“Mom, Dad, you have to help me, or I’ll definitely end up in prison!” Ricky Bernstein was crying out even as he tugged on Samantha’s hand.
Lionel glared at his incorrigible son. “What have you done this time?” he growled – it was certainly not Ricky’s first offense. “I-I was just trying to practice my driving ahead of my driver’s test. Abigail’s SUV was just sitting there and no one’s using it, so I drove it around, and then I got caught in an accident…”
“What?!”
Lionel almost died from a heart attack right then. “Just days ago, you almost blinded someone with a skewer, and I had to spend so much on damages and apologize to finally resolve it! Now, you’re telling me you caused an accident? And without a license?! You honestly don’t appreciate being alive, do you?” “Calm down, Lionel. Ricky’s your only son, and he hasn’t completed his studies yet! You have to help him, he can’t go to prison. Would he have a future if he does? The SUV is Abigail’s, so just say that it was her…”
“Dream on, Samantha White!” Sheryl bellowed right then she was being tough for the first time in her life. “Trying to make my daughter a scapegoat for your son, are you? Over my dead body!”
Lionel was surprised by her sudden appearance and stammered, “Y-You’ve recovered already?”
Turning toward him, Sheryl growled, “We’ve been married for 26 years, Lionel. I never asked you for anything or blamed you for taking a mistress, all because I can’t give you a son. I never said a word when you used our daughter as a tool to secure a connection. Yes, that’s all in the past, but if you dare to use Abigail as a scapegoat for your son’s hit and-run, I’ll take you down!”
“What are you saying? There’s no way I’d do that! Ricky is still young, and he’s just frightened. We don’t even know what’s going on or what happened to the other car, but don’t worry-I’ll look into it. I promise I won’t use Abigail as a scapegoat.”
Lionel might love his son, but he would never upset Sheryl and her daughter over Ricky.
After all, Abigail was now Diarmuid’s wife and a member of the Althoff family. He had been grooming her since she was a child, all for this moment!
That was why he was not about to dig his own grave.
“Guess you still have a conscience, but you’d better come true on your promise,” Sheryl replied, heading upstairs while glancing between Samantha and Lionel. “Also, I want a divorce-after all, I should free up some space for your family of three right then.”
Lionel snapped right then. “Who said anything about a divorce? I’ll never divorce you, so don’t even think about it.”
“Do you think there’s a point to this marriage?” Sheryl asked in return.
“Point? Who cares?! What I say goes, and I’ve decided that we’re not getting a divorce!” Lionel bellowed stubbornly.
Samantha was flustered, however, because she really wanted Sheryl and Lionel to get a divorce. “Lionel, our boy is an adult now. For legal reasons –
“What legal reasons?! I acknowledge him as my son, and that’s enough!” Lionel yelled viciously, his indignation piling thanks to Ricky. “Don’t you try to get involved here! Go out and find out if your son killed somebody. If he did, he’s going straight to jail because he’s an adult, just like you said! Honestly, what have you ever taught him? What can he ever do except cause trouble?!”
Lionel was already fuming from his son’s behavior, and Sheryl’s demand for a divorce on top of that was nothing less than adding fuel to fire! Naturally, he was so incensed that there was no sentiment left in his words.
Samantha also became frustrated at her own son for humiliating her in front of Lionel. Shooting him an angry glare, she pulled her along, deliberately saying out loud, “Let’s go. This isn’t our home, and you should be cleaning up your own mess. Be it prison or the chair, you deserve it.”
Lionel eyed her. “Don’t bother trying to make me sympathize–that won’t work. Find out who was in the other car, and take the blame if things get serious. You should be thinking about your son’s future, after all.”
With those words, Lionel headed upstairs. Samantha was left pouting, but there was no way she could abandon her son to his own fate right now-she had to listen to Lionel’s instruction. “Let’s go. Tell me where it happened,” she said as she pulled Ricky along.
“But Dad just-”
Ricky had more to say, but Samantha cut him short right then. “Just stop it and deal with your own mess right now! I was just humiliated because of you!”
Upstairs, Lionel found Sheryl packing her bags, and walked over to pull the dress she was holding out of her grasp. “We’ve been married for most of our lives. Do you really think a divorce is necessary?”
Sheryl sneered. “What, I’m supposed to let you keep using me like a tool, and ruin my daughter’s life?”
“How did I ruin her life? Do you have any idea how much money I spent on her as a child, the lessons I paid for?”
“You know very well why you paid for all that. Also, I’ve given up on you ever since you’ve used my illness to coerce Abigail into that arranged marriage. I thought you took a mistress only because I can’t give you a son, but now everything is clear-you never cared about Abigail or me. There will be a divorce, no matter what happens!”
Sheryl slapped his hand away and kept stuffing more clothes into the suitcase.
Lionel took a moment to calm down, and explained, “I had Abigail take those lessons for her own good. Even if I had my own motives, what’s wrong with learning more skills? You’re being unreasonable!”
Sheryl, however, refused to play his game. “This argument is pointless. Either way, I want a divorce!” Seeing that she was determined, Lionel’s irritation finally got to him-he promptly lifted the suitcase into the air and smashed it heavily on the ground, and the clothing inside spilled out.
Sheryl was left startled for moments, but she soon came to her senses. “It’s fine. There’s nothing valuable here anyway-my daughter is now Mrs. Althoff, so there’s nothing I can’t get now.” Her words were deliberate and intended to annoy Lionel. As she headed downstairs and gave up on packing, he caught her and said, “What are you doing? Let’s talk about this.”
Sheryl shook off his hand. “There’s nothing to talk about except the divorce.”
“No! There won’t be divorce!” Lionel bellowed, determined against a divorce. “I’m telling you-you belong to me, Sheryl! Whether alive or dead!”
Sheryl gave him a brief glance but had no intention to keep arguing. Either way, the divorce was going to happen-if he refused to discuss it amiably, she just had to consult a lawyer and deal with the subsequent lawsuit.
It was his fault for cheating first anyway.
Striding downstairs, she left Bernstein Mansion.
Remembering that Ricky was the culprit of a hit-and-run, she decided that she must tell Abigail to prepare accordingly as soon as possible.
However, a man answered her call instead.
“Who are you? Where’s my daughter?” Sheryl held her breath, wondering if the man was Diarmuid…
“I’m Zachary Slate. Abigail is slightly hurt, and she’s having surgery right now,” Zachary answered – he was standing right outside the operating room. Sheryl felt as if her heart had stopped right then. “What happened? Did my daughter get hurt?”
“Yes,” Zachary replied. Flustered and anxious, Sheryl quickly asked, “Which hospital?” “Central Hospital at the Second Militarized Zone.” “Okay, I got it.” Sherly hung up, and promptly hailed a taxi to head there.
On the surgical table, Abigail caught the scrubs of the doctor who would be operating on her. “Can you save my baby?”
She had already been screened, and while it was confirmed that she had suffered a miscarriage, one of the twins could still be saved.
“Are you sure you want to keep it?”
Abigail’s cheeks were as white as a sheet, and her lips were dry and bleeding, “I’m sure,” she answered hoarsely. “I’m counting on you.” “I’ll do my best,” the doctor replied.
Zachary was a thoracic surgeon, so he had to get the best obstetrician to help Abigail. As the chief surgeon under the obstetric division, her ability was naturally indisputable.
Still, Zachary had seen Abigail’s condition firsthand, and was pacing around anxiously. By the time Sheryl rushed to the hospital and arrived in front of the operating room, Abigail was still inside.
“How did she get hurt?” she asked. “Why would anyone hurt her?”
Zachary actually did not know the specifics, but he refrained from telling Sheryl anything either. He was aware that Sheryl had just recovered from a major surgery herself and should not suffer from too much shock, so he stayed silent for the moment. “Don’t worry. She will be fine.”
Sheryl, however, was beside herself with worry. “Honestly, she suffered so much just because she has me as her mother…”
If only she had understood earlier that divorcing Lionel was better for her daughter now, Abigail was hurt, and there was no telling if it was serious.
Alter over an hour, Abigail was wheeled out of the operating room. She was beaten on her body and not on her face, so her bruises and cuts were not visible, but she looked very weak
Sheryl approached her with tears in her eyes, gently calling out Abigail’s name. “Abigail?”
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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