Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 57

“Seth, I’m so scared.”

As soon as Seth arrived at Yvonne’s hospital room, Bianca–her eyes red from crying–rushed into his arms, trembling all over.

“My mom just started coughing up blood.”

Seth had hurried over the moment he got Bianca’s call. The doctors and nurses had gotten there first and were already running a thorough exam on Yvonne.

He gently tried to calm Bianca down.

When the doctor finished, he reassured them, “There’s no need to be alarmed. That wasn’t actually blood from her lungs–just a little blood mixed in with phlegm. Sometimes, when a patient coughs violently, tiny blood vessels can break. It’s nothing serious; her body will heal itself.”

Bianca finally let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

Once the doctor left, she looked at Seth with a shy, almost embarrassed smile. “Sorry, I panicked and was so scared. The only person I could think to call was you. I hope I didn’t wake you up?”

“Not at all. You can relax now, okay?”

Bianca’s smile returned as she nodded, a little too enthusiastically. “Yeah.” “I’m glad you came.”

Just then, Forrest rushed in. After Bianca explained what had happened, relief washed over his face.

“Thank you for everything these past few days.” Forrest shook Seth’s hand warmly. “Bianca’s been run ragged looking after her mom. Let me take over here–you two should get out this weekend, enjoy yourselves, take a break.”

He turned to Bianca with a fatherly smile. “And while you’re at it, make

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Chapter 57

sure you treat Seth to a nice dinner for me. Once your mom’s home from the hospital, we’ll have him over to the house for a real meal.”

Bianca couldn’t hide her happiness. “Will do!”

Before leaving, she reminded Forrest to pick up Yvonne’s lab results from diagnostics.

Forrest nodded, gave a quick word to the nurse’s aide, and headed to the lab. As he flipped through a stack of reports searching for Yvonne’s name, a familiar one caught his eye.

He paused, then flipped back a page. Rosalind. Rosalind Gilmore.

The name sounded almost identical, though the spelling was a little different. The age matched up, too.

Probably just a coincidence, Forrest thought, brushing it off. He turned his attention back to finding Yvonne’s report.

Outside the hospital, Bianca asked Seth if there was anywhere special he wanted to eat.

He shook his head. “Not really.”

“In that case, let’s just go back to Willow Brook,” she suggested.

Seth nodded, but as they started walking, he suddenly stopped in his

tracks.

“What’s wrong?” Bianca asked, puzzled.

Seth’s gaze was fixed on something ahead.

Bianca followed his line of sight and instantly spotted Noreen–along with Dylan.

She stared in disbelief. “Why are those two together again?”

A flicker of cold sharpness flashed in Seth’s eyes, but Bianca didn’t notice. She kept speculating aloud. “Wait, do you think back at Hesper Lounge, your secretary was already cozying up to Dylan?”

Bianca scoffed at the thought. “Seth, I have to admit, your secretary is pretty crafty.”

Seth didn’t respond, simply turning away with an even colder expression than before. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”

Bianca hurried to keep up, but couldn’t resist glancing back at Noreen and Dylan, her eyes full of meaning.

From across the way, Noreen saw Seth and Bianca, too.

Just as she’d expected–Seth was leaving with Bianca again.

She’d told him, quite seriously, that things between them were over.

He hadn’t bothered to reply. As soon as Bianca called, he’d turned his back and walked away.