Even so, Niamh was not bothered by these and only thought of escaping.
“Ryan, who is that lady who underwent plastic surgery and looks almost like me? Do you think by doing these, you’ll be able to recover your grandfather and the Jones family’s reputation?”
Ryan slowly curled his lips. “You’re so smart, so you’ll soon be able to guess who that lady is. As for the recovery part… How am I going to recover it?”
His smile looked as if he was almost sneering. “Eveline, it can’t be recovered anymore.”
Ryan walked to Niamh. The halo of the sunset silently shone on his face, but his expression was obscure and uncertain.
“Eveline, I won’t hurt you again, but I won’t let you return to Kendrick’s side.”
Niamh heard his comment and calmly let out a smile. “Back then, you said to me that you’ll never let me and Kendrick reunite, but things have proven themselves and I reunited with him. So what if you’re trapping me here now? Soon, I’ll be back by his side. And if you think that the lady you hired will be able to attain what she wants to achieve, then you can just forget about it!”
She spat out those decisive and confident comments, then elegantly spun around to leave.
Ryan was unhappy and frowned. Slowly, he clenched his hand that was hiding in his pocket into a fist.
Looking at the vast sea made Ryan feel he was getting more narrow-minded.
…
Waldburg Manor.
After night arrived, the family had their dinner happily.
The woman impersonating Niamh put on a fake smile on her face as she helped Lillian and Jackson with their homework. She was enthusiastic when coaxing the youngest kid to sleep. However, as soon as she carried Pudding, the infant started crying out loud.
Before impersonating Niamh, the woman had already done her research and came well prepared, regardless of her attitude or her voice. Even the special fragrance that Niamh wore, she managed to find a similar perfume to conceal herself. However, she did not expect the little infant to be so sensitive.
“Why are you crying, Pudding? Don’t you love me lulling you to bed?” Karen took over Pudding and held him in her arms. “Eveline, you’d better go get some rest. I’ll coax Pudding to sleep.”
“Thanks, Mom. Indeed, I’ve been feeling a little tired lately,” said the woman, putting on a lethargic look as she glanced at Kendrick. “Kendrick, let’s go back into our room and sleep early tonight.”
Kendrick stared at the pair of big eyes that were looking side to side and gently nodded.
He brought both Lillian and Jackson back to their bedrooms and tucked them into bed. Just when he was about to leave, Jackson suddenly called out to him.
“Daddy.”
“Yes?”
“Daddy, is Mommy unhappy?” Jackson blinked his eyes, looking at Kendrick with a puzzled look. “When we were baking the cake and you weren’t around, Mommy wasn’t willing to talk to me. She even glared at me.”
Kendrick sat at the edge of his son’s bed and comforted him gently. “Silly boy, how could Mommy glare at you? Your mommy loves Jack the most.”
“Really?”
“Of course.” Kendrick touched the boy’s little head. “Don’t think too much. Hurry and go to sleep, okay?”
“Okay.” Jackson nodded obediently and closed his eyes.
Kendrick covered his son with the blanket and it was only then he left.
When he got back to his bedroom, Kendrick heard the sound of someone bathing coming from the washroom. He went to the bed and sat down thoughtfully. Subconsciously, he picked up the photo frame that was placed on the bedside table.
The photo frame contained his and Niamh’s wedding photo a few years back.
In that photo, Niamh was holding onto his arm while smiling bashfully. Her big eyes that were like stars were sparkling with happiness.
That year, she was an innocent young girl.
However, he did not appreciate her when she was in the happiest stage of her life.
Deep in Kendrick’s heart, he was blaming himself. He forced himself to get rid of that thinking. Just when he was about to get up, he heard footsteps coming from behind him and a woman’s extraordinarily gentle voice. “Kendrick.”
It should be a voice that he liked and could make him touched, but somehow, Kendrick could not feel anything at that moment.
Kendrick got up, sensing the silhouette that was slowly approaching him. He raised his eyes and saw her in a sleeping gown that he had never seen before. The sleeping gown was very thin and very sexy.
Kendrick initially thought he would experience a surge of uncontrollable emotions within him, yet he evaded his gaze, finding it frustrating.
He had no thoughts of being gentle with Niamh, let alone having thoughts of being intimate with her.
“Nia, you go ahead and sleep first. I still have some work to do,” Kendrick said and walked to the study desk.
The lady was dumbfounded. She soon snapped out of it and saw the outline of Kendrick’s icy-cold back. Feeling curious, she lowered her head and glanced at her outfit.
She even purposely looked at her left breast. She had put a mole there that was exactly like the one Niamh had.
From her face till every part of her body, she had perfectly copied Niamh.
‘Kendrick loves Niamh so much, so how is it possible that he’s ignoring me?’
The woman felt curious but did not plan to just give up.
Seeing that Kendrick was about to leave the room after fetching a few documents, she quickly caught up to him and called out to him in a soft tone, “Where are you off to, Kendrick?”
Kendrick came to a halt when he reached the door of the room. “I’m heading to the study. You’re tired lately, so I don’t want to disturb you.”
“But only with you keeping me company can I sleep in peace.” The woman walked to Kendrick and put on a pitiful expression while acting coquettishly.
“Accompany me, Kendrick, alright? You know that there have been lots of things happening lately, so I’m afraid to sleep by myself. I’ll remember the time when Ryan locked me in the room and did all those horrid things to torture me mentally. He didn’t let me out and made me bleed a ton. The injuries on my body are still vaguely painful.”
Hearing this made Kendrick feel a pinch in his heart.
He thought back to when he rescued Niamh from Ryan’s place. She had been utterly terrified, and she was suffering from multiple injuries. Even though some time had passed, it still hurt whenever he recalled it.
“I won’t leave, Nia. I’ll keep you company.”
Kendrick promised and looked at the big, watery eyes before him. He then let his guard down.
The woman noticed her strategy had succeeded and put on a victorious smile that was unnoticeable. However, her face was still wearing a pitiful expression.
“Kendrick, I just want to be with you. Without you by my side, I’ll lose my sense of security.” She imitated the way and tone Niamh talked while revealing her weak side to Kendrick.
Kendrick was thinking about Niamh, who used to suffer grievances and sufferings because of him. The thought of it made his heart thump with pain.
“Nia, I won’t leave you. I’ll always stay by your side, so don’t be afraid.” Kendrick comforted softly and accompanied the lady to sit by the bedside.
The room was lit with lights that were giving off a warm tone and it was not too bright.
The face reflected in Kendrick’s eyes was meticulous and fair. Her face that looked like art was a face he could never forget.
Previously, whenever he saw Niamh, his heartbeat would start to beat at an erratic pace, especially at such a distance between them. However, at that moment, his heart was beating just normally.
‘This is weird.’
Kendrick felt that he was in a weird condition but at the same time, he could not comprehend what was going on.
“Kendrick, we’ve both been tired during this period. The poison in your body has also been acting up, so let’s go to bed early, alright?” said the woman as she stretched out her slim hand, attempting to hug Kendrick.
Seeing the woman who was inching closer, Kendrick had a feeling of rejection dwelling within him.
Just when he was about to get up, there was knocking on the door.
Knock, knock.
“Kendrick, Eveline, are you guys already asleep?” Karen’s voice was heard coming from outside.
Kendrick quickly got up. “Nia, I’ll go get it. Something might have happened to Mom.”
“Alright.” Niamh nodded with a smile. She looked at the outline of Kendrick’s back, the smile on her face gradually fading.
She had nearly succeeded but something happened so suddenly.
To Kendrick, Karen’s appearance was just like the appearance of his savior.
He never had this unusual feeling before, which he himself did not know the reason behind it. He found it unbelievable that being with Niamh would make him feel uncomfortable.
Even back in those times, he had never felt that way before.
Kendrick opened the door and saw Karen carrying Pudding in her hands. Her face was filled with anxiety.
“What’s wrong? Is Pudding not feeling well?”
“No.” Karen shook her head. “It’s about your father-in-law. He’s still not back from working overtime. I have to put Pudding to sleep and Eloise is all by herself. If Eveline is not asleep yet, please ask her to keep Eloise accompany.”
“I’m not asleep yet. I’ll go take care of mom,” Niamh took the initiative and spoke. She reached for a coat and put it on. Then, she walked to Kendrick’s side. “You go and sleep, Kendrick. I’ll go keep Mom company.”
“Alright then.” Kendrick felt as if he was relieved from a burden.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.