When Cathy saw Adam looking so troubled, she walked to his side and lifted her hand, patting his shoulder.
“Adam, don’t be sad. Perhaps your sister is compelled by her hardship.”
“Heh.” Adam softly laughed at himself. “What hardship could she possibly have? Her hardship is that she’s unhappy with how well our parents had treated me back then, always thinking that our parents had wanted to give up on her.”
Upon hearing Adam’s sarcastic remarks, Cathy was uncertain how to continue comforting him.
“She could be doing this for Carter.” Kendrick voiced his suspicion. “A woman would be willing to do anything for a man.”
While Kendrick was not referring to anyone specific, Cathy could not help but be stunned.
Yes.
She agreed.
She wholeheartedly agreed with Kendrick’s words.
In the past, she had committed acts that went against her desires and conscience for Felipe. She had even heeded Felipe’s instructions to hypnotise Kendrick, nearly causing the demise of Kendrick and Niamh’s relationship.
This thought made Cathy blamed herself.
At the same time, it reminded her of Felipe.
He was dead now. Executed.
On that day, right before his grave, she had been taken by Carter’s men before she could bid a proper farewell.
“Cathy. Cathy.”
Cathy, still lost in thought, heard Adam calling to her.
She abruptly came back to her senses, then realized that Kendrick had gone into the room, and Adam was the only person next to her now.
“Cathy, let me drive you home first. You haven’t been back home these few days. Juan and Jan would be worried.”
Cathay nodded. “What about you, Adam?”
“I’ll move in with you.”
“You’re moving in with me?” Cathy felt surprised, but she also quickly figured out the reason.
“Is it because you don’t want anything else unexpected to happen to me, getting kidnapped to be used for blackmail again, so you want to protect me?”
Adam looked at Cathy without denying it.
“I don’t want you to go through any further shock. Even if they want to do anything to you again, at least I’ll be by your side to protect you.”
Cathy felt touched by Adam’s words, but they both knew that was not the same as love.
…
After Adam and Cathy had left, Kendrick stayed in the hospital room, watching over the two girls he cared for the most in this life.
One was his beloved wife, and the other was his precious little princess who he longed to protect. These two were so important to him, yet he could not protect them.
He lifted his hand and stroked Niamh’s cheek softly. Even the sight of her sleeping face could not dispel his anxiety.
Whenever he thought about that unknown final stage of the poison, Kendrick felt as if his heart was burning.
“Nia, what should I do to make everything better?”
Kendrick held Niamh’s hand, kissing it again and again.
It seemed that he had never felt so helpless before. It was because this predicament was beyond his control and understanding.
That poison was developed by a specialist, so even if he were to start researching it now, it would still be too late.
The only thing he could do right now was to trust Adam. On the other hand, that woman was now essentially a fanatic. She no longer had any thoughts or opinions, and would only listen to Carter.
After Kendrick had kept watch for a night, Niamh awoke the next morning.
He could see that Niamh looked ill, her face lacking color. It was clear how much Niamh had suffered last night.
However, Niamh did not show any weakness in her. The first thing she did after waking was to check on Lillian.
When she saw that her daughter was still soundly asleep, Niamh immediately felt that her pain no longer mattered.
In the following days, Niamh and Kendrick safely stayed in the hospital to care for Lillian, whose condition stabilized too.
While Kendrick dared not inform Niamh about the poison’s final stage of the poison, Niamh did not seem bothered by the poison despite it having caused her so much pain the other night.
On Monday morning, Niamh stayed next to Lillian as usual. She watched the doctor give Lillian an injection using a syringe with a thick needle. Her little princess, barely five, pouted and widened her eyes without making a sound, let alone bursting into tears.
The sight broke Niamh’s heart into pieces. Despite Lilian’s age, her endurance and stubbornness were exactly like Niamh’s.
However, she did not hope for her precious daughter to be like her mother, shouldering so much pain like her.
After hanging the IV, Niamh caressed the little girl’s head. “You’re amazing, Lily.”
Lillian blinked her huge eyes and smiled.
Niamh felt her heart ache further as she held the little girl. “Lily, I’ll heal you no matter what.”
Lillian seemed to understand as she nodded knowingly.
Niamh truly felt relieved. She hoped that her daughter would be intelligent, but not too intelligent.
“Daddy,” the little girl suddenly called out for Kendrick.
“Daddy’s bringing Jack to see you. They’ll be here soon, so wait a little longer, Lily,” Niamh comforted Lillian in a soft voice.
Lillian blinked and suddenly, her lively, wide eyes stared toward the door, her gaze seemingly frozen.
Niamh found it odd, so she looked in the direction of the little princess’s gaze. She immediately saw an uninvited guest.
Niamh stood, on her guard, and turned toward her precious daughter who remained ignorant.
She did not want to deal with this uninvited guest in front of the young child, but she was extremely uncomfortable with stepping out of the room, leaving this child alone in the room.
“What’s wrong? Are you scared to see me, Mrs. Waldburg?” Mockery could be heard in the woman’s voice. “Don’t worry. I’ve heard that your daughter has an incurable disease, so I specially came here to express my sympathy,” Shirley said as she strode in, handing a bouquet of powder blue baby breaths to Lillian.
Niamh had wanted to stop her, but she did not want to frighten the child with her aggressive actions. She could only watch as Shirley tried to worm her way into being friends with Lillian.
“Lillian, these flowers are for you. Do you like them? I’ve heard that powder blue baby’s breaths are your favorite flowers. You ought to admire them properly. You might not necessarily have the chance to receive such beautiful flowers next time.”
She handed the flowers over, but Lillian did not take them. Her pair of beautiful, lively, wide eyes merely stared silently at Shirley.
Niamh could not bear watching this any further. Shirley’s words were plainly cursing her.
“Shirley, if you still have an ounce of conscience left, you’d only come at my husband and me. Do you think it’s admirable to bully a little kid?”
Shirley held the bouquet and straightened her back. Seeing Niamh enraged, Shirley’s smile further relaxed.
“Your daughter’s not an ordinary child. She’s the precious baby that’ll make you and Kendrick lose all reason.”
Shirley smiled knowingly. Niamh clearly understood the message Shirley had intended to convey with her words.
“Tch! How did you raise your children, Mrs. Waldburg? I came to visit this child with good intentions. I even brought her flowers. It’s fine if she doesn’t accept my kindness, but she didn’t even thank me.”
Shirley then chuckled softly and displayed a look of realisation.
“Oh, no! How could I forget? Your precious daughter is mute. It’s because that woman, Lana, had scared your daughter into becoming mute.”
When Niamh heard this, she clenched her fists, but she had to control her emotions.
She loosened her hands and pressed her pink lips together into a faint smile.
“Well, so you know Lana?”
Shirley seemed to freeze momentarily upon hearing that. She then admitted nonchalantly, “Of course I know her. I don’t think there’s any harm in telling you now. I was the one who developed the poison that’s still in Kendrick’s body.”
Niamh was unfazed when she heard this.
“Birds of a feather indeed flock together.”
“…”
Niamh looked Shirley in the eye.
“If the reason you came here today is to strike at me, hurt me, and make me suffer, then I’ll tell you now that you’ve succeeded.
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.