Not One, But Two!

Chapter 76

"Are you out of your damn mind, Greg?" Abigail muttered through gritted teeth as she glowered at the man at the customer service counter balefully. She didn't consider herself to have a short fuse, but ever since she met Greg, she was almost always tempestuous. Right now, she was on the verge of running over and smacking him upside in the head.

Greg seemed perfectly at ease as he pointed at Abigail and announced to the eager-looking crowd, "That there is my wife! Those of you in line before her, hink about my offer carefully. We're really in a rush right now, so if you leave and let her move up the line, then you'll get five hundred in cold, hard cash!"

"Me, me, me!" None of the customers waiting in line before Abigail hesitated to take up the offer, and they immediately left the queue to claim their reward like a murder of crows.

The ones who dropped by the supermarket were average working folks or nannies who worked for blue-blood families. Five hundred in cash was more than enough to cover their groceries for the day.

As expected, Abigail ended up being the first in line to checkout.

Greg sauntered up to her with a devilish smile. "Come on, pay up and leave."

She shot him a murderous look and said huffily, "You're insane!" She proceeded to check out the groceries in her basket while he called someone to bring cash over to fulfill his promise to the ten customers who had given up their spots at the counter.

When Abigail had bagged up her things, she walked out of the supermarket with Greg in tow.

She cast a sidelong glance at his empty hands, which were shoved into the pockets of his pants. Then, she looked at the grocery carrier bag she was holding. It seemed as if he had no intention of helping her at all, so she shoved the bag unceremoniously into his arms. "Next time you go shopping with a woman, make sure you offer to carry her bag. That's the mark of a gentleman."

Surprised by the bag thrown his way, he quickly caught it. Frowning, he asked, "I thought women were into bad boys."

"That's an outdated notion; most women are into gentlemen now who take impeccable care of them. Gentlemen, got it?"

"Not at all."

"And that's why you're a jerk," Abigail threw the words coldly over her shoulder as she walked away from him.

Greg didn't like the fact that he had just been called a jerk for no reason. His brows drew together, but he couldn't make a retort. The carrier bag she had thrown to him was also surprisingly heavy.

Considering that she was the mother of his daughters, he decided to let her win. Swallowing his frustration, he followed her to the parking lot and found his car, then placed the supermarket haul into the trunk. After that, he drove her to the hospital.

He knew that Abigail would not rest easy until she saw the girl from the accident pull through without a hitch.

It wasn't until they had pulled up outside the hospital that Abigail realized she didn't have her phone with her. I must have left it in the car back at the crash scene. She turned around and extended an arm toward Greg, saying, "Lend me money."

He tossed his wallet to her and said nonchalantly, "There's a bank card in there, and the pin is 105666. Just swipe it; I don't have cash with me at the moment."

She was just about to ask him to transfer her the money instead when she remembered that she didn't have her phone. As such, she opened his wallet to take out the card, only to see a woman's headshot in one of the dockets.

The woman had a sweet and delicate look about her that distinguished her from Abigail. She's obviously someone raised with a silver spoon in her mouth. The thought of this gutted Abigail for some reason, and she turned to ask Greg casually, "Is this your girlfriend?"

Upon hearing this, Greg recalled that he had, indeed, kept Genevieve's picture in his wallet. The picture was taken during her high school graduation, and he had kept it for years, so much so that it became a habit.

Sometimes, habits could kill.

When Greg did not respond, Abigail took his silence for admission. "She's pretty," she commented, though there was a bitter look in her eyes that did not match the placid smile on her face.

What's wrong with me? She had known for a while now that he had a girlfriend, and she was also acutely aware that nothing could ever work out between Greg and herself, so her resentment was baffling.

Stop fantasizing, Abigail. You'll only end up getting hurt. With that in mind, she squared her shoulders and slipped the card out of his wallet, then returned him the wallet.

She said stoically, "I'll pay you back later." Then, she stepped out of the car.

She made a beeline for the ATM at the hospital and withdrew cash, then bought a phone from the nearby store and a phone card. Then, having committed her bank card details to memory, she keyed it into her e-wallet platform and paid Greg back the money.

Meanwhile, Greg did not leave even after Abigail had disappeared through the hospital doors. He was holding onto his wallet absentmindedly, and his gaze was far away.

By the time Abigail showed up at the hospital, the surgery for the girl had already wrapped up. The procedure went well, and she was promptly sent to the ward.

As instructed by Greg, the girl was put up in the VIP intensive care unit, and she was still unconscious when Abigail dropped in to see her.

The other patients had their families to fuss over them, but this girl was all alone in the room. Seeing as she would have nothing better to do even if she were to go home, Abigail decidedly asked for an extra bed to be set up in the room and checked herself in.

An itch spread across her chest, and she knew her wound was in its healing stages. She asked for antiseptic from the nurse and tended to her wound, thereafter scrolling through her phone while making herself comfortable on the bed.

The girl didn't wake up until three hours later, and she was startled to see that she was in a white room.

"Are you awake? I'm Abigail. We got into an accident together. Do you remember that?"

The girl nodded weakly.

"Don't worry. Your medical and hospitalization bills have all been accounted for, so just recuperate in peace. You can come to me for anything at all, and I'll try my best to help you out," Abigail said hastily when the girl did not respond.

The girl shook her head. "I'm Anastasia Woods. The accident was partially my fault as well. I was in such a rush that I dashed out into the street when I saw your car idling there. I didn't think you'd pull away from the curb so suddenly. I'm sorry."

"Okay, that's all over now, and you needn't worry about it. All you have to do now is focus on getting better before we talk about anything else. I'll get you a caretaker."

"Thank you," Anastasia said with a feeble nod. She was a student with no fortune to her name, and it would take a toll on her if she were to fork out her own medical fees. She glanced at Abigail then and asked quietly, "Miss Abigail, could you give me your bank details?"

"Why do you need them?"

"Once I get better, I'll find a job and get my first pay. I'll pay you back for the medical fees and whatnot. After all, you weren't entirely in the wrong in the first place, and you shouldn't have to pay for my treatment."

Abigail was stunned by Anastasia's offer. By the looks of this alone, she was sure that the girl had principles.

"What did you major in?"

"Financial management."

"I'll give you a job recommendation once you get better. Now, get some rest. Is there anything you feel like eating? I'll go and get it for you."

She had only just said this when Greg walked into the room with a bag of food. "Karen made chicken soup and other food as well. I was thinking the girl might be awake soon, and she could do with a bit of food in her."

Abigail gaped at him in surprise, then asked, "Did your company close down or something?"

He shot her a withering look. "What in the world are you talking about?" He found her absolutely infuriating at times, as if she wasn't capable of holding up a conversation without getting on his nerves. He wanted to throttle her.

She seemed unfazed as she pointed out, "I mean, it must have closed down for good. Otherwise, you wouldn't be hanging around here and delivering food to us."

"Allie and Aria were the ones who wanted me to bring food to you and watch you eat up every last morsel. They were worried that you would skip out on your meals when you're left alone. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for their pestering," he said sardonically, not at all happy that his kind gesture was being treated with cold indifference.

When Anastasia saw their dynamics, she laughed and asked, "Miss Abigail, is this your husband? He's handsome."

Abigail wasted no time in refuting this. "As if I would marry the likes of him."

Greg did not respond to this and merely gave Abigail a long, hard look. Then, he broke eye contact and turned to hand the bag of food to Anastasia. "Here you go, young lady. Eat up and get better soon. Don't be shy to come to me for anything. Make sure you take this time to regain your strength, okay?"

"Thank you," Anastasia said as she took the bag.

He glanced over at Abigail then and said, "Come on, the girls are waiting to have dinner with you."

Abigail looked at Anastasia kindly and said with a smile, "Take good care of yourself. I'll get going now, but you can call me if you need anything." She gave the girl her phone number and allowed Greg to lead her out of the room.

When they were in the hallway, she cleared her throat and said, "I have somewhere I need to be tonight, so I won't be going home for dinner. Tell Allie and Aria that I'll drop by to see them tomorrow."

With that, she spun on her heels to leave, but Greg grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Are you avoiding me?"

She stared at him and countered defensively, "Do you think that highly of yourself? Why would I avoid you? Who do you think you are?"

He couldn't help raising a brow when he saw how flustered she was.

"I really do have to see someone."

"You don't even have friends in Harrion! Who are you meeting up with?"

He had only just said this when Abigail pointed at the approaching Jonathan, who was there by sheer coincidence. "Him!"

Greg turned and registered Jonathan's arrival. The latter was flushed as he said, "Abbie, I've settled things with the insurance company. I tried to call you, but why didn't you pick up?"

Abigail quickly pulled away from Greg. "Come on, let's go for dinner! You got here right on time!" She promptly seized Jonathan by the arm and dragged him away.

A dark and insidious look glimmered in Greg's eyes as the air around him crackled with his anger.

Jonathan was confused, but before he could say anything, Greg's voice traveled grimly down the hallway, "I didn't know you had a thing for going back to your exes, Abigail."

Without even sparing a second look at him, Abigail drawled haughtily as she frog-marched Jonathan toward the exit, "Well, that just goes to show how little you know about me!"

Jonathan could tell that problems had arisen between her and Greg, but he could neither make head nor tails of it. As things were, their spat was working out in his favor because Abigail had actually grabbed him by his hand on her own accord.

He was practically buzzing with excitement. "Where are we going for dinner, Abbie? My treat."

"I was only bluffing, Jonathan. Don't take it seriously," Abigail drawled. She let go of her hold on him as soon as they were out of the hospital.

Disappointed, Jonathan mumbled, "But I did take it seriously. I had my hands full dealing with the insurance company on your behalf for the whole afternoon, and I was the one who asked Uncle Greg to call the police station and have them go easy on you. Sure, I didn't do much, but I helped nonetheless. You could at least have a meal with me."

He sounded extremely dejected, but all Abigail heard was how he had asked Greg to help her out after the accident.

She knew how busy Greg was on a daily basis, but he had pushed back his work just to come to her aid. On this point alone, he was much stronger and more reliable than Philip had ever been.

At the thought of this, she sighed. Just then, she caught a glimpse of Greg walking out of the hospital, and she quickly turned to Jonathan to say, "Let's go to Swanson Hut for dinner."

Upon seeing that she had agreed to have dinner with him, Jonathan lit up like a child at an amusement park. "Okay!"

At that moment, Greg brushed past them, and he made it a point to say in clipped tones, "I hope you won't get food poisoning." Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

The corner of Abigail's lips twitched. I can't believe he's jinxing me like that!