Chapter 324: She needed to know.

"Careful."

Dylan’s voice reached her, breaking through the fog of suspicion clouding Adelyn’s mind.

But by the time she realized what was happening, it was already too late.

Her body had already tipped away from the bed, and there was nothing within reach for her to grab onto.

"Ah—"

Her heart lurched.

Adelyn instinctively closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact.

Yet ...

The fall she had expected never came.

Instead—

A strong arm suddenly wrapped firmly around her waist.

Her body jerked to a stop midair, pulled securely against something warm and solid.

Adelyn’s eyes flew open. And the very first thing she saw was the familiar dark fabric of Dylan’s bathrobe.

Her breath caught.

Then she felt his other hand settle against her shoulder, steadying her before she could lose her balance again.

The warmth around her waist ...

The firm support beneath her shoulder ...

And the unmistakably familiar scent surrounding her ...

There was absolutely no mistaking who had caught her.

Mr. Warren.

The man whose deadly charms could easily rival the Devil’s.

He had caught her just in time.

Adelyn remained frozen in his arms for a second, completely at a loss as to how she was supposed to save face now.

She had literally been pulling that stunt just moments ago to prove to him that she didn’t need his help.

She wasn’t weak.

... that she could take care of herself.

She had been so confident about it, too.

Yet ...

The very next second, she was in his arms, securely held so that she wouldn’t have landed directly on the floor —and, more importantly, directly on her butt.

Her thoughts instantly became a complete mess.

This was embarrassing.

Extremely embarrassing.

If the floor had swallowed her up right now, she probably wouldn’t have complained.

Meanwhile, Dylan, on the other hand, remained remarkably calm.

His arm around her waist tightened slightly, ensuring she was standing securely before he finally lowered his eyes to look at her.

His expression was as composed as ever.

"Didn’t I tell you?" he asked quietly.

Adelyn met his eyes, and her expression immediately turned conflicted.

"Mr. Warren, will you trust me if I still tell you that I’m fine and I truly don’t need you to help me freshen up?"

Dylan didn’t answer that.

Instead, he simply helped her straighten herself before slowly guiding her back onto the bed.

The entire time, Adelyn kept her lips pressed together, unable to find the right words to make him believe her anymore.

Apparently, her actions had already betrayed every single word she had said earlier.

Once she was seated safely on the bed, Dylan lowered himself onto one knee.

Adelyn blinked.

"Do you feel any strain here?"

His hand carefully closed around her ankle.

She immediately shook her head.

"I didn’t get hurt," she explained slowly. "It’s just that my body suddenly felt numb when I stood up. Otherwise ..."

She looked at him earnestly.

"I’m fine."

Dylan still didn’t respond.

With one knee resting against the floor, he remained there and slowly massaged her ankle in small, circular motions, seemingly trying to help restore sensation to her numb nerves.

His movements were steady and careful.

Adelyn lowered her gaze toward him.

For some reason, watching the President of The Warren Corporation kneeling before her like this felt strangely surreal.

He was supposed to be a man who stood above countless others.

A man whose time was probably worth more than she could even imagine.

Yet here he was ...

Kneeling beside her bed and patiently massaging her ankle because she had nearly fallen.

But then again, this hadn’t been the first time.

This man had again and again done things that she hadn’t seen him doing.

Adelyn suddenly didn’t know what to think anymore.

After a moment, Dylan finally stopped. He looked up at her. "If you don’t need me, I’ll have Mabel come up and help you."

"Mabel?" Adelyn repeated.

Dylan gave her a calm nod, looking at her.

Just when she would have refused even that, he asked again,

"Or is it that you want me to coax you more?"

She immediately shook her head. "No ... no, that’s not it."

Adelyn hurriedly corrected herself.

"If Mabel can come and help, I don’t mind her. Instead, I’d say that it’d be perfect."

Dylan stared at her. His gaze remained on her face for a long moment.

Just when Adelyn thought he was about to say something else—

He merely nodded before getting back to his feet. "Then stay put," he said. "She’ll be here soon."

Adelyn nodded back.

She watched him turn away and walk toward the door.

Only after he finally left the room did she release the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

She immediately patted her chest in relief.

That was close.

Too close.

And then—

Suddenly, she remembered something.

Or rather ...

Someone.

Adelyn looked toward her side.

The bed was empty.

Her brows furrowed in confusion.

When had this little girl left?

Hadn’t Eira been right here all this while?

Her eyes drifted toward the door. There was no sound coming from outside.

Perhaps she had already gone to freshen up.

Adelyn slowly turned her attention back to the room. But the moment she did, another thought surfaced in her mind.

One that she still couldn’t understand.

How had she gotten sick so suddenly?

She had been perfectly fine when she returned yesterday.

There had been no warning.

No strange discomfort.

Nothing that could have suggested she would suddenly develop such a terrible fever during the night.

And, more importantly, she barely remembered anything about it.

What exactly had happened to her?

How could she have simply fallen sick without any reason?

Adelyn frowned. The more she thought about it, the stranger it felt. She could vaguely remember waking up this morning.

She could remember Eira fussing over her.

She could remember the damp towel on her forehead.

But everything before that ...

It was like a blank space.

Just as she was sinking deeper into her thoughts, a knock at the door interrupted her.

Adelyn looked up. And Mabel was standing at the doorway.

"Please come in," Adelyn said.

The housekeeper immediately walked inside.

"Ms. Grace, let me take you for your shower," Mabel offered.

However, Adelyn politely declined. "That won’t really be necessary, Mabel," she said before carefully rising to her feet. "I’m fine, and I can do it on my own."

She paused briefly before adding,

"Can you just stay here and wait for me? If I need your help later, I might ask you then."

She had agreed with Dylan earlier merely to keep him at ease. Otherwise, she still believed she could manage perfectly well on her own.

She didn’t need someone hovering around her just because she’d had a fever.

Mabel understood and nodded.

"Alright, Madam."

Adelyn then proceeded with her usual morning routine. She walked into the bathroom and stayed there for a while.

Fortunately, she didn’t experience the same dizziness as before.

Once she had finished freshening up, she came back out. And just as she had asked, Mabel was still there, waiting patiently for her.

Adelyn glanced at her and smiled.

"Thank you, Mabel. I’m done now. You can leave and get back to your original work." She reached for the towel.

"I’ll come downstairs once I dry my hair."

Mabel gave a polite nod.

"Of course, Ms. Grace."

She then turned to walk out. But just as she was about to leave, Adelyn suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, I almost forgot to ask."

Mabel stopped and turned around.

"Where is Eira?"

The housekeeper immediately replied, "The little lady has gone to freshen up as well. She didn’t want to trouble you, so she hurried on her own."

Adelyn smiled and nodded in understanding.

That sounded exactly like Eira.

Once Mabel left, Adelyn didn’t delay either. She quickly finished drying her hair and tidying herself up.

By the time she was done, her stomach had already begun protesting.

She was hungry ... very hungry. And after last night’s strange fever, she probably needed something to eat anyway.

But there was also something else on her mind.

Something far more important than breakfast.

The strange gap in her memory from last night ...

She needed to know exactly what had happened to her the last night.

Why does she remember nothing?