walked behind his desk and pulled out several thick folders.
"This is only part of it. He’s had years of imaging, blood work, consultations, hospitalizations, and treatment. I’ll also pull together the medication history and records from the other hospitals."
Rose had already stepped forward.
She took the first folder and began reading.
Her expression was completely blank.
Page after page.
Scan after scan.
Laboratory results.
Treatment notes.
She examined every detail with the concentration of a physician who had forgotten everything else existed.
Robert watched her for a moment before speaking.
"Ryan’s condition is extremely serious now. Over the past year, he’s been pushing himself harder while becoming increasingly resistant to further treatment."
He paused.
"If the tumor can’t be controlled, we’re eventually going to reach the point where there are no meaningful options left. His condition could deteriorate suddenly, and we can’t give you a reliable survival estimate."
Rose’s eyes remained on the page.
Robert’s voice grew quieter.
"Based on his current progression, we’re talking about weeks to a couple of months if nothing changes."
Two months.
Rose’s eyes stopped moving.
Her fingers tightened around the paper until it crumpled slightly.
Robert continued.
"His vision may already be deteriorating. The tumor is putting significant pressure on critical structures in the brain, and if that continues, his vision could worsen dramatically."
Rose said nothing.
"But there’s another problem," Robert said. "His clotting function is severely impaired. That’s one of the consequences of the damage his body has suffered over the years."
Rose finally looked up.
Robert’s expression was grim.
"That makes surgery much more dangerous. If we operate, controlling bleeding could become extremely difficult. If we don’t operate, the tumor will continue progressing."
He rubbed a hand over his face.
"That’s why we’ve been stuck in this position for so long."
They weren’t an ordinary medical team.
They were among the best specialists available.
And even they had been forced to hesitate.
"That bad?"
Charlotte stared at him.
"You’re basically telling him that every option could kill him."
Her voice dropped.
"That’s brutal."
Especially for someone like Ryan.
If surgery meant a serious risk of death or permanent neurological damage, and refusing surgery meant allowing the tumor to progress, there was no easy choice.
Robert’s expression softened.
"Ryan has fought for a long time."
Rose’s fingers stilled.
"He really does want to live," Robert said. "Over the years, he’s tried multiple treatment approaches. Medication, monitoring, everything we could reasonably attempt. But the results haven’t been enough."
He paused.
"Because he knew his clotting function was a problem, he also worked with specialists to make sure blood products with appropriate clotting support were available whenever an invasive procedure was being considered."
Rose slowly raised her head.
Ryan wanted to live.
He had wanted to live once.
Perhaps more desperately than anyone had realized.
And now...
He had stopped trying.
"Rose."
Charlotte grabbed her arm, unable to hide her anxiety.
"We need to find him. Right now. He could be in danger at any moment."
Rose lowered her eyes again.
For a long time, she said nothing.
She went through the records almost line by line, forcing herself to understand every complication, every failed treatment, every risk.
Only after she’d finished reviewing the most recent reports did she speak.
Her voice was hoarse, but steady.
"Mr. Robert, could you gather Ryan’s medical team?"
Robert looked at her.
"I think we should meet first."
Rose closed the folder.
"We need to review all the available data, identify every possible option, and work out a surgical strategy before we find him."
The surgical plan mattered.
Especially in a case involving a malignant brain tumor in a functionally critical area, years of medical complications, and severely impaired clotting.
Charlotte stared at her in disbelief.
"You’re not going to find him first?"
Rose looked at her.
"Aren’t you worried about him?"
Rose turned away.
She wrapped both arms around the thick stack of medical records, holding them against her chest.
"I’m worried."
Her voice was quiet.
"That’s exactly why we can’t waste time."
Charlotte fell silent.
Rose looked down at the files.
"Finding Ryan is useless if we still don’t know what we’re going to do once we find him."
Her eyes hardened with determination.
"We need a plan first."