What Separates Me and You
Chapter 329 Failure

When Conrad noticed the glow coming from the light outside the operating room, he let out a sigh of relief.

He turned around to see Josephine, who was sobbing her heart out.

An awkward look appeared on Conrad's face, but he still comforted her the best he could. "Madam, don't be sad. Chairman Alvarez will be fine."

The young woman gazed at him through the tears clouding her vision. With a pout on her face, she gestured, "He was doing fine just now."

Conrad had a limited understanding of sign language but could recognize a few gestures. Hence, he could only speculate on the meaning behind Josephine's gestures.

The man said sagely, "The doctor mentioned Chairman Alvarez was pushing himself to the limits. Both of you were stranded on the island back then. He had to put on a façade to show that he was fine so that you wouldn't worry about him."

Upon hearing Conrad's response, more tears started rolling down the young woman's cheeks.

Her fingers moved rapidly as she tried to express herself. The assistant had no idea what she was trying to say. It was one thing if he had to interpret one or two signs, but it was an entirely different story if he had to decipher an entire paragraph's worth of gestures.

After spending some time staring at Josephine's actions, Conrad squeezed out a smile and continued to console her. "Madam, don't think too much, alright? Since Chairman Alvarez was able to hang on for so many days, he'll certainly tough it out this time as well. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Josephine thought that Conrad made sense, but she couldn't help but worry about Lewis.

After all, his wound had torn apart a few times back on the island. Despite that, the man persisted in pretending he was fine. He carried on with the daily tasks such as catching fish, harvesting fruits, and cooking for her, all while concealing the pain he endured.

How was it possible for Lewis' condition to worsen when he returned to the city?

Conrad observed Josephine's expression, soon realizing she was blaming herself for what happened to Lewis.

Then again, her feelings of guilt were justified. Lewis had yet to recover from the injury he had sustained from the car crash, but he insisted on tracking her down. Not only that, but he also got injured because of her on the cruise ship. It would be abnormal if Josephine didn't feel bad for the pain she had caused the man.

If it wasn't for the fact that Lewis got mad at her for going to the restroom without his knowledge, there was a high chance that he would continue dragging the treatment out.

Honestly speaking, Lewis wasn't at fault here.

He put in so much effort just to replace Josephine and bring her home, only for her to disappear immediately after that. It was no wonder he kept worrying about her and getting mad at her most of the time. Josephine kept pacing up and down the corridor outside the operating room. She was so anxious that she kept sobbing, so Conrad had to spend a long time comforting her.

The latter paused, seemingly to have remembered something. Then, he turned to look at Gerald. "Mr. Harris, please keep this incident a secret."

Gerald nodded in response. "Got it."

If word were to get out about Lewis being severely injured, his enemies would surely capitalize on the opportunity to carry out their devious schemes. Gerald knew that very well.

Conrad felt a lot more reassured once he heard Gerald's promise. Then, he turned to look at the operating room worriedly.

"Thanks."

Perhaps Lewis refused to undergo that life-saving operation due to the same concern as well.

After all, Kiran was still waiting for his chance to strike.

Conrad had no idea what Kiran's condition was right now. While waiting for Lewis to be done with the operation, he left the corridor and made a phone call to inquire for more details. The news he received was the same; Kiran was still hospitalized, and he never left the building the whole time.

Conrad thought for a moment before ordering, "See if you can replace his medical records in the hospital."

"Got it."

It had been such a long time since Kiran got hospitalized. Conrad refused to believe he had sustained an even greater injury than Lewis.

Kiran's bodyguards guarded the inside and the outside of the ward during this period of time. None of the regular people could slip into his ward, so no one knew his condition.

At that time, Robert was sitting in the ward while peeling an orange for Kiran.

"Word has it that he's returned to Hardington."

Both men knew very well who "he" referred to.

Kiran had already regained consciousness a long time ago, but he was unable to move around on his own, so he could only lean against the headboard.

Besides the wound on his back, the man's arm was also sealed in a cast. His complexion was still as pale as a ghost.

In a way, his condition wasn't any better than Lewis'.

"He really is lucky, huh?" Kiran's pale lips curled into a mocking smirk.

Robert frowned in displeasure upon hearing his son's words. He turned his head slightly to glance at Kiran. "You're the same way as well. Why did you cause such chaos in the first place? Also, why didn't you tell me you'd be boarding the cruise ship?"

The younger man replied, "This is a contest between me and him. You have no right to meddle with our business."

Fury flooded Robert's senses at that moment. "I have no right to meddle with your business, hmm? Look at the outcome, then! You almost crippled your arm for good! Not only that, but you're also as injured as him!"

As he spoke, he glanced at Kiran's cast.

At first, the latter only had a wound on his back, but everything changed when he fell into the sea and spent more than an hour in it. Not only did his wound worsen, but his blood seemed to have also attracted an unknown predator from the depths of the sea, which almost bit his arm into halves.

By the time the rescuers pulled Kiran up, his arm was in a gruesome state of mutilation. The jagged, snapped half of his bone was exposed for all to see. His arm wasn't the only issue here; even his leg got bitten as well.

Had the rescuers arrived at the man's location a few minutes later, he wouldn't be able to get his arm reconnected.

Kiran wouldn't have spent such a long time in the hospital if it wasn't for the predator.

The memory of his little adventure in the sea caused his eyes to grow cold. "This is my fault. I thought he would surely perish, which made me lower my guard. Otherwise, he could've been reduced to a corpse by now."

Had Kiran chosen to kill Lewis first instead of fighting the helmsman off, none of this would happen.

Robert retorted, "The fact that you failed still stands. There's no such thing as 'what if.""

His son chuckled coldly in response. "You're right. I did fail. This is my mistake."

The older man thought for a moment before continuing, "Then again, your decision to demolish the cruise ship is too risky. What if they end up replaceing evidence that leads back to you?" "Don't worry. They won't be able to replace anything. If they insist on causing trouble for me, they will do so with or without the evidence."

"It seems you've made a huge enemy out of them."

Kiran looked quite nonchalant. "That's not necessarily the case."

"What do you mean by that?"

"As long as I can shut Faust and Draco up for good, this incident will be classified as an accident. The thing is, I didn't expect them to return to the mainland safe and sound."

Kiran had completely lost this battle. Not only did the person he tried to kill survive, but he also had to pay a massive sum of money just to deal with the aftermath.

If he wanted Faust and Draco to keep quiet permanently, he'd need to spend more than just a million dollars.

"Have you contacted them?"

"I did that a long time ago."

The moment Kiran regained consciousness, the first thing he did was contact Draco and negotiate the price with him.

Otherwise, Draco wouldn't have made that random manager from Veda Group the scapegoat of the cruise ship incident, and Kiran's ward wouldn't have remained peaceful for a very long time. Upon hearing that his son had dealt with all the loose threads, Robert didn't ask him any questions after that.

Meanwhile, things were different in Hardington.

Josephine spent 24 hours anxiously waiting outside the operating room, and only then did the light above the room finally turn off.

She rose to her feet immediately when she noticed Conrad getting up. Both of them stared at the operating room's doors unblinkingly. Soon, the doctor walked out of the operating room. The pair approached him immediately before Conrad asked, "How's he doing?" "There's no need to worry. The operation is a success."

The doctor seemed to have thought of something else, prompting him to ask, "Who's the patient's family?"

Conrad glanced at Josephine subconsciously.

The latter looked quite confused and dazed, just like a naïve and immature little girl, so the assistant had no idea how to introduce her to the doctor.

Then again, the doctor could care less about that. He advised, "This time, you mustn't let the patient do whatever he wants. He needs to recuperate no matter what. Otherwise, if he were to get injured again, he wouldn't be this lucky next time."

Conrad nodded in response. "Got it."

The doctor then shot another look at Josephine before leaving the operating room.

Upon noticing Lewis getting pushed out of the room, Josephine wanted to follow the nurses, but Conrad called out to her immediately.

"Madam."