Chapter 459 The News She Never Expected
It was Liam calling.
Diana smiled, her eyes narrowing playfully as she answered.
“What’s up? Miss me already?”
Liam was used to her teasing.
“I wanted to, but I actually have something else to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
“Charlotte needs to talk to Rose. She can’t get through to Rose’s phone. Are you two together?”
Diana turned and glanced at Rose.
“If we were together, what urgent business could Charlotte possibly have?” she said dramatically. “I practically had to drag Rose away from the restaurant, and Charlotte still chased after us like she was going to kill me.”
Despite being engaged to Liam, Diana and Charlotte had never exactly gotten along.
From the moment they met, they had rubbed each other the wrong way.
Charlotte was confident to the point of arrogance, while Diana had very little patience for people who acted as though the world revolved around them.
Naturally, they couldn’t be in the same room for long without exchanging a few words.
“She sounds pretty desperate,” Liam said patiently. “It must be important. Honey, just let Rose talk to her first.”
Diana sighed.
“Fine.”
Liam chuckled.
“My sister just has a blunt way of talking. She isn’t a bad person. If she says something that bothers you, tell her directly. Don’t keep it bottled up. Otherwise I’ll feel guilty for putting you in the middle.”
Diana knew Liam well enough not to make things harder for him.
Although Liam came from the Mercer family and still had a respectable position within it, he had never been the most favoured son. Charlotte, on the other hand, had always been treated as one of the family’s prized daughters.
In the past, Diana had been careful because she didn’t want Liam caught between them.
“Since you’ve put it that way, I’ll do it for you,” Diana said with a snort.
“That’s my girl. You’re always the reasonable one. Let’s grab dinner together later.”
“Deal.”
They ended the call.
Diana turned around.
She immediately caught Rose staring at her with an amused expression.
Her face heated.
“What?”
Rose clicked her tongue twice.
“You two have been together for years, and you’re still acting like newlyweds. The way you were talking to him just now—your voice was practically dripping with sugar.”
Diana coughed.
“We’re just used to each other.”
“Sure.”
Rose smiled.
Then Diana remembered the reason she’d called.
“Anyway, Liam said Charlotte has something urgent to discuss with you. She couldn’t explain it over the phone, so she wants to see you in person.”
“Charlotte wants to see me?”
Rose frowned slightly.
She pulled out her phone, which had been on silent, and checked the screen.
Sure enough, there were several missed calls and messages from Charlotte.
Charlotte: [It’s urgent. Where are you? I’ll come to you.]
Charlotte was usually carefree and blunt, rarely worrying about whether her words offended anyone.
She could be incredibly willful.
The fact that she sounded this anxious made Rose uneasy.
She immediately sent Charlotte her apartment address.
Then she looked at Diana.
“Let’s go back to my place. We can have dinner there.”
Diana had no objections.
The villa development was only about ten minutes from Rose’s apartment.
Charlotte didn’t respond to the message.
So Rose and Diana headed home first.
They stopped at a grocery store on the way, picked up what they needed, and went back to the apartment.
Rose handed the ingredients to Diana.
“You cook.”
Diana rolled her eyes.
“You say that like you have a choice.”
Rose wasn’t particularly talented in the kitchen, so she tied on an apron and helped wash and prepare the vegetables.
Diana, despite often seeming scatterbrained, was actually an excellent cook.
Back when they were in school, Rose had been so buried in classes, research, and medical work that she sometimes forgot to eat.
Diana couldn’t stand watching her live that way.
She started cooking for Rose every day and bringing meals over.
Whenever Rose became absorbed in her work and forgot to eat, Diana would practically chase her around with a plate until she finished something.
Those days had long since passed.
But some habits never really disappeared.
Diana rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
The smell of food soon filled the apartment.
Then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Someone was knocking urgently at the door.
Rose picked up the freshly washed plate and hurried toward the entrance.
When she opened the door, Charlotte was standing outside in high heels, leaning against the wall and breathing hard.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?!”
Rose glanced at her dishevelled appearance.
Instead of answering the accusation, she stepped aside.
“Your phone isn’t the only thing that can make noise, you know. Come inside. Why are you in such a hurry?”
Charlotte rushed in.
She looked miserable.
New York was in the middle of another snowfall, and the temperature was considerably lower than in Los Angeles.
Charlotte was accustomed to dressing for warmer weather and looking impeccably put together. She had clearly underestimated the cold.
Her cheeks were flushed from the wind, and she was shivering beneath her coat.
She grabbed Rose’s wrist.
“Do you know anything about Ryan?”
Rose’s expression changed the moment she heard his name.
After everything that had happened that day, she hadn’t expected to hear it again so soon.
She owed Ryan a debt.
He had saved her life.
She would never deny that.
But Ryan had never told her about it himself.
That left her in an awkward position.
If she deliberately sought him out to repay him, he might think she was using the debt as an excuse to get close to him.
And after everything he’d done to distance himself from her, Rose didn’t want to give him another reason to worry that she was still emotionally attached.
“His affairs have nothing to do with me.”
Her lips tightened, her expression deliberately indifferent.
Charlotte stared at her.
It was obvious there had been some kind of confrontation between Rose and Ryan.
But Charlotte didn’t have time to care.
“You really don’t know?”
Rose frowned.
“Know what?”
“Ryan is sick.”
Diana, who had been cooking in the kitchen, immediately walked over with a spatula still in her hand.
“If he’s sick, then he should see a doctor,” she said bluntly. “Rose isn’t the only doctor in New York.”
She gave Charlotte a pointed look.
“Besides, you were the one just saying Rose should stay away from him. Now you’re here trying to make her feel guilty?”
Rose said nothing.
As far as Diana was concerned, if Ryan had chosen to keep his illness secret, then Rose had no reason to chase after him because of it.
There was no need to drag Rose back into that relationship.
Charlotte stared at both of them.
Then she realised they had completely misunderstood her.
She stamped one heel against the floor.
“It’s not some minor illness!”
The room went quiet.
Charlotte took a breath.
“I just spoke to my uncle. Robert is Ryan’s attending physician.”
Rose’s expression changed.
Robert.
Even within the medical community, that name carried weight.
Rose had met him before. At the time, he’d been introduced simply as one of Ryan’s friends.
But Robert wasn’t just an ordinary physician.
He was a world-renowned specialist in neuro-oncology.
The fact that someone like him was personally overseeing Ryan’s treatment...
Rose’s fingers tightened around the porcelain plate in her hand.
“What illness?”
Her voice came out quieter than she intended.
Charlotte’s expression became complicated.
“Robert said... it’s neurological.”
Rose stared at her.
Charlotte swallowed.
“There’s a serious problem involving his brain.”
Crack.
The plate slipped from Rose’s fingers.
It hit the floor and shattered.
For a moment, Rose couldn’t hear anything.
Her mind went completely blank.
If even Robert was saying Ryan’s condition was serious, then the situation couldn’t be minor.
She had never imagined this.
Not once.
From beginning to end, Ryan had always appeared invulnerable.
He was calm, powerful, and completely in control.
He had never shown her even the slightest sign that something was wrong.
How could...
Rose’s breathing caught.
“What do you need me for?”
Her voice was unsteady now.
“Robert is his doctor. If anyone can treat him, it should be him.”
Charlotte looked at her carefully.
Now she understood.
Rose truly hadn’t known.
When Charlotte had spoken to Robert earlier, he’d warned her not to let her emotions run away with her.
He hadn’t wanted her to romanticise Ryan’s condition or turn his illness into some grand declaration of love.
Robert had been blunt.
Ryan had spent too long pushing his body beyond its limits and repeatedly delaying treatment.
His physical condition was deteriorating.
And if someone became deeply attached to him without understanding how serious his condition was, they could end up hurting themselves badly in the process.
Charlotte took a slow breath.
“Rose, Robert said Ryan has been putting off treatment again and again.”
Rose’s fingers curled at her sides.
“That means he isn’t taking his own life seriously.”
She looked up sharply.
Charlotte continued.
“Robert wants to convince him to go to Germany for specialised treatment as soon as possible. There are specialists there who may be able to offer him options they can’t provide here.”
Rose’s face had gone pale.
Charlotte looked straight into her eyes.
“And he thinks you might be the only person who can convince Ryan to go.”