Chapter 245

Christina's POV Most of the house staff were off for the Moon Blessing Festival. Only Geoffrey and Carmen stayed behind. I lingered in the sunroom, scrolling through ring settings on my tablet and pretending not to notice the time until my stomach started to complain. As soon as we sat down for lunch, Hudson's phone rang. He answered with one hand still on his fork, but the moment he heard the voice on the other end, his whole expression changed. "What happened?" I asked the moment he hung up. "The hospital. It's Edouard. They don't think he'll make it through the night. Everyone's already on their way." I dropped my spoon. "Then let's go. Now." I pushed back from the table and ran upstairs to change. We didn't speak in the car, just stared through the windshield while traffic crawled along like molasses. The roads were jammed, every junction gridlocked. Hudson's hands gripped the wheel at ten and two, his face set in granite. It took us an hour to cover what usually took twenty minute