Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled novel Chapter 523

"Rena, what's going on with Neil's mom? How come all of a sudden... Don't tell me all those rumors are true?" My mom suddenly asked about this.

She and my dad had naturally heard about it; they just didn't know the specifics.

I filled her in on the situation, and she finally understood why I was in Springvale. I thought she would disapprove, but to my surprise, she didn't. In fact, she said I did the right thing.

"She's been good to you before, and to both of us. The real problem lies with Neil, that jerk. It's only right that you go and see her; not doing so would be heartless."

"Mom, you're not upset with me?" I asked, surprised.

"Why should I be? The only thing is, you'll inevitably have to interact with Neil again. Make sure you know where to draw the line this time, that's all your dad and I ask." My mom said, her words heavy with emotion.

I let out a sigh of relief. My mom's attitude was really comforting.

After chatting for a while, Serena and Brandon fell asleep, so my mom ended the video call.

I didn't sleep well that night. A feeling of unease stirred within me, refusing to settle down. At 4 AM, I was jolted awake by a call from Neil.

Had he not slept at all? I answered the phone in a daze, my voice raspy, "Hello, what's up?"

"Where are you?" Neil demanded to know.

"At the hotel!" I replied.

"Why didn't you go to the address I gave you?" Neil sounded suspicious, a hint of darkness in his voice, "Are you with Russel?"

Of course, I wasn't with Russel, but we were staying at the same hotel.

My mind was still foggy, so my response was slow, "No."

"You hesitated for five seconds before answering, Irene!" Neil suddenly snapped, "Where are you? I'm coming to find you."

There was no way I was letting Neil come to find me at this hour, so I immediately refused, "No way. What time is it? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Neil laughed bitterly, "I ask if you're with him, and you take forever to answer, but when I say I'm coming to find you, you refuse immediately."

Neil's words sobered me up a bit. I sat up, turning on the light in the room.

"Neil, do you know what time it is? I was sleeping soundly and suddenly got a call, how am I supposed to react? Stop messing around!" I was at a loss for words.

"It's 4:27 AM. What hotel are you at? Can't you understand?" Neil urged impatiently, "Tell me now, or I'll have someone check your check-in information. I can find out within an hour, you know."

I could only say one word, "Fine."

I hung up the call, then shot a quick video to send to Neil, proving I wasn't with Russel, then turned off my phone and went back to sleep.

The video seemed to work; Neil didn't actually send anyone to check on me. The next day when I turned on my phone, he had replied with a message: Got it.

I wasn't sure if Neil still needed me to look after Hiram, so I gave him a call.

He hadn't slept all night and was probably woken from his sleep by my call, his voice was a little sluggish, "What's up?"

"How's Hiram doing?" I first asked about Hiram's condition.

"He's still undergoing tests; there seems to be a problem." There were rustling sounds from Neil's end, like he was getting dressed.

And the car Stella had lent me, one of the tires was flat.

"You're here; seems like there's a problem with your car." Russel squatted down to check the tire, "Looks like it's been punctured by a nail."

What kind of nail could do such damage? I also bent down to check, following Russel's guidance, I did spot a nail. It must've been punctured last night; it was fine at the time, but it slowly deflated overnight.

"It probably got punctured around here; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to drive very far. You'll need to get someone to change the tire. In a hurry to get somewhere?" Russel stood up, dusting off his hands, his tone casual.

"No worries, I'll call someone to fix it later. I can take a cab." I stared at the flat tire, feeling somewhat helpless.

"I was planning on heading to the hospital to check on Hiram. Want to tag along?" Russel asked again.

I did indeed plan on going to the hospital, but I didn't want to go with Russel.

Just as I was about to make up an excuse to refuse, he beat me to it, "No need to avoid me on purpose. It'll be even more awkward if we run into each other at the hospital later."

With that said, I remembered the awkward encounter in the hotel lobby last night; we even made a point to walk separately.

I have to admit, Russel made a good point. It made me realize, there was a high chance we would bump into each other at the hospital, so there was no need for me to lie about not going there.

"Alright, I'll hitch a ride with you." I stopped beating around the bush, turned to look around, "Where's your car?"

Russel's grin widened, "Over there, let's go."

I followed him into the car, heading straight for the hospital. Halfway there, his phone buzzed with a call from Karina. He glanced at me, then finally decided to put on his earpiece and answer the call.

I silently turned my head to gaze at the passing scenery, the sound of Russel's puzzled voice filtering through to my ears, "What? How could this happen?"