Chapter 100


    Sophia only got wind of Haley’s ident the day after it went down


    Laura herself gave her a ring.


    “You wicked girl, you vanish for two years, don’t even drop a call or send some cash back home, all


    that time raising you up for nothing. Your father adored you, and all he got was disappointment. You


    know your dad’s knocking on death’s door?”


    On the other end of the line, Laura’s sobbing, almost gasping for air, turned Sophia’s face white as a


    sheet.


    “What’s wrong with my dad?” she blurted out, her voiceced with urgency.


    Though she hadn’t touched base with Laura and Aaron, she’d kept in sporadic contact with her dad,


    Haley, even had a video chat justst week.


    In that video, Haley looked worn and aged from years of boozing, but he still seemed to have some pep


    in his step, not at all like he was sick or anything.


    “He had a car ident, hit someone, and now he’sid up in the ICU. No telling if he’s gonna pull


    through.” Laura’s voice was breaking, the wordsing out in fits and starts. “Before they wheeled him


    in, he was out of it, kept calling your name.”


    Original from N?velDrama.Org.


    ‘Don’t panic, I’m on my way back now.”


    After calming Laura with those words, Sophia hung up.


    She told Laura not to panic, but inside, she was freaking out.


    Sophia didn’t dare waste any time. She buzzed Susan, left her some instructions, and booked a flight


    back. home for that very day.


    Brandon handed off the Haley situation to Kent.


    Haley had called that day looking to borrow some dough.


    Haley had a fender bender, both he and the other guy got banged up pretty bad, ended up in the ICU.


    Traffic cops hadn’t figured out who was at fault yet, and the other party was adamant that Haley was to


    me, demanding the Yearwood family cough up for the medical bills upfront.


    Aaron wasn’t clued in on Haley’s condition, but knowing his old man was fond of a drink, feared he


    might’ve been driving under the influence. Given the other party’s steadfast attitude and his own


    insecurity, plus theck of surveince at the crash site making it tough to pin down who was at fault,


    and witnesses who couldn’t quite give a clear ount, though they all saw Haley’s car hit the other


    guy’s.


    Aaron was leaning towards the idea that it was probably his dad’s fault. Both sides were facing hefty


    medical bills, possibly a fat stack ofpensation on top.


    Aaron did some digging, found out thepensation wasn’t gonna be peanuts, and he couldn’t cover


    it. In a panic, he rushed to Brandon for help.


    Brandon had Kent scope out the situation, found out the ident report wasn’t ready, so he put the


    compensation on hold and just had Kent front the cash for Haley’s medical expenses.


    Kent had been running around non–stop the past couple of days, dealing with Haley’s mess.


    Luckily, Haley’s recovery was looking up. After three days in the ICU, he finally got moved to a regr


    room.


    Back at the office, Kent ryed the news to Brandon


    “Is he awake yet?” Brandon paused his work to ask, looking up.


    Kent shook his head. “Not yet.”


    Brandorts brow furrowed slightly. He nced at his phone, snapped hisptop shut, and stood up. “Ill


    head


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    over to the hospital,”


    Kent didn’t try to stop him. Even though Brandon and Sophia were divorced, Haley was still Brandon’s


    ex–father–inw, and the call hade to Brandon’s phone after all,


    “T’ll get some gifts and fruit ready,” Kent offered.


    When Brandon arrived at the hospital, Haley was still out cold.


    The man was lying in the room, his face gaunt and pale.


    Laura was keeping vigil by his side, looking pretty worn out herself.


    Aaron was there too, in better shape than Laura, still had the energy to y games on his phone. He


    put it down and stood up with a smile when he saw Brandone in. “Brandon, you made it.”


    With that, he stepped up and took the gifts and fruit basket from Brandon’s hands.


    Brandon didn’t look at him. His eyes went straight to Haley on the bed, then to Laura. “What’d the doc


    say?”


    ‘They say he’s doing okay, gonna see if he can wake up tonight.” Laura’s voice was hoarse, her eyes


    worriedly flicking back to Haley.


    Brandon nodded, didn’t say much more, stayed a bit longer, then after the doc did rounds and asked


    about Haley’s condition, he said his goodbyes to Laura and Aaron, pushed the door to leave but froze


    as he caught sight of something in the moment he lifted his gaze.


    Sophia, hurrying out of the elevator, also spotted Brandon and hesitated for just a second.