Chapter 9 President of a Company

• Susan had thought that her life was about to come to an end. Blinking her eyes, she began to wail in Eric's arms. "Why did you save me? Who told you to save me? Can't I have a death wish? I've had enough anyway. As long as I die, all my problems will be solved."
• Eric was never fond of people throwing their life away, and he said coldly, "You don't know what's good for you. There are still cars on the road. I can let go of you now, and you can just run to the middle of the road if you want."
• Then, his arm that was wrapped around her waist loosened. Upon losing her only form of support, Susan lost her footing and collapsed to the ground before her vision turned black and she fell unconscious.
• Eric looked at the pale-faced woman who was sprawled on the floor with a helpless expression. She was really making his life difficult.
• "Mr. Ford, I'll carry this lady into the car."
• His chauffeur, Zachary, who had been nearby, rushed over upon receiving his call. When he saw the woman collapsed on the ground, he reached out to pick her up.
• "No need." Eric swiftly lifted Susan into his arms.
• Zachary jolted at the sight. In all his years by Eric's side, he had never once seen him carry a woman in his arms.
• In the hospital ward that was inundated with the scent of antiseptics and the like, Susan slowly peeled her eyes open through the immense pain that coursed through her body. She vaguely saw a tall silhouette in her field of vision, and when she lifted her arm, she noticed the needle in the back of her hand. Only then did she realize she was currently in a hospital.
• When Eric noticed that she was awake, his handsome features carried a hint of reprimand. "Why were you out and about when you're having a fever? Don't you know what state your body is in? All you did was cause trouble."
• "Were you the one who sent me to the hospital?"
• Eric sent her a look. "Who else? Aren't you going to thank your savior?"
• "Sorry for troubling you. I'm fine now. I can be discharged." Susan put on her shoes and lifted herself off the bed, planning to leave.
• If she hadn't seen the eye-catching Holyeye logo on the wall, she would've wanted to stay for a few days longer.
• Holyeye Hospital was the priciest private hospital in the entire city, and all of its patients were either celebrities or magnates. The hospitalization costs were astronomical, and the money she had left wasn't even enough to cover a day's medical fees.
• Susan had just taken a few steps when she felt a force around her slender waist as his large hand held her in place.
• "What's with the rush? If you faint again, I won't have the time to save you anymore."
• Susan felt her body give out as she said through gritted teeth, "I'm not that mad to stay here. Do you have any idea how much it costs to spend a night here? I'm so grateful that you'd take me to a place like this."
• Naturally, Eric noticed her worry about money.
• "I can pay for you…"
• What he neglected to inform her was that he was the biggest shareholder in this very hospital.
• Dumbfounded, Susan looked up and down at the man who claimed he would take care of the bill, thinking that he was quite skilled at talking big. She was quite aware of how terrible his line of work was; after all, he had been forced to take more customers even after he had gotten drunk.
• Moreover, he didn't seem young either. He still had to compete with younger men for business in his thirties, and it made him unwilling to even open his wallet to pay the cab fare. She wondered where he mustered the courage to say these things—it seemed that he was too ignorant to have any idea of how expensive this hospital was.
• "I want to be discharged. If I spend another day here, I will lose all my money before I lose my life."
• Hearing that, Eric didn't continue to force her either and went along with her decision.
• As it was required for a family member of the patient to leave their signature so that they could be discharged, Susan was stopped by a young nurse in the hallway.
• She nudged her arm at the man next to her and said under her breath, "Pretend to be my family member. It's urgent."
• Eric cooperatively and languidly accepted the hospital discharge papers from the nurse.
• Susan stood next to him meekly and watched him. She noticed how confident this hustler was at signing the papers, as if he were a president of a company signing important documents.
• After he had completed his signature, she leaned in closer to take a look. His handwriting was neat and beautiful, but the name Eric Ford seemed somewhat familiar to her, and she wondered where she had heard of it.
• At the same time, the nurse felt a jolt of shock upon seeing the name written on the papers. She had just opened her mouth to greet the president when she was silenced by the intimidating look in Eric's eyes, causing her to bite her lip.
• When Susan noticed that Eric had listed himself as her husband in the section indicating his relationship with her, her brows furrowed.
• Seeing that, Eric explained breezily, "There isn't any other meaning to it, so don't overthink it. I'm not interested in someone else's wife."
• Susan rolled her eyes at him. "You're the one who wrote it. Why are you acting like I'm interested in you?"
• When she looked at the sky-high price listed on the papers, she felt as if her chest had been stuffed with cotton, and her expression turned troubled. Things were already bad enough for her when she was homeless, and she now had to deal with such an expensive bill on top of it. If things went on, she would have nothing left to her name.
• Susan turned around, only to see Eric standing in front of a vending machine for a long time without being able to procure even a bottle of water.
• She inched closer and asked, "No money?"
• As a matter of fact, Eric was indeed a little confused about mobile payments as he used his card most of the time or had his assistant by his side to take care of these matters. When he heard her question, he indifferently hummed in reply.
• Susan felt her heart ache with sympathy, wondering how terrible his life was to be unable to afford a bottle of water. After she paid for him, she retrieved the jade pendant from her jeans pocket and handed both items to him.
• "Take your things and leave. I must've caused you to lose a lot of business in the past two days."
• Eric's dark eyes narrowed at her words. "If that's the case, Miss Mondragon, how will you compensate me?"