Xavier, who had been listening intently, fumed with anger.
That’s all just a load of nonsense! I shouldn’t take their words to heart!
Alas, despite telling himself to hold back, Xavier lost control and kicked the door of the pantry open.
Upon hearing the loud bang, the two employees in the pantry turned ashen-faced and reeled in shock.
“M-Mr. Fairchild, we were only joking. We didn’t mean what we said! All we did was repeat what other netizens commented.”
“Get out! You’re both fired!” Xavier shouted. He believed he had exercised enough self-restraint, but his cold-eyed stare still sent chills down their spines.
“M-Mr. Fairchild…” the employee uttered, trying his best to salvage the situation. “I honestly didn’t mean what I said earlier. Could you please give me another chance?”
Unfortunately, that only riled Xavier up even more. “I will not repeat myself. Get out! The company will give you your severance pay, but I want you out of my sight before I kick you out myself!”
When they saw Xavier’s eyes turning red with rage, the two employees knew it was their cue to leave.
Given that they had struck their boss’ nerve, what other choice did they have but to flee for their lives?
As soon as the two gossipmongers were gone, Xavier suddenly felt his heart race.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized the heart palpitations could be a side effect of the new medicine that Riley had formulated for him.
Well, this medicine sure is effective. Even when I lost my temper earlier, I could feel that I’d gotten a better grip on my emotions. At the very least, I didn’t fall into a manic state or lose my sanity.
That said, the side effects of the medicine had kicked in, and the pain was so excruciating that Xavier could no longer stand upright.
He leaned against the wall and sat down, trying everything he could to calm his anxious heart.
The moment Louis came over and saw the pale-faced Xavier sitting on the ground, he, too, instantly turned white as a sheet.
“Are you okay, Mr. Fairchild?”
Xavier had slowly lifted his head when he heard footsteps approaching, but as soon as Louis’ voice rang out, his eyes glazed over with disappointment.
When he finally saw Louis, he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly to himself.
Ha! What a fool I am! Why did I even think it’d be Dumbo showing up?
Since Xavier refused to go to the hospital, Louis had no choice but to have Josiah make a trip down.
Sometime later, in the lounge of Xavier’s office, Josiah felt his anger rising when his friend made little effort to cooperate with him.
After sucking in a deep breath, he turned to Louis. “Why don’t you head out first? I’ll call you if the need arises.”
Louis instinctively glanced at his boss, hoping to get the latter’s consent.
Alas, Xavier didn’t even bother looking at his assistant as he continued to lie on his side in bed.
“Ignore him and follow my instructions,” Josiah muttered while staring at Xavier’s back with furrowed brows. “Why? Do you not trust me?”
Louis had complete trust in Josiah, of course, so he hastily nodded. “I shall wait outside, then. Call me if you need anything.”
With that, Josiah tucked his hands inside his coat pockets and smiled as Louis took his leave.
However, as soon as the latter was out of the room, Josiah’s smile faded.
Furiously, he threw his stethoscope onto the bed and yelled, “What’s wrong with you? Do you not want to live anymore? Or do you not have basic medical knowledge? You should be old enough to know that a pain in the chest is no laughing matter! I understand if you don’t want to go to the hospital, but why won’t you cooperate with me? Do you want to throw your life away? Fine. I’ll open the windows right now so you can jump out. Don’t call me over if you have no wish to help yourself! Stop wasting my time!”
After getting such a harsh scolding, Xavier frowned and slowly turned to face his friend. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Me? Out of my mind?” Josiah fumed. “What? Did I say anything wrong? You weren’t cooperating with me at all!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Xavier retorted as he suddenly sat up. “Why must you always beat around the bush to make a point? I don’t have the patience to listen to your blabbering.”
“I don’t give a damn whether you listen to me or not! I’m here to treat you!”
“I’m not sick!” Xavier hollered, his voice easily drowning out Josiah’s. “I’m f*cking furious! Do you understand? I’m mad as hell!”
“Fine. Tell me, then, what are you so angry about? What was it that pissed you off so much that you had to fire two employees on the spot? Have you forgotten that one of them’s in upper management? What on earth is wrong with you? Not only have you given yourself a heart attack from all this rage, but you’re also refusing to listen to your doctor. How much more stubborn can you get?”
As it turned out, Josiah was already in a bad mood because his family had tried forcing him into an arranged marriage. Xavier’s lackluster attitude, unfortunately, only made the day worse for him.
Now that Xavier had calmed himself down, he noticed the pain in his chest had also disappeared.
Having realized that Josiah didn’t seem like his usual self, Xavier quickly turned his attention back to his friend. “What’s wrong with you? Did something happen?”
“Nothing’s happened!” Josiah snapped as he plopped himself down on a chair and extended a hand toward Xavier. “Hand me my stethoscope.”
Xavier did as instructed and added, “Come on. What is it?”
“Nothing important. It’s just some family matters. What about you? What made you so angry?”
A deep frown once again crossed Xavier’s brow as he began recounting everything that had happened.
“You should still go to the hospital if you can. Nothing beats the equipment there,” Josiah advised. “I’ll draw two vials of blood from you today and get them tested.”
“Okay. Let’s do that. I’ll head to the hospital once I’ve gotten the test results.”
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