Chapter 183: A Daughter Returned

Isobel barely remembered the drive to the hospital.

She only knew that she had never driven like that in her entire life.

The hazard lights had been flashing the entire way, and her hand seemed to have a mind of its own, repeatedly slamming down on the horn whenever someone dared to slow her down or block her path.

She had shouted at drivers. She had honked until her hand hurt.

She had ignored traffic lights whenever it was safe to do so.

Nothing mattered except getting to the hospital.

She didn’t dare look in the rearview mirror.

She couldn’t bear to see the three people in the back—the unconscious old man lying across the seat, and the two terrified children huddled beside him.

Her entire world had narrowed to one thing:

Get to the hospital. Get there before it was too late.

The moment the hospital came into view, Isobel felt a tiny flicker of relief.

She pulled into the emergency entrance and stopped the car almost directly in front of the doors.

She barely had time to put the car in park before jumping out.

Thankfully, the hospital administration had the foresight to provide valet service at the emergency entrance.

"Take the car!"

She tossed the keys toward the waiting valet attendant, who caught them with both hands.

Isobel didn’t even wait for confirmation.

She rushed to the back door.

"Randy!"

She pulled it open, only to find the boy struggling desperately with the door from inside.

"I—I couldn’t open it!" Randy said, his voice shaking. "I tried, but it wouldn’t open!"

Isobel couldn’t hear him, but she could make out his words by reading his lips.

"It’s okay. Come on."

Isobel helped him out before immediately turning toward Leon.

An orderly was already rushing toward them with a stretcher.

"Ma’am, let us handle him."

The orderly carefully lifted Leon from the back seat and placed him onto the stretcher. Another medical worker was already waiting, and together they pushed him rapidly toward the emergency room.

"Wait!"

Isobel instinctively took a step after them.

A nurse intercepted her.

"Ma’am, I need some information about the patient. What is his name? How old is he? Does he have any known medical conditions? What medications is he taking?"

Isobel opened her mouth. Nothing came out.

She stared at the nurse helplessly.

"I... I don’t know."

She had only met Leon today. She didn’t know his age.

She didn’t know what illnesses he had. She didn’t know whether he took medication. She didn’t even know how long he had been living beneath that bridge.

The questions came one after another, and with every unanswered question, Isobel’s helplessness grew.

Then Randy stepped forward.

"I know some things," he said quietly.

The nurse immediately turned to him.

Randy wiped his tears with the back of his hand and began answering as best he could.

"He gets sick a lot. He coughs a lot, especially at night. Sometimes he has trouble breathing. He doesn’t eat much..."

His voice cracked.

"But he was okay before. He was talking to us."

The nurse quickly wrote everything down.

"Thank you. We’ll do everything we can."

And then the stretcher disappeared through the emergency room doors.

The doors swung shut.

Isobel stood frozen in front of them. For several seconds, she couldn’t move.

Then she slowly lowered herself into one of the waiting chairs.

Randy sat beside her. Yana climbed onto the other seat and pressed herself against Isobel’s side, silently crying.

Isobel wrapped an arm around the little girl.

Her eyes remained fixed on the emergency room doors.

Please.

Please don’t let him die.

Not now. Not when she had just found him. Not when she had finally found a piece of her mother.

...

Meanwhile, at the Foster Mansion, dinner had been served.

The dining table was covered with an elaborate spread—roasted meat, vegetables, soup, freshly baked bread, and several dishes that had taken hours to prepare.

Normally, the family would have been happily eating.

Tonight, no one touched their food.

The chair at the table where Isobel should have been sitting remained empty.

Julian glanced at it again before turning toward his son.

"Did you call her?"

Morgan nodded.

"Yes. But she isn’t answering."

Julian’s brows furrowed.

"Call her again."

Morgan didn’t answer immediately.

He stared at his phone, his uneasiness growing with every passing second.

Judy sat quietly across the table.

Under normal circumstances, she might have made a sarcastic remark, scolding Isobel for getting attention and making everyone wait.

She might have joked that Isobel was probably ignoring them on purpose or making everyone worry unnecessarily.

But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Everyone looked worried. Even her mother.

And somehow, that made the situation feel much more serious.

Judy lowered her eyes.

If she were being completely honest with herself, she had grown fond of Isobel.

Isobel was kind, easygoing and warm.

She had never treated Judy as a rival or an enemy, even when Judy had given her plenty of reasons to.

Somewhere along the way, Judy had begun to think of her as family.

As a sister.

The thought made the knot in her stomach tighten.

...

"Did you call her again?" Julian asked.

Morgan finally looked up.

Instead of answering, he pressed the call button and placed his phone on speaker.

The phone rang.

Once. Twice.

Then—

Click.

The call connected.

"Brother."

Isobel’s voice came through the speaker. But something was wrong.

Her voice was strained, breathless, and threaded with an unmistakable worry that she couldn’t quite hide.

Julian and Leanne immediately leaned forward, their attention fixed on the phone.

Morgan’s expression changed. He straightened in his chair, his brows drawing together as a sudden uneasiness settled in his chest.

Something happened.

"Isobel?" he asked carefully. "Are you all right?"

"I’m fine," she replied quickly.

Too quickly.

Morgan narrowed his eyes.

He knew his sister well enough to recognize when she was trying to reassure someone.

Earlier, when Isobel had finally checked her phone, she found several missed calls from both Morgan and Kristine.

Only then did she realize that she had left without telling anyone where she was going.

She had been so consumed by everything that had happened that she had completely forgotten to explain herself.

And now, hearing the worry in her brother’s voice, she suddenly realized how suspicious her disappearance must have seemed.

"I’m sorry," she added. "I should have told you all that I had something important to take care of."

Morgan’s gaze sharpened.

"Something important?"

There was a pause.

Isobel hesitated.

On the other end of the call, the faint sounds of the hospital could be heard in the background—distant footsteps, voices, the occasional beep of medical equipment.

Morgan’s face grew serious.

"Isobel," he said slowly, "where are you?"

The dining room fell completely silent.

Everyone at the table waited for her answer.