Chapter 373: Promise Me, Marry Joy Sheridan
Soon, Quentin Blackwood, also dressed in isolation gear, entered from outside. He looked at the person on the hospital bed. "Elder Sheridan."
He wasn’t completely unscathed. His hand and leg had been slightly injured during the firefight, but he had paid it no mind.
He had just gone to wash his face, scrubbing away the bloodstains.
"Quinn... come here." Elder Sheridan struggled to lift his hand, beckoning him closer.
Quentin Blackwood walked over and took the old man’s hand. "Don’t worry, Elder Sheridan. Just focus on recovering. You don’t need to worry about the company. I’m here. I’ll watch over it for you. You’ll get better soon."
Old Master Sheridan managed a weak smile. "Quinn, I know... I don’t have much time left."
"It’s good that you’re here for the company, but you know... what I... what I care about most... is Joy."
"She... she’s my precious granddaughter, my only one... If I’m gone, what will she do...?"
Another tear slid down his cheek. The old master’s grip on Quentin’s hand tightened. "Quentin... I’m entrusting... entrusting Joy to you... For the sake of me taking a bullet for you, give... give her a home..."
It was like a knife plunging into Quentin Blackwood’s heart. "Elder Sheridan, you’re going to get better. You’ll be able to take care of Joy yourself. You know I have a girlfriend right now. I’m afraid I can’t agree to this request."
He was in love with Ivy Sherwood; he couldn’t possibly marry anyone else.
Old Master Sheridan’s speech became more strained. "Just think of it... as my dying wish. I want you to marry Joy. Otherwise, I won’t be able to rest in peace..."
Quentin Blackwood’s lips tightened into a thin line, his face a ghastly white.
"Quentin... promise me... I’m entrusting Joy to you..."
"Elder Sheridan, I can help Joy more on your behalf, but your request... I really can’t do it!"
He didn’t like Joy Sheridan. He would not marry her.
Listening from the side, a look of hatred contorted Joy Sheridan’s face.
’Even now, Quentin still refuses to marry me?’
"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..." The old master began to cough violently. Quentin was about to call for a doctor, but the old man suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Quentin’s hands were covered in his blood. At that moment, Joy Sheridan cried out, "Quentin, you made my grandpa cough up blood!"
He froze for two seconds. "I’ll get a doctor!"
But the old master grabbed him with all his remaining strength, then used his other hand to take Joy’s, placing Quentin’s hand over hers.
"Quinn... For the sake of how I helped you when you first came to Aethelgard, promise me... You know full well that without me, you wouldn’t be where you are today. And for the sake of me dying for you now..."
"Marry Joy, help me take good care of her. Quentin, promise me!" The old master seemed to be using every last ounce of his strength, his eyes wide.
Quentin Blackwood clenched his jaw, the veins on his forehead bulging as he desperately tried to suppress his pained expression.
His heart felt as if it had plunged into an icy abyss, encased in a thick layer of frost. The ice morphed into a million needles, stabbing into every part of his body. His blood seemed to freeze, and he felt so suffocated he could barely breathe.
’If I agree, what about Ivy Sherwood?’
Just then, the medical monitor beside the bed let out a loud, terrifying alarm.
"Quentin, promise me!" The old master’s eyes seemed to be bloodshot. He gripped his hand tightly, truly looking like a man who would not be able to die in peace.
"I promise you." His voice was devoid of strength, as if all the energy had been drained from his body.
"BEEP—" In that instant, the heart monitor let out a piercing tone. The fluctuating ECG line went flat.
The hand holding theirs went limp and fell away.
Old Master Sheridan was gone.
Joy Sheridan threw herself onto the old master’s body. "Grandpa! Grandpa, are you abandoning me? How could you leave me all alone in this world?"
A dense, sharp pain spread through Quentin Blackwood’s heart. He took a step back and yelled toward the door, "Doctor! Doctor!"
But Joy Sheridan suddenly threw her arms around him. "Quentin, don’t go! My grandpa’s gone... I’m so scared... What am I going to do? What am I going to do...?"
Quentin Blackwood shoved her away without a hint of gentleness.
"Doctor!" Quentin Blackwood called the doctor in.
The doctor began emergency resuscitation, but after several minutes, it had no effect.
"I’m sorry, we did everything we could."
Joy Sheridan grabbed the doctor’s hand, crying heartbrokenly. "Don’t just stand there! Try to save him again! Save my grandpa!"
The doctors stood with their hands at their sides. They weren’t miracle workers; there was nothing more they could do.
’Still, although the old master’s condition had been critical, it shouldn’t have deteriorated this quickly... He seemed stable just a moment ago. How could he suddenly...?’
No one would suspect Joy Sheridan. After all, he was her only living relative. Who wouldn’t want their family to live a long and healthy life?
"How did my grandpa die? He was fine just a moment ago!"
The doctor said, "Judging from the patient’s condition, it was due to emotional agitation. His heart was already weak, and it led to a cerebral hemorrhage."
"A cerebral hemorrhage? How could that happen so suddenly? I didn’t do anything, I didn’t say anything!"
Joy Sheridan looked at Quentin Blackwood, then deliberately started pounding on his chest with her fists, putting on a show of being utterly heartbroken.
"It was you! It must have been you! If you had just agreed to Grandpa’s wish sooner, he wouldn’t have gotten so agitated, and he wouldn’t have left me!"
"You angered my grandpa to death! Give him back to me! Give him back..."
She clutched at Quentin’s clothes, blaming him for everything, stabbing at his heart with the sharpest, most direct words she could find.
’She had to make Quentin believe that her grandpa died because of him. She needed that guilt to remain in his heart forever. That was the only way he would treat her well.’
"Waaaah... I don’t have a grandpa anymore... Quentin, you’re all I have now! You promised Grandpa. You promised him you would marry me."
"Let go." Quentin Blackwood’s voice was frigid, as if it had risen from the depths of hell.
"You’re not going to back out, are you? My grandpa is still lying right there! Quentin, look at him! Look at the man who died because of you!"
"I will marry you. But not now."
With those words from Quentin, Joy Sheridan felt relieved. She knew that Quentin Blackwood was a man of his word.
She lowered her head and covered her face with her hands. It looked like she was crying, but in reality, she was hiding an irrepressible smile.
’She had finally gotten what she’d been waiting for. After all these years, it had finally happened. She was ecstatic!’
"I know. You still have to deal with Ivy Sherwood. I’ll give you time. I’ll wait for you!"
"Besides, Grandpa just passed away, and I still need to arrange his funeral. It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to get married right away. Why don’t we get engaged first, okay?"
’At least if they were engaged, the whole world would know she and Quentin were a couple.’
She reached for Quentin Blackwood’s hand, but he flung it away in disgust.
Quentin Blackwood walked away, his back looking as if it carried an immense weight.