When Bethan was at the kindergarten, the kids were already queuing up to leave.
Neil was at the back of the group as he held Nellie’s hand. The siblings walked out together.
“Aunty! ” “Mommy! “
They ran and buried themselves in Bethan’s arms.
Lily initially wanted to secretly pick Nellie up and leave, but when she saw Nellie in Bethan’s arms, she sighed and slowly walked over.
“Little Princess, Mr. Morrison wants you to go home earlier tonight.”
Then, she looked up. “Ms. Bethan, I have to properly apologize to you. I’m sorry…about the incident last night.”
Bethan paused a little before recalling the incident where she burnt her hand. The injury was indeed quite serious. Neil had been looking after her the entire night before and applied medication on her injuries, though it no longer hurt.
It only hurt a little when Bethan had to copy the documents during the daytime.
“Mr. Morrison punished me yesterday. Mr. Quinn yelled at me today, too.”
Lily lifted her head. “I know my fault.”
Bethan paused for a while before she gently patted Lily’s shoulders. “I know you have no ill intentions. Don’t mind them; I understand. I’ll pay more attention to this problem in the future. I’ll also keep in touch with Malcolm more frequently.”
Lily was stunned, not expecting Bethan would react in such a way. She was so stunned that she was suddenly lost for words.
Nellie sighed as she gently pecked Bethan on the cheeks. Then, she turned and grabbed Lily’s hand. “
Lily, let’s go!”
Seeing Lily taking Nellie away, Neil slightly furrowed his brows. “Why are you being so nice to her?”
“Who doesn’t make mistakes? “
Bethan sighed as she grabbed Neil’s hand. “She took great care of the three of you when we were overseas all those years. I’m not going to be petty with her.”
Bethan held Neil’s hand as they headed to the bus stop, telling about her day as they did, about Zach and Yuri, and about her new colleague, Bonnie Lane.
“Mommy, you’re too trusting,” came a child’s grim voice abruptly.
Bethan paused for a while before realizing it came from the necklace around her neck.
Nigel made the necklaces for everyone when he first got to it. Later on, because Bethan and Nigel were in a cold stand -off over coming back to the country, she took it off.
After the Ferris Wheel incident, Bethan put it back on. “Why am I too trusting?”
Bethan furrowed her brows.
“I’ve checked up on Bonnie’s background.”
Nigel, on the other end of the line, leaned against the bed in the patient ward. The afternoon sun shined lazily on him.
“She graduated and majored in Mass Communications. She’s no designer intern, but a… reporter. Yes, she’s a reporter that has always covered negative news about Cynthal Peterson. After the incident with Cynthal, she suddenly resigned from her job at the newspaper publishing company and assumed another identity, becoming an intern in the Morrison Group’s design department.”
Nigel’s voice was very low. “At first, I thought that she’s friends with Cynthal, deliberately publishing bad publicity on Cynthal, to help push up Cynthal’s fame. I then realized that she just despises Cynthal to the core. She’s pretty objective when she covers other people, but she’s feisty when it comes to Cynthal.”
Nigel softened his voice. “Mommy, perhaps you could get close to her. I think there must be some deeper connection between her and Cynthal, but you have to be careful. She doesn’t seem friendly.”
Bethan paused for a while and felt as if her brain was going to explode. How was that possible?
Bonnie’s obedient look inexplicably appeared on her mind.
However, Nigel’s research would not be wrong, too.
She brought Neil home with a mind full of questions. The two of them just went up when they saw someone sitting by their front door.
Upon seeing them, Natasha immediately got up. “Ms. Bethan. I heard that you’re working in the Morrison Group.”
Her haggard face broke Bethan’s heart.
Bethan pursed her lips. “Why are you here?” she asked as she opened the door. “Let’s go in first. Have you been waiting here for long?”
“There’s no need.”
Natasha subconsciously took a step back. “I’m not that acquainted with you yet. I only wanted to ask you if you have any news about my daughter.”
Bethan’s hand on the doorknob paused a little.
‘Actually, I am also your daughter, ‘ Bethan thought to herself.
“Ma’am, let’s head inside and talk.”
Neil noticed how ugly Bethan’s expression turned into, thus he approached Natasha and smilingly tugged at her sleeves. “There are a lot of people in our small community, and neighbors will talk. It’ll be better to talk inside! “
Natasha furrowed her brows and wanted to refuse Neil until she had a good look at his face.
That face…
She inexplicably thought of when Bethan Peterson was young. This boy’s aura, smell, and those huge starlit eyes were the same as Bethan Peterson’s when she was young.
All thoughts flew out the window when Natasha looked at him.
After a while, Natasha sighed and let Neil lead her in.
The house’s exterior was no different than the others. What Natasha did not expect was that the interior, decorated simply and cleanly, had charred walls and ceilings with burnt marks.
Even if it was repainted, it could not fully cover the burnt marks.
Natasha paused for a while. “Your house…”
“Ms. Cynthal sent someone to burn them down.”
Neil led Natasha to the sofa before he sat opposite her. “My Mommy and Nellie were still here the day the house was set ablaze. If they weren’t rescued in time, they would’ve died.”
Neil’s eyes were huge and sparkling, utterly endearing, but his words stirred Natasha.
“Impossible. Cynthal is Nellie’s auntie, and she wouldn’t do such things. Someone must’ve tricked you! “
She looked at the black spots in the room once again and confirmed her beliefs. “Impossible.”
“Tea.”
Bethan served freshly made tea from the kitchen. “Today is my first day at the Morrison Group. I don’t have much contact with Brettley yet.”
Bethan took a deep breath and tried to suppress her emotions. “So, I won’t be able to find out so quickly about Cynthal.”
She put the teacup in front of Natasha. “Aunty Natasha, have some tea.”
She made Natasha’s favorite earl grey tea, but Natasha barely paid any attention to it as she remained seated on the sofa with a deep frown. “
When will you be able to get news of Cynthal? You’re also a mother; you should know how it feels when your kid is missing. When I think of Cynthal, I can’t sleep or eat.”
Bethan’s smile was plastered on her face.
As she gazed at the steaming earl grey tea, she could not hold back her question. “Back then…when Bethan Peterson went missing, were you like that, too?”
Bethan looked at Natasha closely, trying to find hints of reminiscence on Natasha’s face. However, Natasha shook her head.
“Yes, Bethan Peterson is also my daughter, but…in my heart, she could never compare to Cynthal. Cynthal is kind and gentle. She has secretly done so much for Bethan, yet Bethan never thanked her once.
“Also…”
Natasha sighed. “Cynthal was the first one who met Brettley Morrison, truth be told. Cynthal was kind enough to not fight with her sister, but Bethan excluded her constantly.”
Bethan stood in the same spot, her entire body tense. “Did…Cynthal told you all that?”
She could not believe it. Her own mother, whom she respected so much, would say such things about her.
“Not all of it. I saw it with my own eyes, too.”
Then, Natasha sighed. “Although Bethan is also my daughter, she’s so…different.”
Bethan heard her heart slowly cracking into pieces.
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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