Naturally, neither of them dared to speak further after that, and simply stood there in silence.
After a long while, Diarmuid said quietly, “Both of you can go.”
James and Stan traded glances, and almost spoke at the same time, “Accidents can happen during surgery…”
“I said, you can go. Understand?” Diarmuid said, cutting them short.
“Yes, sir.” Both Stan and James left.
Abigail quickly hid, and returned to the study after Stan and James left.
She then found Diarmuid resting a palm on the curtain wall, his head lowered and his back arched.
She had never seen him like that before-he was the proud and indomitable Diarmuid Althoff.
He would never cringe like that, and yet he did.
He must be miserable-he had just found his mother, but she was gone again before they could acknowledge each other.
Losing her twice must be exceedingly horrific for him, and yet, she could not go to his side to comfort him now.
After all, she was the one who killed his mother-it would hurt him more to see her, would he not?
She gently closed the door to the study and returned to her bedroom, still barefooted.
It clearly was not cold, but she felt that way anyway.
She sat on the bed for the entire night, and Diarmuid never returned even as dawn breaks.
After taking a shower and getting changed, Abigail put on some makeup to hide her pale, exhausted face and swollen eyes.
When she headed out of the room, Diarmuid had already left the house.
Mrs. Watson told her that he left before daylight arrived, and Abigail had the feeling that he had gone to Melville Hospital.
Unsurprisingly, she found him when she arrived, arguing with Mick.
Mick wanted to bury Yvaine himself so that when he died, he could be buried at her side.
Naturally, there was no way Diarmuid would allow that.
Abigail walked up to them, and seeing that Mick was not giving in at all, said, “She wants to be buried as
Yvaine Lynd, not as Layla Gooding.”
“She told you that?” Mick asked, referring to the letter.
“Yes,” Abigail replied.
Mick appeared deflated right then, stumbling backward and leaning against the wall. “S-She’s going back. to Andrew…”
With that settled, Diarmuid himself went into the morgue to wheel Yvaine’s body out.
Abigail was about to go to him when he looked up and asked, “She told you?”
His tone was unfathomable, and Abigail flinched on reflex when she met his eyes.
Even so, she rasped, “Yes. She told me that before the surgery.”
She was indirectly telling him that she was the one who operated on his mother, and Diarmuid stared at her for seconds before brushing past her without a word.
James approached her just then. “You should take the day off. Mr. Althoff needs-”
“I have work to do,” Abigail retorted.
James was left frowning, suddenly finding her cold and indifferent.
“If you still care about Mr. Althoff and your relationship with him, you should talk to him,” he said, his tone turning cold.
Abigail held his gaze, her hands clenching at her sides but remaining stoic. “Would that change anything?”
James became a little upset then. In his opinion, Abigail had simply made a mistake and did not mean to do harm-she just had to talk things through with Diarmuid to mend their relationship.
But given the way she was behaving, their relationship could fall apart at any moment.
After all, Diarmuid’s mother was the one who died.
“Do whatever you want,” James said and jogged off to catch up to Diarmuid.
Abigail then turned toward Mick. “You should return to Minerva.”
Mick looked up at her. “Yvaine said that too?”
In reality, Yvaine never said it-she just believed that it would be better if he was gone. “Don’t you have a daughter? You should return to her side.”
Mick blinked. Abigail knew about their daughter too?
Did Yvaine tell her?
That has to be it.
“If that’s what she wants,” Mick said.
For Abigail, she just wished that things would be over soon-it was really grilling to her heart, and she was basically suffocating whenever she looked into Diarmuid’s eyes.
It was devoid of warmth, but he pretended to be calm anyway.
After that, Abigail had changed into her lab coat and was getting ready to work when Stephen called her to his office.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Where else would I be?” she countered.
Stephen was actually stumped – Diarmuid was convinced that she had killed Yvaine in a surgical mishap, and had to harbor some ill-will toward her at the moment.
“Thank you for this. Mick would be dead if not for you-”
“You don’t have to thank me. I would never have agreed to this if not for the letter Yvaine left for me. Actually, I regret reading it now at all.”
She was not noble enough to sacrifice herself for others, and the only reason she did it was because Yvaine was Diarmuid’s mother.
“I’ll go back to work if there’s nothing else.”
“Wait,” Stephen stopped her, and took a notebook from his drawer and handed it to her. “Here’s all the notes I’ve made of all my preclinical experience and various mysterious conditions I encountered. It should help you.”
Abigail never mixed business with personal matters anyway, and she took it. “Thank you.”
“Also, there’s a spot open for a seminar at Mead Clinic. It’s the top research center for cardiovascular diseases globally, and I can arrange for you to take the slot any time. You’re talented enough to become the best cardiologist if you go, even making your mark in history.”
However, Mead Clinic was overseas, and she never thought about going abroad-least of all right now.
“Just think about it. I can save the slot for you, and you can come ask me anytime you want.”
“Thank you. Can I go back to work now?” Abigail asked.
“Yeah,” Stephen just wanted to make it up to her.
After that Abigail kept herself busy and basically took any task she could, as if she would never tire.
She said, “I can perform another surgery, Dr. Carr.”
Stephen stared at her incredulously. “You’ve already done two. It’s time to take a break.”
“Let me do it.”
She did not want to stop-she wanted more work!
Stephen stayed quiet for a while before saying, “Alright.”
That was when Harvey Gooding suddenly barged in, yelping, “Abigail Bernstein!”
Abigail remained impassive. “What is it?”
“Diarmuid is a sicko, isn’t he?” Harvey cried, almost losing his mind just then.
“Stop bothering him,” Abigail said flatly, and turned to leave.
Harvey had not even had his say, and so, he rushed toward her and grabbed her wrist. “Hold on, what was that supposed to mean, ‘stop bothering him? I only sent him the photos of me hugging you, but he’s trying to destroy me!”
Abigail shook his hand off. “What did he do?”
Harvey was left a little stunned when Abigail shook him off so violently, not to mention that she was frighteningly cold.
He could not help asking gingerly, “A-Are you alright?”
Abigail glanced at the time. “You have two minutes.”
Harvey was left at a loss for words for a while, but quickly said, “I don’t know what Diarmuid did, but construction on a tower I invested in was halted, citing non-compliance. I had to return to Sunny City because of that, and they told me that it’s because of Diarmuid. How could he be so petty?”
Abigail understood right then. “You deserved it.”
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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