What happened then? You were just colluding with Carter, leading me into the trap. Do you think I’d still trust your words?”
“…” Ada grew more anxious hearing that. “I was forced to do that!”
“Forced? Then, did Carter force you to call the police at the wedding?”
“…” Ada’s mouth dangled open; her face suddenly turned crimson. She did not know how to explain herself.
“Get out. Now.” Kendrick kicked her out. “If you don’t leave, I’ll have someone kick you out.”
“…”
Ada would never have compromised, but she did not expect Kendrick to call the hotel security to kick her out.
“Kendrick, how could you do this? I’m here to make a deal with you! How could you not keep your word?” Ada yelled and shrieked again in disbelief.
Kendrick, too tired to deal with her, closed the door immediately. After a while, Ada’s voice gradually disappeared.
Kendrick’s lower lip pulled down as he contemplated the information that Ada had just unveiled. As he turned and lifted his head, he saw the petite woman standing a short distance in front of him, gazing at him with a weird look.
Kendrick could not help but briefly froze. Then, he walked toward Niamh.
“Nia, why are you looking at me like that?” Her gaze seemed to be questioning him.
Niamh, betraying no emotion, gave a measured look at Kendrick, and suddenly smiled. “I didn’t expect my husband to act this shamelessly.”
Kendrick had thought that Niamh was questioning his earlier actions. Upon hearing this, he smiled in turn.
“Trust is off the table when dealing with the likes of her, but the information she provided is indeed useful.”
Niamh smiled and nodded in agreement, then quickly reverted to her serious look.
“Shirley and Carter knew each other, and they have an intimate relationship. That means that Shirley was just following Carter’s orders when she acted against me. Shirley used this kind of thing to keep me in check, but at the end of the day, it was all to get at you, Kendrick. I really don’t understand what they’re up to.”
Niamh’s troubled look calmed Kendrick down instead. “Maybe we’ll find the answer to this question when we return to Glendale.”
Since Shirley had made this request, he was certain that he would only get the answer after returning to Glendale.
The next day, Kendrick and Niamh finally boarded the plane back to Glendale without a hitch.
They did not return to the old manor until the evening.
As soon as she went in, a gust of familiarity rushed toward Niamh, making her feel steadier and more at ease.
Home was always the warmest no matter where one went.
Seeing their parents returned, Jackson and Lillian immediately ran over, hugging their legs. Even their youngest son, still wobbly on his feet, managed to stumble toward Niamh’s side, affectionately hugging her calf. “Mommy, mommy…” He called out in his little boy’s voice.
Niamh bent over and embraced her youngest son, kissing him again and again. “Mommy misses you too, Pudding.”
“Do you not miss me and Lily, mommy?” Jackson’s aggrieved voice came from beside her.
Niamh handed Pudding to Kendrick, squatted down, and, with a loving and gentle smile, embraced both children.
“Of course, I miss Jack and Lily too! You are mommy’s and daddy’s darlings. Come, give mommy a kiss.”
Niamh pressed her face, still smiling, close to them. Jackson and Lillian obliged and pressed their cute tiny mouths toward her and kissed Niamh on both cheeks.
“Me too.” Kendrick squatted and lifted that firm yet refined and handsome face.
Indulgingly, Jackson and Lillian eagerly ran over, planting kisses on Kendrick’s cheeks.
A warm current of emotions flowed across Niamh’s heart when she saw such a warm scene.
From the corners of her eyes, she saw Eloise sitting on the sofa staring at her.
Niamh swiftly got up and walked over, squatting down in front of Eloise. “Mom.”
As she went to hold Eloise’s hand, Eloise avoided her briefly. She gave Niamh a puzzled look, then her gaze softened.
“You’re Eveline. That Eveline.”
Upon hearing this, Niamh could tell that Eloise once again regarded herself as someone else with the same name as Eveline.
Although a little disappointed, she felt at ease seeing Eloise in good health.
“Don’t worry, your mother will be able to recall everything after a while.” Karen came over and comforted her.
Niamh looked back at Karen and expressed her gratitude. “I’m so grateful to you for all your help in caring for my mother all this while. I truly mean it.”
Karen could fully sense Niamh’s sincerity. She raised her hand and patted Niamh’s shoulder lightly, her eyes filled with love and kindness that she never had before.
“We’re family. You don’t need to thank me. I feel at ease now that you’re back safely. You and Kendrick ought to rest up in your room first. The other issues can be dealt with later. Plus, there’s no need to worry about your mother. I’ll take care of her myself.”
Hearing Karen’s words, Niamh was quite moved.
Sometimes, life was truly wonderful. At the very least, it never crossed her mind that, one day, her relationship with Karen would be like this.
Niamh and Kendrick returned to their bedroom. Although they had not been back for a very long time, the room had been thoroughly cleaned, all traces of Naomi erased.
After lying down on the familiar bed, Niamh felt her fatigue melting away.
Kendrick laid next to Niamh, gently pulling her into his arms. “Nia, are you tired?”
Niamh leaned against Kendrick’s body, free from her worries. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m exhausted.”
She did not continue to hide how she felt right now. She was distraught from the consecutive series of predicaments around her. Even now, her body was infected with some unknown poison.
Kendrick suddenly tightened his embrace and leaned down, planting a soft kiss on Niamh’s forehead, guilt-ridden.
As her husband, he had been incapable of protecting her throughout it all.
“Nia…”
“Kendrick, don’t blame yourself.” Niamh could guess what Kendrick was about to say. She opened her eyes and lifted her head, lying on him. “No one can predict what comes next, and you’ve already done what you should, so don’t blame yourself.”
When he heard that, Kendrick felt his heart ache. He softly stroked Niamh’s cheek. “Nia, don’t you know that sensible women are the easiest to get hurt?”
“I don’t believe in that. I only know that my husband will do all he can to make me happy.”
Niamh smiled sweetly and kissed Kendrick’s thin lips.
When they broke off the kiss, he regained his initiative, pressing his hand against the back of Niamh’s head and lifting his head to kiss her lips.
His heart was bursting with unmeasurable excitement and desire to make love to her, but he stopped himself.
Once they had stopped flirting, he held Niamh and sat up. “Nia, we should head over to Adam’s place. Nothing is more important than your body’s condition now.”
Niamh thought Kendrick had a point. They swiftly drove to Adam’s house, bringing along the last tube of test reagent Shirley had given them.
The sky had already turned dark. Although Niamh and Kendrick felt uncomfortable with troubling Adam, they were worried that Niamh’s condition could worsen with every passing second.
When they arrived, Adam was sitting alone in the living room, dazed, and holding a toy bear.
Upon seeing Niamh and Kendrick, his mouth curved into a slight smile.
“You’re here.”
Adam said as he took the test reagent from Kendrick. He realized that it was vacuum-packed. Once opened, it would be contaminated by bacteria.
That way, when it was time for Niamh to use the test reagent, she would be in trouble.
“It seems like I can’t test this right now. I’ll need to wait until the time when you need to use the test reagent. I’d only be able to extract a drop for examination then,” Adam said, helpless. Then, he asked, “Have you seen Shirley? What did she tell you?”
“She has an unusual relationship with a man named Carter,” said Kendrick. “The man who had barged in here last time. Do you still remember him?”
Adam tried recalling and nodded slightly. “I remember.” However, he was more perplexed now. “Who’s this person?”
Kendrick filled him in with every detail he had gathered, which Adam found inconceivable. “This person has quite the background. How did Shirley know him?”
“It is said that your sister appeared suddenly at the Gray Manor over ten years ago. Since then, your sister had constantly been with Carter, day and night, but then she left the Gray Manor for some unknown reason a few years back,” Niamh explained.
Adam’s long brows snapped together, his eyes betrayed his helplessness, hesitating to speak.
Niamh caught this change in his eyes. “Adam, why did your sister leave home back then? She would have been just a little girl more than ten years ago.”
Adam gave a melancholic and wry smile as he sat down on the chair, somewhat weakly.
“She has always misunderstood. She wrongly thought that our parents do not love her and that there’s no place for her in this family. In reality, our parents had only wanted to give her the best arrangement, but she was too stubborn. She’d rather cut off relations with us and leave this family. She’d also refused to listen to our explanation.”
Niamh and Kendrick shared a look after hearing this.
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.