Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming! - Chapter 317: I know this person

Chapter 317: I know this person

Ryan took Mia’s reminder seriously and began to think through the possibilities. He didn’t believe Frank was the type to run away, even though the situation seemed like a dead end.

The guy who had stolen the procurement reports from the construction site was undoubtedly a scumbag—someone who lived at the bottom, driven by greed. It wasn’t surprising that he’d do anything for money.

But even that kind of person couldn’t help but praise Frank’s love for his daughter. So, would Frank really choose to run away?

Throughout this whole ordeal, Ryan and Mia hadn’t seen any sign of Clara’s mother. From what Clara had said, she barely remembered her mother, who seemed to have disappeared shortly after she was born.

Clara had no one to rely on, no other options. All she had was her strong-willed father.

“Ryan, if it were you, what would you do?” Mia asked, rubbing her stomach and mumbling softly.

Ryan hadn’t touched the oysters at lunch, but Mia had eaten them all by herself. Now, she was starting to feel the consequences of overeating.

“If I were Frank?”

“Yeah, you two are kind of similar.”

Similar? In what way?

Ryan was baffled by Mia’s logic. These two situations seemed completely incomparable. Frank was a father in his forties, while Ryan hadn’t even been in a relationship. Asking him to guess what a father like Frank might be thinking felt like a bit of a stretch.

“Because, like Frank, if something like this happened, you’d probably throw yourself into it without hesitation,” Mia continued, her bright eyes studying Ryan. Her voice was soft and sincere, clearly reflecting her true feelings.

Ryan wanted to find some way to refute Mia’s claim. How had he ended up looking like some kind of pushover in her eyes? Surely, he wasn’t that bad.

But after a moment of silence, Ryan couldn’t come up with a decent argument. Maybe he really was… kind of a pushover.

“I just have a feeling that if we want to figure out what’s really going on, your thoughts will be important. You should give it some serious thought,” Mia said, giving him one last nudge before taking his hand and leading him toward the hospital’s payment office.

She had already made a call about the situation while she was in the restroom earlier, so someone should be waiting for them in the office now.

Would his thoughts really be that important? Ryan didn’t think of himself as particularly clever. He wasn’t the protagonist of some detective novel. He had always just done what needed to be done. Whether his ideas were important or not wasn’t something he usually considered.

Hearing Mia say that now, he didn’t know how to respond. He let her lead him, feeling the warmth of her hand in his, and nodded absentmindedly.

Since Mia believed in him so much, he figured he might as well give it a shot.

Three minutes later, Mia and Ryan arrived at the Director’s office in the payment department. Ryan looked at the woman sitting stiffly in front of him and felt a bit numb.

A Director at a major hospital was someone many people would beg for help. Yet, in front of Mia, she couldn’t even lift her head.

Leaning on someone else’s power really was a comfortable thing—it saved a lot of trouble.

Mia might be unpredictable and often gave Ryan headaches, but when it came to serious matters, she didn’t mess around.

Maybe, once Alice finished cleaning up the gang, he should just stick around and work under Mia. This kind of privilege in life was definitely addictive.

“Ryan, ask whatever you want. She’ll answer everything honestly,” Mia said as she casually plopped down on the sofa. She had eaten way too much at lunch, and laughing so hard earlier hadn’t helped. Her stomach was still feeling off.

Thinking back to that moment, Mia was still a little annoyed. If Ryan hadn’t pushed her away at the last second, she would’ve kissed him right on the lips.

Once you’ve made the first move, everything else just falls into place.

Ryan was, without a doubt, the kind of guy who was too nice for his own good. His sense of responsibility was admirable, but it was also a huge flaw. If they had kissed, Mia was certain that Ryan, out of a sense of duty, would never abandon her.

She knew exactly why Ryan had pushed her away at the last second. It wasn’t really about their age difference—after all, she had noticed how his breathing had gotten heavier. He hadn’t resisted right away, which meant he was tempted too.

The only, and most frustrating, reason was probably that Ryan still had Alice on his mind. That’s why he held himself back.

Damn it…

At first, Mia’s gaze had been warm, even affectionate, but still within the realm of normal. However, Ryan soon noticed that her expression was growing darker, and the intensity of her stare was starting to make him uncomfortable. It was the second time today he’d felt this way. Something had definitely changed about Mia—she wasn’t the same as before.

“Room 1602, Clara. There’s a charge on her medical bill that I don’t understand. Can you explain it?” Ryan asked, wasting no time as he faced the woman in front of him. When she looked confused, he pulled out his phone and showed her a screenshot of the electronic record.

“I want to know if the hospital provides caregiver services. From what I’ve gathered, this caregiver was paid but didn’t provide any services. Is the hospital aware of this?” Ryan’s voice was cold, and though he had been calm earlier, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger as he spoke.

Clara was undoubtedly vulnerable. Being struck with such an illness was already a cruel twist of fate. And after her father had sacrificed everything, even his life, to pay for her treatment, the money had somehow disappeared.

This kind of disregard for life—it was infuriating.

Remembering what Mia had said earlier, Ryan found himself slipping into Frank’s shoes, imagining what it would be like to be Clara’s father. The anger inside him became even harder to control, and he was just a hair’s breadth away from slamming his hand down on the Director’s desk.

The woman was visibly shaken by Ryan’s intensity, sneaking a glance at Mia to gauge her reaction.

She knew who Mia was and respected her deeply. But the woman also held a relatively high social standing herself, not someone who could be easily questioned by just anyone.

Ryan, with his youthful appearance, clearly hadn’t been through the wringer of society yet. The woman naturally assumed he wasn’t anyone particularly important.

However, when she looked at Mia, it was as if she had been struck by lightning. Her whole body trembled. There was no doubt that Mia had caught the hint of disdain in her expression. The look on Mia’s face, so mature and cold for someone her age, sent a chill down the woman’s spine.

With just a glance, Mia had her terrified. The woman knew all too well how much trouble Mia’s displeasure could bring her. She no longer dared to play any games.

With trembling hands, she took Ryan’s phone and looked at the information on the screen. Faced with Ryan’s barely contained fury, she could only bow her head apologetically.

“Clara…” The woman frowned slightly as she read the name on the screen. She worked in the billing department and had been out of touch with frontline medical care for a long time.

Initially, she had planned to just go through the motions for Mia, make a quick phone call, and have someone else come in to explain. She wasn’t aiming for any praise—just to avoid any mistakes.

But when she saw the name, her expression shifted. Her eyes darted upward as if she were trying to recall something, and her hands froze.

“I know this person.”

“That payment has nothing to do with the hospital. The caregiver was hired privately by the patient’s family.”