Ariel reckoned Jayson was probably with Nancy at the moment.

Normally, Ariel would not care at all no matter how long or how often Jayson wanted to spend his time with Nancy. However, today….

She had no choice but to come up with a plan.

Betty was very pleased to see Ariel dropping by the manor. She held Ariel’s hand and asked her how she was doing lately. Soon enough, Betty brought up questions relating to Jayson.

“How come he’s not here with you? What’s been keeping Jayson so busy lately?”

Ariel dropped her gaze. “I’m not sure.”

Feeling dissatisfied, Betty had someone fetch her phone and called Jayson. This time, Jayson picked up the phone.

It seemed like he had deliberately ignored Ariel’s calls earlier.

Betty said sternly, “It’s already well past 8:00 pm. Are you not coming back for dinner?”

Ariel had no idea what Jayson said, but Betty’s expression softened a little after hearing his reply.

When she ended the call, Betty said, “Let’s not wait for him. He can sort out his own dinner.”

Ariel knew for sure now that Jayson would return to the manor sometime later tonight, even if he could not return right away.

Betty had someone serve some sliced fruits to Ariel. Unfortunately, Ariel did not have an appetite. She had been feeling quite unwell the entire day.

Ariel had tried her best to endure the discomfort throughout tonight’s charity event. Her head was still throbbing even now. She could barely hold out any longer. Ariel took her laptop and went upstairs to rest for a while.

She drifted off into a restless sleep. Ariel even dreamed of the night Elena passed away and how she was overcome with guilt, despair, and indignation before she passed on.

Ariel’s eyes flew open. Sweat beaded her forehead.

Even though a bedside lamp was left on, the room was still quite dark. The bedroom felt empty, and an overwhelming sense of loneliness pervaded the space.

However, Ariel had slowly gotten used to this over the past three years. She checked her phone and noticed it was already 4:00 am.

“Is Jayson still not back yet?” she wondered.

Ariel tried to sit up, but she noticed the covers felt unusually heavy.

“You’re up?” A deep, steady voice came from behind her.

Ariel–looked over her shoulder. Jayson had changed into his pajamas. He was leaning against the headboard while looking at his laptop.

Ariel reckoned he was probably doing some work. However, she could not understand why Jayson was still up

when there were only a few hours left until dawn.

At the same time, Ariel felt really heavy and listless. She had probably started running a fever during her sleep. Her throat felt dry and sore.

She was about to ask Jayson what time he had gotten home when the sound of a notification ringtone could be heard coming from a laptop placed on the bedside table.

Jayson put his laptop on the bed and turned slightly to check Ariel’s laptop. He had just placed his hand on the laptop when Ariel said frigidly, “I’ll look at it later. You can just leave it be.”

Jayson paused momentarily. Seeing how Ariel seemed a bit alarmed made him wonder if she was being wary of him.

His eyes hardened slightly. “Does your laptop hold secrets that you can never let others find out?”

Jayson sounded like he was teasing her as he asked the question nonchalantly.

Although Ariel did not give him any response, Jayson did not try to pry for an answer.

He got out of bed. A thermal flask and a few boxes of medicine were placed on the coffee table.

Jayson poured a glass of water. Then, he read the instructions carefully to check for things like the correct dosage, the contraindications, and the side–effects.

After that, he took one tablet for each type of medicine and walked over to the bed. “You’re having a fever. You should take these medicines first.”

Ariel was a bit confused. She knitted her brows.

She finally spotted several used cooling patches that were left on the table. It was probably Jayson who had helped change the cooling patches for her.

Ariel wondered if that was the reason why he was still awake at this hour.

She stayed in the same spot, unmoving. The expression on her pale face remained the same.

Jayson could not possibly just turn a blind eye to Ariel after finding her in her weakened condition.

Jayson thought that Ariel had reacted this way because she did not like the bitter taste of medicine. He put the water and the medicine tablets down on the bedside table near Ariel.

Staring at her pale face, Jayson frowned slightly and softened his tone. “I got you some dried cranberries. You can have some after taking the medicine, alright?”

Ariel looked down at the items on the bedside table.

Jayson could see how Ariel’s face was as white as a sheet.

She had also pushed her covers to the side. Since she might catch a cold like this, Jayson bent forward and tried to pull up the covers for her.

However, as soon as Ariel saw Jayson reaching his hand toward her, she instinctively shoved it away.

“Don’t touch me!”