Chapter 100
Sophia only got wind of Haley’s accident 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 voice laced 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 just last 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 accident, hit someone, and now he’s laid up in the ICU. No telling if he’s gonna pull through.” Laura’s voice was breaking, the words coming out in fits and starts. “Before they wheeled him in, he was out of it, kept calling your name.”
‘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 blame, 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 the lack of surveillance at the crash site making it tough to pin down who was at fault, and witnesses who couldn’t quite give a clear account, 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 of compensation on top.
Aaron did some digging, found out the compensation 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 accident 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 regular room.
Back at the office, Kent relayed 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 glanced at his phone, snapped his laptop shut, and stood up. “Ill head
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Chapter 100
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–in–law, and the call had come 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 play games on his phone. He put it down and stood up with a smile when he saw Brandon come 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.
