Talk to me.”
Even though Nigel was only seven years old, he had mastered the skill of determining other people’s emotions and moods solely based on their tone.
As soon as he heard the change in Gwen’s voice, he immediately knew that something was amiss. “He’s right next to me. You can tell us, and well try to help as much as we can.”
A surge of warmth spread into Gwen’s heart upon hearing this.
She took a deep breath and described everything about Denise to Nigel and Neil. “Can you guys help us find the hotel she’s at as soon as possible?”
“Done,”
Neil’s response rang out before she even finished her sentence.”
They’re not too far from you; I’ll give you the address right now.”
Gwen was surprised at the efficacy of this, but she quickly gathered herself and thanked them. “Please tell me.”
“They’re right; she’s not far from us at all.”
Steven furrowed his brow when he heard the address given by Neil. He stood up, grabbed his coat off the rack, and strode out before he could even finish his sentence. “It’s only a five-minute cab ride from here.”
Gwen quickly chased after him, but not before thanking Neil again on the phone.
The hotel Denise was at was not far from their location at all.
When Steven and Gwen arrived, the hotel was already surrounded by cops and ambulances.
Steven sprinted toward the scene like a madman, having caught sight of Denise’s silhouette on the stretcher from far away. “How is she now?”
“We’re not too sure either.”
The paramedic shook his head. “She’s still breathing, but just barely. To fall from five stories in this weather…”
He sighed before adding, “Don’t worry-well do our best to save her.”
With that, the paramedics brought Denise onto the ambulance.
Steven furrowed his brow and wanted to follow suit, but as he turned his head, he immediately caught sight of Mr. and Mrs. Hughes standing in the distance, alongside a half-dressed Mr. Hoffman in his pajamas.
Anger coursed through his body at this sight.
“I will go with her.”
Gwen sighed when she saw the look in Steven’s eyes and immediately got into the ambulance. “Please keep your cool.”
Steven shot her a glance of gratitude, then nodded. “Please call me if anything happens.”
Gwen nodded in return, then closed the door behind her.
Steven watched as the ambulance grew further and further away, then finally rounded a corner and disappeared from view.
Finally, he lifted his head to glance coldly at Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, then strode in their direction. “When did you arrive?”
At this moment, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were in the midst of apologizing to Mr. Hoffman. “We never expected that something like this would happen…
“We’ve already abided by the contract to hand her over to you, but what happens after that has nothing to do with us at all…”
This was the first thing Steven heard when he got near, and a glimmer of malice immediately shot through his eyes.
Denise had just fallen from a five-storey building and was barely alive, yet neither of their parents seemed to care about that, and instead were busy trying to patch up their business relationship with Mr. Hoffman!
“I don’t care!”
Mr. Hoffman did not notice Steven approaching from behind and instead waved his hand dismissively at Mr. and Mrs. Hughes. “You were the ones who promised me I’d be able to have fun with that woman. Now, not only am I left unsatisfied, but she even jumped off a building right in front of me!
“Because of you, I’m now being investigated by the police. I literally just came out from being interrogated, and my wife has found out about my cheating on her. All of you should be responsible for this!”
He scoffed and added, “This is all your fault-none of you could control her well enough! I will rebuke our previous contract, and you have to pay me back the money I gave you!
“Not only that, but you need to give me extra compensation! If you don’t, I’ll spread the news about your wrongdoing all over town, and you’ll pay the price for deceiving me!”
With that, he turned around and was just about to leave when he came face-to-face with Steven.
“What the hell?” he shot Steven a murderous glare. “You Hughes are weirdos! Who sneaks up on people like that? Fucking.idiots!”
With that, he strode away.
Mr. Hughes watched him leave, then instinctively turned to glance at his wife with a fearful look. “I told you-we shouldn’t try to engage with people like him. He can always spread the news about our transaction with him around town and it won’t affect him much, but that won’t be the same for us.
“If everyone finds out that we used our adopted daughter as a bargaining tool…we won’t be able to live peacefully in this city ever again!”
Mrs. Hughes could not help raising her brows at this. “Well, if you really think it was such a bad idea, why didn’t you try to stop me back then? Now that we’re in trouble, you push all the blame onto me-you call yourself a man?”
The color drained from Mr. Hughes’ face. “Well, you never told me Mr. Hoffman would turn out to be such a bad egg-I never thought he’d put Denise on drugs!”
Mrs. Hughes rolled her eyes at him. “Well, that’s because I had no idea either!”
Steven overheard every last word of their exchange.
He strode over to their side, frowning. “Did you say that Mr. Hoffman put Denise on drugs? What drug did he give her?”
The two of them finally realized Steven had been standing behind them all along.
Mrs. Hughes furrowed her eyebrows. “Why aren’t you with that bitch? What made you come here all of a sudden?”
Steven took no notice of her questions at all. “Tell me-what did that Mr. Hoffman do to Denise? What drugs did he put her on?”
The color drained from Mrs. Hughes’ face.
A split second later, Mr. Hughes finally replied, “Well…I think he placed her on hallucinogens.”
Steven let out an audible gasp.
Hallucinogens?
It was no wonder that Denise would make that call to him and say such strange things!
At the thought of this, Steven could not help recalling the despair in Denise’s voice when she uttered those words to him.
His heart clenched at the thought of this.
He lifted his head to stare at the couple standing before him.
At this moment, the two of them were exchanging accusatory glances at each other, as though they were still blaming each other for the falling through of their business transaction with Mr. Hoffman.
Steven let out another gasp as he clenched his fists in fury.
He had no idea that his own parents were such despicable people!
Denise had lived with them for more than 20 years. Even though she was not biologically related to them, even though they treated her merely as a bargaining tool…she was still human!
She was a living, breathing person who spent her entire life with them!
People regularly grew attached to pets, yet both his parents seemed to care for Denise less than any ordinary folk cared for their pet dog!
She was nothing but a tool to them!
At the thought of this, Steven bit his lip and narrowed his eyes at them. “Father, Mother, this will be the last time I refer to you as much.”
Whether Denise made it out alive or not, he would never treat the two people in front of him as his parents again.
They were not worthy of being parents!
“Steven.”
Mrs. Hughes frowned when she heard this. “Does that bitch Gwen matter to you that much? Your father and I brought you into this world! I know you still disapprove of what we did to Luke when he was a baby, but don’t you know who we went to these great lengths for? We did this all for you!
“If it weren’t for the fact that you were constantly sick as a child and needed treatment, leading to our family becoming poorer, we would never have chosen to abandon Luke!
“The person who benefited from Luke’s abandonment is you, and neither of us mistreated you even a single bit! How can you cut ties with us all because of a woman-one that is only using you for Luke, no less?”
Mr. Hughes sighed and nodded in agreement. “Your mother is right, Steven.”
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.