“It… It was just a small squabble. Please, everyone, it’s over now. Please enjoy the rest of the night.” Nevaeh forced out a smile as she tried to revert the atmosphere of the night, then she turned to Kendrick after fixing a hurt expression on her face. “Kendrick. Please don’t believe a word Tanner said…”
“I knew it. Niamh would never do such a thing!” Old Master Waldburg interrupted Nevaeh’s excuses with his infuriated tone. “So it was all you! You were the one who joined forces with that thug to frame Niamh. How could you kidnap your son just to harm her? You, you… I can’t believe you!”
Nevaeh shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. “That’s not true, Grandpa Waldburg. You can’t just convict me based on the thug’s words alone. How could I possibly kidnap Jack? He’s my son! How could I have the heart to?”
“Yeah. My daughter would never do such a thing, Old Master Waldburg. How could we believe the words of a thug?” Eloise’s expression was stern, her emotions much calmer than Nevaeh’s.
That was because she firmly believed that her precious daughter would never do such a thing.
“Hmph!” Old Master Waldburg huffed coldly. He did not believe a word she said.
Nevaeh did not care about how Old Master Waldburg thought. What mattered to her was how Kendrick did.
Her glistened eyes turned to look at the frosty man. “You believe me, right, Kendrick?”
Nevaeh’s tone was soft as she reached out to grab Kendrick’s hands, trying to get him to believe in her.
Instead, all she got was a cold look filled with doubt that swept sharply over Nevaeh’s face from the corner of his eyes. Without giving her an answer, he walked away.
“Kendrick, Kendrick…”
Feeling hurt, her tears began to fall cooperatively as Nevaeh watched Kendrick’s retreating figure.
Eloise began to comfort her sympathetically. “It’s alright, Nevaeh. Kendrick is smart. I’m sure he wouldn’t fall for such lies!”
Nevaeh nodded and wiped off her tears. “I’ll go look for him.”
“Nevaeh.” Eloise sighed sadly. Lifting her gaze, she glared at Niamh with displeasure.
On the receiving end of Eloise’s disgusted gaze, Niamh found herself smiling and walking over without a care. “If memory serves me right, you were very certain that you had seen how shameless and ruthless Niamh was, right, Mrs. Montgomery? Yet the truth speaks otherwise. This precious daughter of yours seems more like the horrible person you described.”
“You… Don’t spout nonsense, Vera Quinn. Or I’ll sue you for defamation!”
“Shouldn’t Niamh be the one suing if anything? Your daughter was the one who employed someone else to slander her innocence and frame her for kidnapping.”
“You…”
Niamh found herself unwilling to continue after watching Eloise comfort and stand up for Nevaeh.
The truth was out in the open, yet Eloise chose to protect and believe in Nevaeh anyway.
Everyone liked to call themselves logical, yet feelings had always been something selfish. Something so selfish that it could blind you from black and white, from right and wrong.
Niamh smiled bitterly before turning around and walking away with a glass of wine in hand.
Night fell and the soft summer breeze caressed Niamh’s cheeks.
Through the corridors, she found herself staring at an ever-so-familiar silhouette leaning on the balcony at the end.
Against the glass railing stood Kendrick’s tall and lithe figure. A wine glass sat between the man’s fingers, and there was a bottle of red wine on the small table next to him.
He quietly lifted the glass, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he downed the wine in his glass.
Another breeze of night wind blew, ruffling his chestnut brown hair.
Under the dark of the night, Niamh stared on. A heavy dose of melancholy seemed to have taken root in his drooping eyes and defined brows.
‘Are you blaming yourself, Kendrick?
‘Or are you regretting the things you’ve done?’
Niamh chuckled lightly.
Kendrick slowly lifted his gaze, almost as if he had heard the clickity-clack of her heels.
“Are you drinking your sorrows away, Mr. Waldburg? Perhaps the incident just now has destroyed your mood?” Niamh asked casually, walking toward Kendrick. “You seem like you need company, Mr. Waldburg. Shall I join you for a drink?”
Niamh lightly swirled the champagne in her hand and reached over to knock their glasses together, only for Kendrick to pull her by the wrist before their glasses could even touch.
Curiously, she stared at the inquisitive look in Kendrick’s eyes, albeit glazed over by the influence of alcohol.
“Mr. Waldburg?”
“It’s you, isn’t it? Niamh.”
Kendrick’s gaze looked exceptionally abstruse and complicated. He clasped Niamh’s slender wrist tightly, tightening his hold on her inch by inch to not allow her to break free.
He could not let go of her hand again. He could not…
Niamh behaved coolly and calmly in the face of Kendrick’s doubts.
She curled the corners of her lips, seemingly revealing her annoyance. “If I remember correctly, Mr. Waldburg, you promised me that you’d no longer suspect me of being your ex-wife, Niamh Delgado.”
Hearing her answer, the anticipation in Kendrick’s eyes seemed to have been extinguished instantly and his hand that was holding Niamh gradually relaxed.
Niamh withdrew her hand and took a sip of champagne. “To be honest, it’s really annoying to be treated as a dead person every time. If it wasn’t for me being afraid of pain, I would have really considered giving myself a makeover.”
Kendrick suddenly raised his eyes. “Don’t get plastic surgery.”
“Hmm?” Niamh raised her eyebrows lightly.
Kendrick paused slightly, then opened his mouth. “Sorry, this is the last time.” He promised. “You don’t need plastic surgery. Your natural appearance is the most beautiful.”
His words were meant to be for praise and appreciation, but it was merely because her face was exactly the same as Niamh.
He slowly turned around as he spoke, and the bustling city under the night could be seen from this angle.
There were intertwining neon lights and dazzling illuminations, but it seemed that the chill between his brows still could not be dissipated.
“Miss Vera, can you accompany me for a few drinks?” His emotionless voice sounded.
Niamh looked at his back and found it to look quite lonely and depressed.
She walked to his side with a glass of wine and shot him a neutral glance. “Although I’m quite disgusted that people keep treating me like a dead person, it seems that the ‘dead person’, who’s your ex-wife, was wronged by mistake. She doesn’t seem to be the shameless, cruel woman as rumored.”
She expressed the hidden grievances and powerlessness in her heart in a joking manner.
Her heart was bitter even though she had finally claimed her innocence.
After saying these words, Niamh observed Kendrick’s eyebrows furrowing tightly.
He looked at the night city and closed his eyes, the evening breeze softening the sharp corners of his eyes and eyebrows. Kendrick spoke after a long silence.
“What has been the most regrettable thing in your life, Miss Vera?”
“The most regrettable thing?” Niamh took a sip of champagne thoughtfully. “Probably my mistake of a marriage. I was too naive then and was cheated on by my ex-boyfriend. Even now, he remains at ease.”
Kendrick pulled at the corner of her lips. “Miss Vera, you’re outstanding and perfect, yet there are still men who don’t know how to cherish you?”
“There are too many blind men in this world and I’m not the only one to be disappointed.” Niamh mocked.
She saw Kendrick’s eyes drooping as if he was thinking about something. He smiled after a few seconds.
“You’re right, there are too many blind men in this world.”
Kendrick laughed at himself and looked at Niamh. “However, the man who failed you is still alive at least. Miss Vera, you still have a chance to right this regret.”
His tone sounded weaker than it had ever been before and his alluring eyes seemed to have lost their light, looking so depressed and lonely.
His words had also seemed to reveal what his irreparable regret was.
Niamh casually picked up the glass and drank the liquid in it, then chuckled lightly.
‘Kendrick Waldburg, I’m afraid your regret is only because you feel ashamed for having done something bad, no?
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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