"No..." muttered Catelyn stubbornly, feeling pathetic that she had to endure the pain and his intrusion.She stared at the floor and prayed that the pain would subside, but a lump formed in her throat, and a sob escaped her.Tears scrolled down her cheeks, and it took Cedrick by surprise.She had responded with indifference, even when he pushed her up against the rockery stone, and she knew exactly what to say to provoke him. At this moment, however, her face was pale as a ghost as she curled up and panted from either pain or sobbing."Let me see where you are hurt," he spoke, softening his tone as his heart sank at the sight of her tears.However, as soon as he touched her, Catelyn slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me!"Cedrick's voice grew cold at the rejection, hissing, "Will you listen if I go and wake up Miles and Ollie?"Catelyn bit the inside of her cheek at the threat. She bit on her lower lip to the brink of drawing blood without another word while Cedrick turned her
They had arrived at the hospital by the time Catelyn woke up.Cedrick did not carry her, of course, out of concern that he would tear her wound on the back. Instead, he woke her up so she could walk into the hospital on her own.It was late into the night, and Cedrick stormed into the doctor's office.As not many doctors were on the night shift, there were long lines outside every office with nurses monitoring the patients, so Cedrick's action triggered a wave of complaints, especially with his drenched appearance as water was dripping off the tips of his hair.The nurse beamed at Cedrick's handsome features but stopped them dutifully. "Sir, please line up. We have a lot of patients waiting here."The patients in line muttered their disapproval."Move," he uttered coldly."Cedrick..." Catelyn noticed the other patients staring daggers at them and pulled at his clothes, despite the pain. "Don't. Let's just line up.""You don't get to speak," he said before turning back to the nu
Cedrick turned toward Catelyn and asked her to go see the doctor.Catelyn thus walked into the doctor's room, all while many pairs of eyes were on her. Without much of a choice, she steeled herself and ignored the gazes.…It was a male doctor.Catelyn lay on her stomach on top of the emergency room's bed while the doctor asked the routine questions. The doctor was about to check Catelyn's wound, reaching for her shirt, but Cedrick grabbed his wrist with a frown."What are you doing?""I…I'm checking her wound." The doctor froze at how suddenly he was halted and said in frustration, "How am I supposed to look at it without taking her shirt off?"Catelyn turned her head and said to Cedrick softly, "Just lift the shirt and show the doctor the wound.""I'm requesting a female doctor!" demanded Cedrick.He would never allow another man to take her shirt off."Are you crazy? It's in the middle of the night, and there are only two doctors on call at the moment. You either let me do
Catelyn's wound looked gnarly, but it had been taken care of and was recovering speedily. With that, she was able to move around freely the next morning. However, she still could not perform rigorous movements as overly stretching the wound was bad for recovery.Cedrick drove her and sent the boys to kindergarten.Miles swung his legs around in the car, his eyes traveling around casually. Ollie, on the other hand, sat still.Catelyn sat in between two boys, her hands holding theirs.Cedrick looked at Miles' cautious gaze toward him from the front mirror and stretched his lips into a cold smirk. "You're the one who stole my belongings, no?"Miles lifted his chin haughtily. "And what about it?""Pretty ballsy of you. As expected of my child." Cedrick chuckled coldly."I haven't acknowledged you as part of my family yet, so don't just assume things," Miles shot back with a frown and buried his head in Catelyn's arms.He shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. It was clear that h
Catelyn suppressed the urge to punch Amy.Was that how Amy decided whether or not she would look down on a foreigner—based on how long they lasted?"I'm at my office. I have to work.""Catelyn…" Seeing as Catelyn refused to say anything to her at all, Amy finally flipped. "Who do you think you are? I only ask favors from people I acknowledge! You better not piss me off."Catelyn turned and walked into her office, not bothering to respond.Amy stomped as she watched Catelyn leave. "How dare you ignore me, you disgusting foreigner?!"Catelyn froze and turned around slowly.She shot a cold glare at Amy and said, "We're all born equals. I wonder where you got that sense of superiority from? This is my last warning; stop discriminating against us foreigners. I'm too lazy to waste my effort in responding to you, but you better watch out if you intend on keeping up with that behavior of yours!""You—""A person's worth is defined by their abilities and talents, not the color of their
"Uncle Ivan, didn't you promise that you'd guide me through building the base for this? Why did you give it to Catelyn?""Catelyn has better knowledge in this, so she's more fit to do this. I'll arrange other tasks for you.""But you promised me first!" Amy stomped and pointed at Catelyn. "What did this woman say or do to you? Don't let her fool you, Uncle Ivan! She's a foreigner, and she's probably dirty and has some sort of weird disease!"Burning with rage, Amy raised her hand and was ready to strike Catelyn across the face.Catelyn's gaze dulled coldly as she grabbed Amy by the wrist and swung her arm away."The manager gave us the task some time ago, and you're the one who hasn't been taking it seriously. Now that I've been chosen to be in charge of it, you're throwing a fit? Is this what you Franch people are like? How noble of you!"Catelyn had no intention of arguing with Amy, but her continuous verbal assault and discrimination had triggered Catelyn to a point of no retu
Catelyn felt disgusted at the scene as instant regret rushed up her mind.Why did she give in to her curiosity? What an unholy sight!Catelyn held her breath and tip-toed to leave the scene when she heard Amy uttering her name."Uncle Ivan, when are you going to do the thing that you promised me? I hate that Amarican woman's guts. Heck, she even embarrassed you when we were at the beach! Why did you keep her around?"Catelyn froze in place the moment she overheard Amy's words.Amy hated her so much that she would trade her body for it, it seemed.What would Ivan say next? Were they planning on firing her?Catelyn listened carefully, and what Ivan said next was…"Catelyn is pretty talented when it comes to building the base and mold. I'll keep her around until she hands me the finished product, and I'll kick her out afterward.""There are plenty of people who's able to perform well. Why does it have to be her, an Amarican?" whined Amy as she shook and twisted her body in an uns
Miles pouted and shrugged regretfully. "Aww… Big Demon will only be away for a week.""Stop being so irritating!" Cedrick's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "I can't believe you learned to lie and steal at such a young age! You better not annoy me anymore, or the elders will be waiting in the Old House to discipline you."Miles leaned into Catelyn's arms. "Hmph. Did you hear a crow cawing or something, Mommy? It's annoying."Catelyn was speechless.Meanwhile, Ollie opened a water bottle and handed it to Cedrick when he saw the veins on his forehead bulging."You seem to be sweating, Father. Drink some water to calm down."Cedrick shot him a glance before he took the bottle. "I'm not a father to you, am I?""Isn't Father the one who chose Aunt Maia and abandoned us?"Ollie had begged Cedrick not to do so, yet he did not listen and even pulled his hand off of him. Ever since then, Ollie had been brooding.Oddly, Cedrick found no sorrow in Ollie's bright eyes.He was put to