Marian had driven herself to the hospital, not to visit anyone or to seek medical treatment for real. She just needed a doctor's note to back up her sick leave, proof that she wasn't just skiving off work.
Her fear of Brandon didn’t allow her to be careless.
But Augus was clearly not the same.
He was just there to find her, and somehow dragged to the hospital with her.
Now he was loitering outside the emergency room, didn’t rush inside; instead, he waited for her right at the entrance.
Marian was concerned about him knowing "where Sophia is," but she dared not ask directly—fearing that there was a trap for her.
After the initial shock of potentially knowing Sophia's whereabouts, she calmed down completely. Sophia hadn’t pushed Sophia. So regardless of whether Augus truly knew where Sophia was, whether Sophia was dead or alive, injured or disabled, it had nothing to do with her.
She needn’t worry about Sophia coming back alive to accuse her of anything.
She had nothing to do with this matter.
Marian brainwashed herself into thinking that, even feeling a slight relief that Sophia’s return might diminish Brandon’s intent to kill her.
She was adept at convincing herself and aligning her thoughts logically.
Compared to Brandon wanting her dead, the details of whether Sophia was dead or not seemed trivial.
Her biggest mistake was underestimating Sophia's place in Brandon's heart and Brandon's intelligence and acuteness.
During the brief walk from the parking lot to the ER, Marian successfully convinced herself, no longer feeling hurried. Therefore, upon seeing Augus waiting for her at the ER entrance, she simply gave him a cool glance and breezed past him to the nurse's station to register for an emergency consult with internal medicine, as if she was really there for a check-up.
Her change of tack made Augus frown.
Marian's every move was beyond his expectations.
Her firm denials almost made him wonder if he had wrongly accused her, including her denial of knowing her father Dennis's plan; ; everything led him to question if recent pressures had caused him to hallucinate.
Seeing Augus frowning at her, Marian even asked him with concern, "Didn't you say you were feeling unwell?"
She played her part perfectly, not giving anything away.
Augus gave her a silent glance, but her words reminded him; he silently registered for his own ER visit, complaining of dizziness and sleep issues.
Both were seeking internal medicine.
Marian didn't bother with him anymore.
The ER wasn’t busy during the day, and it didn't take long for Marian to attend.
She genuinely experienced a gastrointestinal stress reaction, and the doctor prescribed medication for her.
When Marian received her diagnosis and medication, she took a photo and shared it in the work group chat, tagging Don with a message, "Mr. Dempsey, I have a stomach, I want half a day off today."
Don's response was short: "Rest up."
Marian replied, "Will do, thank you, Mr. Dempsey," then powered off her phone and turned to Augus, who still seemed to want to follow her, "I'm really not feeling well; I need to go back now. After you see the doctor, take a cab back by yourself.”
She acted like they just bumped into each other, not leaving any possibility for Augus to find fault with her.
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