“Yes, but not completely.” If I had only felt shocked by Jared initially, those feelings had all turned to detest by then. Everyone had a dark side to them, even the most angelic and righteous of people. Some were just better at hiding it from others.
Jared was especially despicable because he appeared to be a good person, but there was not a single trace of kindness to be found in his heart at all. If Summer’s illness was an accident, then Kristina’s couldn’t have been an accident too.
He was clearly out to commit murder. I didn’t know what he did to Kristina to cause her to be diagnosed with lung cancer, but I was absolutely sure that he had placed Summer in the chemical plant with the intention to make her sick.
It couldn’t be a coincidence that Kristina and Summer had both stayed in a chemical plant before, and both had gotten sick. That meant that the rest of the employees at that plant also had to be suffering some side effects from working there in order to earn money for their families. Unfortunately, those employees might now have to live with a crippling sickness for the rest of their lives.
The blatant disregard for other people’s wellbeing was exactly why I resented Jared so much. After leaving the hospital, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I wanted him to remain in jail forever, and about how I would never let Summer near him ever again.
Anthony’s eyebrows knitted together as he stayed silent for a minute. “What do you want to do?”
“Have you ever thought about investigating the chemical plants in W City registered under the Crest family name?”
He frowned. “Exactly who did you bump into today?”
“It’s Kristina. She is diagnosed with terminal stage lung cancer!” I was aware that my way of handling this problem might have been a little extreme, but I couldn’t think of any other methods to go about it.
Anthony wasn’t dumb. He understood what I was implying, deep in contemplation before saying, “I’ll instruct someone to go and investigate for you. If Jared really has something to do with this, I’ll contact the police and get them involved. You don’t need to get your hands dirty or think about matters that have nothing to do with us anymore, Sienna. We’re just normal people now. All we can do now is protect those we hold dear to us, you understand?”
His words took me aback, causing a wave of unrecognizable emotions to rise within me. It was as if I had suddenly realized the true nature of the person I was in love with. He had a point—we were all just a small part of this huge world, and being able to care for those around us was good enough. We didn’t have an obligation to sacrifice our time and energy to interfere with other people’s lives.
Hannah and Chandler were already at the Stanhope residence when Anthony and I arrived. Clearly excited to be with Kiki after a long while, Hannah was holding her son in her arms as they played together in the child’s room while Chandler watching over them warmly. The whole image looked very heartwarming.
I had a sneaking suspicion that John might actually be a masochist of some sort. He knew that he would be upset by the sight, yet insisted on making up random excuses to keep going to Kiki’s room to take another look at them, and then returning to the living room and plopping down on the sofa in a daze. Even Louis couldn’t stand it anymore after watching this process repeat itself over and over, scolding him outright, “Get ahold of yourself! Didn’t you invite Ms. Lyons over? Go out and welcome her in; this house is too large for her to find her way around.”
“There are servants at the door that will help lead the way, so why should I go?” John kicked back and leaned against the sofa lazily.
“Greeting people at the door is the very basic manners of the Stanhope family!” Louis shouted at him. “You know damn well why you should go greet her!”
Silently admitting defeat, John slumped away to the main entrance to wait for Emma to arrive.
Anthony then started up a conversation with Louis while Kiki started sticking by Chandler’s side, insisting on playing with him and him only.
Realizing that she was being left out, Hannah left the bedroom and sat down beside me. “I can’t believe I spent ten months fretting and worrying over my pregnancy only to give birth to a traitor,” she joked. “I couldn’t even get a good night’s sleep, but look at my son now.”
“Kiki kept looking for you these past few days, though,” I pointed out, laughing. “And his Uncle Louis has already been tormented enough. Kids are born mischievous and playful, so don’t blame him for it.
He’ll come back to you when he gets tired and sleepy.”
She nodded and sighed. “I think Kiki stopped drinking breastmilk way too early. I’m a little worried whenever I see that his body is smaller compared to other kids his age. Did Summer not drink much breastmilk as well?”
“Macy left right after Summer was born,” I explained. “At that time, there were too many things happening at once and I was unable to take care of Summer, so Jackson and Nick essentially raised her. I did consider later on feeding her breastmilk, but it loses nutritional value after it expires, so I never ended up doing it. She used to be smaller than what Kiki looks like now, actually. Afterward, I brought her to live in R Province for a few years, where the environment was great and clean. She was getting better and healthier, and then I brought her back to K City again. Looking back on it now, my neglect and failure to plan ahead was a large reason why Summer fell sick.”
“There’s no way you could have planned for this, so don’t blame yourself,” she argued. “Besides, Summer still has a chance at growing up healthily if she just focuses on recovering right now. By the way, I heard from Uncle Louis that there are more guests coming?”
“My brother invited his blind date, a woman from the Lyons family. I think you’ve heard of her.”
Hannah nodded. “The Lyons family have a reputation in K City for being made up entirely of scholars, and their children have all studied literature. But, why would the Lyons want to arrange a marriage with the Stanhopes?”
“The woman is around thirty years old, and this would be her second marriage. She doesn’t have any children because she’s physically unable to give birth to any. Maybe they agreed to let John marry her purely because they were afraid no one else would. On the other hand, John already has a child, so he doesn’t need to produce any more heirs or anything; he just wants to get married solely because he wants someone to stay at home to take care of the children and Uncle Louis. When Uncle Louis eventually grows old and weak, there will be a lot of chores at home that need a woman’s help.”
“Oh.” Hannah glanced at me. “But John is such a prideful guy. Do you think he’ll agree to the marriage?”
“Uncle Louis told him that it’s all up to him. Besides, John was the one who invited Ms. Lyons over, so he clearly knows what he’s doing. We don’t have to worry about him.”
John and Emma had entered the living room during our conversation. Emma had changed into an outfit with softer textures and warmer, lighter colors, and had also removed some of her makeup to appear kinder than usual.
Hannah and I both stood up, smiling politely at her. “Welcome to the Stanhope residence, Ms. Lyons!”
I had already met Emma once before, so she greeted me casually. When she turned to Hannah, something flashed through the depths of her eyes. “Are you Hannah?”
Wow. She came prepared.
Hannah’s mouth fell open at the sudden question but quickly regained her composure. “Yes. It’s nice to meet you.”
John stayed silent in front of Hannah like he always did, gazing at her with a cold stare that had hints of regret and pain.
It seemed like he was determined to marry Emma.
Now that everyone was accounted for, Louis called for the maids to serve the food. Chandler carried Kiki in his arms as he came downstairs, giving Emma a polite smile as a greeting.
After everyone was seated, Louis invited everyone to begin eating. Emma sat right next to me and I spotted her gaze darting back and forth between Hannah and Kiki. “What a beautiful pair,” she finally remarked, looking at John, “You guys were a family, right?”
John was stunned for a moment but quickly regained his calm. “You can say so,” he admitted without shying away.
I thought Emma would be affected by John’s forthright answer, but instead, she shrugged indifferently. “Serves you right. You should’ve treated them nicely when you still had them by your side. You only have yourself to blame since you’re the one who had an affair.”
Her comment took me by utter surprise.
John would have lashed out at her on usual days, at least that was what I expected, but I got it all wrong. John looked back at her nonchalantly and emulated her shrug. “If you say so,” he replied shortly.
I really could not get my head around those two. How they interacted with each other was just beyond me.
Everyone stayed back for a little chat after the meal.
Kiki was already fast asleep and everyone was getting ready to leave when a loud ruckus sounded from the outside, so Louis asked someone to go check it out.
The housekeeper returned and walked right toward John. “Mr. Stanhope, someone’s looking for you.”
“Me? Who is it?”
The housekeeper looked stumped. “It’s the lady who came over with you last time, Ms. Wilde.”
“I don’t know her. Tell the guards to throw her out before she dirties this place,” John replied coldly.
The housekeeper stared at him uneasily for a second and went back outside to do as John said.
Since it was getting late, Hannah and Chandler decided to make a move first. Louis asked John to send Emma back since Anthony and I was also leaving.
When all of us were at the front gate, we saw Yvonne outside, with a few security guards blocking her way. She looked frail and weak in her hospital gown.
She was wailing and shrieking at the top of her voice, accusing John of being cruel toward her. If a random stranger were to pass by, they might well mistake John for being a heartless brat.
As for Emma, I did not worry for her at all. I was sure she would not take Yvonne’s behavior to heart.
What I worried about was Louis’ reputation if Yvonne kept shouting outside like this.
“You should at least do something. Uncle Louis won’t be able to sleep in peace tonight,” I told John.
John pursed his lips impatiently as he walked outside, glaring at Yvonne, who was throwing a tantrum in front of the guards.
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.
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