Kendrick’s heart suddenly sank. He could see Shirley’s face betraying a sly expression as she spoke.
Shirley’s smile widened further upon seeing the worry in Kendrick’s eyes.
“Forget it, I won’t reveal it to you now so that you won’t get worried.”
“Shirley!” Kendrick’s patience was depleted. His deep, narrow eyes glared with a cold edge. “I’m not in the mood to waste time with you. I want the anti-toxoid test reagent. Do you understand?”
“Hiss.” Shirley could not suppress her pain. Her wrist felt like it could break anytime at Kendrick’s mercy.
Her beautiful brows snapped together. She then chuckled softly through gritted teeth, a helpless expression on her face.
“I understand, but you should also understand that I don’t have any extra anti-toxoid test reagent.”
When Kendrick heard this, his eyes emitted a ghastly murderous intent, and his thin lips pressed together. Without another word, he abruptly grabbed Shirley by her neck ruthlessly and dragged her outside.
“Ugh… Cough!”
Shirley had not expected Kendrick to be so menacing.
She immediately lost all control over her breathing. In that instant, she could see Carter’s face turning cold and fierce, as if he would explode at any second.
Just when she had thought Carter would come to her rescue, she saw Adam running over to her with a worried look on his face.
“Kendrick! Release her first! She doesn’t have the anti-toxoid test reagent, but I do. I’ve been experimenting the whole time, and I’ve almost succeeded! Really!’
Adam had deliberately emphasized that to convince Kendrick to temporarily release Shirley, who nearly suffocated.
Kendrick stopped in his tracks. He lowered his eyes and glared at Shirley in disgust before turning back to Adam.
“Do you think this kind of person is worth it? She’s unfit to be your sister.”
“This isn’t a matter of worthiness. I only know that, as a doctor, I have no intention to allow any living being to receive a death threat in my presence.”
Adam answered calmly, the panic on his face from a second ago vanished.
Kendrick peered coldly at Shirley and let out a chilling, sarcastic laugh, then suddenly released his grip.
Shirley fell onto the cold, hard floor with a thud, greedily gasping for air.
Just a moment ago, she truly had thought she would die from suffocation.
She had also thought Carter would rush over to her rescue at that moment, but even now, he merely stood by and watched, indifferent.
She had indeed mistaken that earlier shot as his care for her.
Shirley lifted her gaze and met the man’s condescending eyes. She then laughed at herself. A bitter feeling crept up her throat, and she started coughing. Unable to hold back her embarrassment any further, tears fell from the corners of her eyes as she continued coughing.
“Kendrick, bring me to Eveline. Don’t waste any more time. Hurry!” Adam reminded Kendrick.
Despite the rage that was already burning within Kendrick, Adam’s reminder prevailed. Now no longer interested to continue teaching Shirley a lesson, Kendrick wanted only to immediately return to Niamh and ease her current symptoms.
“Nia’s in the hospital. Let’s go!” Kendrick said as he took a step out of the door.
Adam and Cathy quickly followed.
Carter watched the three of them leave and frowned.
The bodyguards awaited his orders for pursuit, but Carter gave no orders.
He walked toward Shirley who still laid sideways on the cold, hard floor. His tall and lean body towered over Shirley like an ice sculpture as he peered disdainfully at Shirley.
“Did you do that on purpose? You want to free your brother, don’t you?” Carter asked coldly, the sternness expressed with the corners of his eyes and his eyebrows frightened Shirley.
“I… Cough cough… Why would I let him go?” Shirley answered Carter as she coughed. “He was the reason my parents had neglected me back then, the reason they’d sent me to study abroad. It wasn’t for my future. The fact was that they’d just wanted a better opportunity to nurture their precious son. Hmph!”
Shirley looked toward the direction where Adam had left and chuckled coldly.
“I only want to see just how great their precious, cherished son truly is.”
Shirley said this through gritted teeth.
Nonetheless, tears silently fell from the corners of her eyes. Her fists clenched as the thought of the notebook, containing her father’s handwritten, surfaced in her mind.
Upon hearing Shirley’s words and seeing the tears trickling out of the corners of her eyes, Carter’s eyes darkened.
He suddenly bent down and carried Shirley, who had still been lying on her side on the floor, in a bridal carry.
Shirley did not dare to expect much more. Being in Carter’s arms right now was exactly what she had wanted.
…
The hospital.
It was the middle of the night when Kendrick got back to the hospital room.
Even though Niamh had been injected with some tranquilizer, she was still shivering under the blankets.
Kendrick’s heart ached. There was nothing else he could do for Niamh.
If it was possible, he truly would endure it all in Niamh’s place.
During their departure from Carter’s villa, Adam had been informed of Niamh’s current symptoms by Kendrick.
He had first gone home to retrieve some of his things before following Kendrick to the hospital.
After a cursory examination of Niamh, he had given Niamh an injection with the anti-toxoid test reagent that he had brought with him.
After the injection, Niamh’s heart still ached, and the chills all over her body persisted. Ten minutes later, color finally returned to Niamh’s face.
On the side, Cathy shifted her gaze from the poison-afflicted Niamh to Lillian who had leukemia. The sight distressed her to the point of tears, so she turned and left the room quietly.
Soon after, Kendrick and Adam came out of the room as well.
With a serious look on his face, Adam explained the situation to Kendrick.
“I’ve injected Eveline with an analgesic that I developed. It can’t cure her completely, but it can temporarily help relieve her pain. To eliminate the poison, we’d still need to find out exactly what Shirley used in developing the poison. That’s the only way we can prescribe the right cure for Eveline.”
“That’s not something she’d tell us. She’s in this with Carter, and Carter’s goal is to get to me. Until this goal has been achieved, they’ll only be using Niamh to control me.”
In this regard, Kendrick understood clearly. He finally let go of his strong facade and sat down on the chair in exhaustion.
“Lillian has leukemia, and Nia is in this state. Further, I’m not fully recovered. I truly don’t know when all of this will end.”
He lamented. For now, he only wanted to release the pressure he had been holding in.
Once this is over, he would still be the husband Niamh needs and the father his children want to depend on.
“It’ll all get better.” Cathy gave him her blessings. “I believe that we reap what we sow. Evie is a good person, so I’m sure she’ll be blessed.”
Kendrick smiled when he heard that. “I agree.”
His smile was quickly replaced with another frown. “Adam, since you’ve heard what Shirley said earlier, do you know what would be the symptoms that Nia will show when the poison reaches the final stage?”
Adam frowned when he heard Kendrick’s question.
He only spoke after a few moments.
“I can’t be certain what symptoms would appear during the final stage, but I realize that Eveline’s flare- ups have been too frequent, and the intervals in between them were very short. This is unlike what you’d experienced back then.”
Kendrick too frowned in turn. “What does this mean?”
“This means that they want to achieve something in a very short period. Once the poison in Eveline’s body reaches its final stage, they’ll use this to coerce you into trading away something beneficial.”
Kendrick had already understood this.
The thing he wanted to know the most right now was the symptoms Niamh would exhibit.
Overwhelmed with worry, he lifted his hand to massage his forehead, exhaustion creeping out from his heart.
“I’m very sorry,” Adam suddenly apologized.
Confused, Kendrick lifted his gaze. “Why are you apologizing to me?”
“At the end of the day, she’s still my sister,” Adam simply answered.
While Kendrick understood what Adam meant, he only had gratitude and appreciation for Adam.
“You’re you, and Shirley’s Shirley. I won’t place you on the same level as her. Additionally, you’ve been helping us this entire time. If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead, and Nia, as well as Jack, might not be alive now.”
“I am a doctor. It’s my duty to save others.” Adam repeated the same statement but then sighed in regret. “I truly don’t understand her. I’d already shown her the notebook, so why can’t she understand the trouble our parents had endured back then? Why is she still full of resentment?”
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.