The Villain Saves The Male Lead - Chapter 204
“No,” Fang cried in a soft, broken voice. “No, no, no, that’s impossible. That is impossible! Ren got better! His body improved so much in the last year…!”
Then he burst into tears. The moment Fang started crying, all six babies did the same.
The cardiologist looked at Pax awkwardly, not knowing what to say. He admired and respected both Chairman Ren and Prince Fang very much, and he knew that the two of them were excellent doctors. But now, in this situation, he really didn’t know what to do. He had checked over Chairman Ren three times – unable to believe what he was seeing. How could Chairman Ren have become like this all of a sudden?
Just then, the bell from inside the room, where Ren was being kept, rang.
“Looks like he’s awake,” the cardiologist said, relieved. “Prince Fang, Chairman Ren is awake.”
Fang ran in immediately without even bothering to acknowledge the poor cardiologist. Pax, Wolf and Claw followed with all the children.
Half of Ren’s face was covered with an oxygen mask, which he was trying to throw off with one hand. Fang helped him quickly.
“Don’t look so miserable, my big darling,” Ren said weakly. “I’m not dead yet.” He tried to make a joke about the situation, but given how awful he looked at the moment, the joke fell flat on its face. Instead, it caused Fang even more distress.
“You’re not allowed to die,” Fang whispered, tears dripping down his lovely face. “You promised to spend a lifetime with me,” he said.
“Yes, yes, my big darling,” Ren said comfortingly, reaching out to touch Fang’s face.
“How do you feel now?” Pax asked.
“Not too bad, actually,” Ren said. “Just a bit weak. What tests have you run so far?”
Fang listed them one by one. However, he didn’t mention the diagnosis given by the cardiologist.
“I think I may need a few more,” Ren murmured. “Fang…test for everything. And bring me the reports to look at.”
Fang could only nod.
For the next two weeks, Ren remained at the hospital (not for lack of protests in his part) and all sorts of tests were conducted on him.
In the end, no particular reason could be found for his deteriorated situation and weakened body. It wasn’t just Ren’s heart that was weak, but everything.
Fang was practically living in the hospital now as well. He’d go home only when Ren would ask someone to throw him out. The babies made daily trips to the hospital to see their Daddy, too, straight after school.
Pax and Wolf also took turns to visit. Prince Uno, who had been in Star Nation for an award ceremony, flew back to Cosmopolis immediately as soon as Pax told him about Ren’s situation. Princess Una, Zeus and the Dragon Queen also flew in right away.
Ren didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw everyone gathering around him like this just because he fell ill. It reminded him of his previous life – he rarely fell ill there, since he had a robust physique that had been nurtured well since he was young, but whenever he did fall ill, his entire family would gather right away and fuss over him.
Fang, the babies and Pax tried to test Ren’s magic, but it was as strong as ever – in fact, it was even stronger than before. Clearly it was something else that was causing his physical body to fail.
Somehow, rumours that Chairman Ren was terminally ill were released online. The culprit was later found to be a temporary attendant at the hospital (who promptly lost his job and was blacklisted in every country Sirocco or SIMS or Zephyr operated in – and even Prince Uno, Princess Una, Zeus and the Dragon Queen had him blacklisted within their respective networks) – but Ren had always been excellent fodder for gossips and rumours, and with his elite profile, queries started pouring in from everywhere in the world. Pax spent two days sorting through all the messages he received through various channels and responded to them in order of friendliness.
People like the minister from Sand Country, Little Brother Wade (who had been surprisingly minding his own business for quite a long time now, and had been performing well academically), and some people from the Dragon Nation received immediate responses saying Ren was indeed in a hospital and they were currently running tests. He was feeling weak, but no major diseases had been found yet. Their concern was much appreciated and Ren or Fang would personally respond when they could.
The next lot received a shorter message leaving out the last part.
And thus it continued, until the gossips and rumour mongers got a curt warning from the legal team of Sirocco and SIMS.
Sirocco’s stock didn’t get affected at all, which surprised everyone except Ren, because the latter had gradually been fading into the background and pushing Pax to the forefront for Sirocco, even though he retained the “Chairman” title.
After two weeks, Ren finally remembered vaguely that it was around this time that the original Ren-the-villain was supposed to be killed by Fang. He wasn’t completely sure if he got the timing right, though. Ren found his brains rather addled these days, and the book that he had read in his old world was no longer very clear in his mind.
So…was it fate itself that was trying to get rid of him because Fang would not kill him with his own hands…? Ren wasn’t sure…but if that was the case, then he realised that he needed to make proper arrangements for Fang and the babies before he died.
Pax nearly had a heart attack himself the next morning when he popped into Ren’s hospital room and the latter handed him a document that said “Last Will and Testament”.
“Don’t show this to Fang, and don’t tell him about it,” Ren said quietly. “This is more a precautionary measure rather than anything else. Just have the legal team look it over and check with them if it’s ok for you and Wolf to be joint executors and if someone with a small benefit in the will can be a witness – like Steward Paul or Dr. Gordon, and if not, get a couple of trustworthy neutral witnesses when you get the final draft. I want it signed and registered by tomorrow evening.”
For the first time since he’d arrived in this world, and for the first time in the original Ren-the-villain’s memory, Pax burst into tears.
Exactly ten minutes after Pax started crying, Wolf burst into the room in a panicked state.
“What happened? Is Ren ok?” he asked anxiously.
Pax handed the will to Wolf and he the latter swore colourfully.
Ren, who had just seen the live display confirming that twins could sense each other’s distress, sighed.
“It’s just a precautionary measure,” he said again. “My head is a little fuzzy, and I wanted to put things in order in case something went wrong, that’s all.”
“You hang in there, Ren,” Wolf said sternly. “Our magic teacher has found the hidden master he’d been searching for a long time, and they’re on their way to Cosmopolis now. We’ll find a cure for you!”
Ren smiled at him. “Thanks, buddy.”
It was Wolf who burst into tears this time.
Unfortunately for the three men, Fang chose this moment to turn up. He caught sight of the document in Wolf’s hand, and at the crying faces of Pax and Wolf.
Fang turned as white as a sheet. Then, without a warning, he slumped to the ground.
Ren cursed and leaped out of bed, inadvertently yanking off various wires and gadgets tied to him, and rushed to Fang.
The machines let out ominous beeps and all the department heads, who received direct feed on Chairman Ren’s condition through these, fell off their seats at the same time, staring at their respective screens in shock.
One of the doctors, who was speaking with his wife on the phone, choked on his sandwich so badly that his wife became terribly anxious and kept asking him what happened until he said in a daze, “Chairman Ren… flatlined…” He then threw his phone away and ran out of the room.
Unfortunately, the doctor’s wife had been in a public cafe at the time. The doctor didn’t notice that there were several people around his wife who had already heard his words.
Half an hour later, the internet was overloaded with the news of Chairman Ren’s sudden demise!
Some of the teachers saw this news on their phones during lunch and rushed to the headmaster, who then personally brought the babies home and left them in Steward Paul’s care with red rimmed eyes.
The same evening, important people from all over the world appeared in Cosmopolis….some to offer their condolences to Fang and Pax and the babies, and some to verify whether Ren really had died or if it was yet another rumour.