Josiah's eyes darkened. Still staring at her, he asked, "What happened?""Do you really not remember? How could you even be asking me how I got the scar?"Meredith Leighton, speak in a way that I understand.""I'd rather you not ask because I don't want to talk about it."It was a painful past for Meredith. The pain was too unbearable for her that she did not wish to be reminded of it again.Josiah, though, grabbed her by her hair and dragged her until she was kneeling next to him. Forcing Meredith to look at him, Josiah seethed, "Tell me!"Tears started welling up in Meredith's eyes.Putting up with the pain as Josiah was grabbing onto her hair and with tears in her eyes, she smiled and replied, "Do you really wish to know, Josiah Shelby? Fine, I'll tell you. Everything that has happened to me is all your fault. The moment you chose not to trust me and had me locked up in the psychiatric ward, my face and my body started rotting."Josiah was reminded of the time when Meredith
Feeling worn out, Meredith dragged herself back to the staff lounging area.Upon seeing her looking like a mess, the group of nosy ladies started wagging their tongues."Seems like Mister Leon is indeed a pervert.""I'm sure it's because he got a glimpse of her face."Only Zya hurried over to Meredith and asked concernedly, "Merelyn, are you alright? You don't look too well.""I'm fine." Shaking her head, Meredith changed her outfit while pulling into a bitter smile. "The wound on my back might have opened."It was only then did Zya realize that Meredith's back was bloody and it had gotten worse compared to last night."Come with me, we'll drop by Zade's place and have him treat your wound."Zya started walking out the room with Meredith's hands in hers but Meredith stopped her."Hold on, I haven't received today's pay.""Goodness, Merelyn. Just look at yourself, it's not the time to be worrying about your pay.""Zya, I need it urgently…please." After putting on her clothes,
"I don't mind it at all!" Zade shook his head and continued, "I know that you're only doing this because you've no other options, so I really don't mind.""But I do, Zade."Putting aside the fact that she was in this pathetic situation, even if she was still the young madam of the Leighton family, Meredith was sure that Josiah would still harass her.Meredith could not bring herself to drag the Brooks siblings into her mess."Zade, you don't have to say anything anymore. I have to visit Nia at the hospital.""Merelyn…"Meredith said her goodbyes and left Zade's place.After paying the medical bills with the five hundred dollars she received earlier, Meredith walked into the ward where Nia was.Nia had just woken up and she was in the middle of eating.Upon seeing her mother, Nia pulled into a wide grin and called out to Meredith softly, "Mommy…"Seeing the bright smile on Nia's face, Meredith suddenly forgot the pain in her body."Someone's eating well today. You're amazing,
"Good. I hope this will be settled soon.""Don't worry, Mister Josiah."Leaving Yena's ward, Josiah headed straight toward the lift.At the corner of the hallway, he suddenly noticed a familiar silhouette.He stopped in his tracks and glanced coldly toward the familiar person.Meredith did not expect to run into Josiah at the hospital. Startled, she hurriedly turned around and headed toward the fire escape exit."Stay where you are!" Meredith heard him ordering.But she did not stop and quickened her steps instead.All Meredith could think of was to avoid getting caught by Josiah. She could not risk letting Josiah know about Nia, if he did find out about her, Nia would be in danger.However, the more she ran away from him, the faster he chased her. Because of the wound on her back, Josiah caught up to her easily."Meredith Leighton, do you really think that you can outrun me?" Grabbing her wrist, Josiah cornered her against the wall. Meredith felt another piercing pain sp
Although she was in so much pain, Meredith said nothing as she bit down hard on her lips. She looked on as bags of blood were taken away from her body and Josiah did not look like he was going to stop them anytime soon.She finally started begging, "Mister Josiah, I am a patient too and I am injured. Please have mercy on me…"She was not scared of dying but she was worried that no one would pay for Nia's medical bills and both her mother and daughter would lose the only person that they relied on."Aren't you full of pride earlier?" Josiah made a hand gesture for the nurse to stop. It was only then the nurse removed the needle from Meredith's arm.The two other nurses too let go of their grasp on Meredith and she fell back onto the ground.Meredith was already injured and because too much blood was taken from her, she felt faint.She got a grip of herself and started getting up onto her feet effortfully. Holding onto the wall, she took heavy steps toward the door.Nia was still
Because of the hell that she went through when her blood was taken, Meredith fell asleep quickly laying her head next to Nia's bed.The next day, she woke up as usual at seven in the morning. She fed Nia some breakfast and accompanied Nia when she got her injection.Before she left, Meredith kissed Nia's forehead. "Have a good day, Nia. I'll come to see you in the evening.""Have a good day too, Mommy." Nia flashed her a big grin."Thank you, darling, I will."Meredith was working in the same hospital as Zade. By the time she reached her office, Zade had already bought her breakfast and left it on her desk."Merelyn, you look even worse than you did yesterday. Is the wound getting worse?""No, the wound is getting better."She did not tell Zade about what happened last night as she did not want him to worry.The emergency room was as busy as always. After a whole day of working even though she was sick and exhausted, Meredith rushed home to do laundry and have a shower.Upon
"Merelyn, I…""Just stop and follow me." Meredith dragged him off the stage, passed through the crowd, and headed toward backstage.The clueless customers saw how the both of them left the hall hand in hand and assumed that Meredith was simply shy from the sudden confession and started cheering for them.Once they reached backstage, Zade handed the bouquet to Meredith and beamed, "Merelyn, these are your favorite flowers, tulips. I…"Before Zade could finish his sentence, Meredith took the bouquet from his hand and put it aside. She then walked him toward the backdoor. "Zade Brooks, leave right now! Hurry up!""What's wrong? Why are you rushing me out? Zya told me that you only had two shows today…""I said leave, don't you hear me?!" Meredith sounded as if she was about to cry.Zade thought that Meredith was only acting this way simply because she could not reciprocate his feelings."Merelyn, it's okay if you can't accept me now. I'll wait until the day you're willing to accep
But tulips were poisonous!"No…" Shaking her head, Meredith added, "Sir, these flowers are poisonous, I can't eat them.""If you have the guts to receive this bouquet, shouldn't you have the guts to eat them too?" Plucking out a flower from the bouquet and handing it to her, Josiah added, "If you don't eat this, I'd have no choice but ask that lover boy of yours to eat it instead. After all, it's such a waste to throw away such pretty flowers."At the end of the day, Josiah did not believe her.Meredith knew that Josiah was a man of his word."Fine…I'll eat them!" Her fingers trembled as she took the flower from his hand and put them into her mouth.She did not dare to taste the flower. All she wanted was to get rid of the monster standing in front of her."Keep going." Josiah stuffed another flower into her mouth. "The next time you receive flowers from any man, you are to eat them all, do you hear me?"His voice was cold and harrowing.After eating two of the flowers, Meredi
Back in the bedroom on the second floor, Liam pulled Ivy into the bathroom to take a bath together.Ivy allowed him to take off her clothes and pulled her to stand under the water.Liam helped her take a bath and asked, "How is it? Is everything okay?""It's not bad." Ivy said, "I didn't expect your parents to welcome me so warmly."Liam looked at her proudly, with the water still flowing down from his head. "Of course! You should thank the guy that has good taste. How can they dislike a girl of my choosing?"Ivy smiled and said, "Okay, previously...""Don't mention the previous things, let them pass." Liam interrupted her.Ivy was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, it's all over.""Yes. From now on, there is only happiness." Liam lowered his head and whispered in her ear, and kissed her lips……Meredith and Josiah listened in shock to Liam and Ivy's story, while watching the three children chasing and making trouble outside the floor-to-ceiling window.They were all
Ivy raised her hand and touched the top of Siena's hair. "God treated me well, and gave me back my daughter, and also gave me the child's father.""No, you're wrong." Liam smiled and said, "God treated me well and sent the child and the child's mother back to my arms.""Oh, spare me." Madam Sheldon shook her head unbearably.Madam Sheldon finally believed that Siena was her own granddaughter.She excitedly hugged Siena into her arms, and she burst into tears with joy. "Great, our Sheldon family finally has a granddaughter! Great!""Grandma, you like Siena, right?" Siena asked sweetly."Nonsense! Of course, Grandma likes Siena. Grandma has always dreamed about a little grandson or a little granddaughter." Madam Sheldon choked as she said.Liam and Ivy looked at each other and smiled.After hugging Siena excitedly for a while, Madam Sheldon released her, and looked at her again. "Now that you mentioned it, she looks a lot like Liam. Look at her nose, her ears...right? Am I righ
"You even helped me get dressed before you left!" Liam pinched her chin. "Ivy, aren't you embarrassed saying these things?""You asked me.""...""If I didn't help you get dressed, you might be so stupid that you don't even know that you slept with someone, right?""Ivy!" Liam gritted his teeth. "You stole my seed, and you dare to laugh at me for being stupid?""Isn't it stupid?" Ivy was not afraid of him. She raised an eyebrow at him deliberately. "Liam, think about it. Were you being stupid that night?"Liam was silent.Yes, he was really stupid.He was so stupid that he was too embarrassed to admit it. He did not even have the face to mention it in front of Josiah.Looking at the woman in front of him, he wanted to laugh and be mad at the same time.He did not want to say anything. He just wanted to use actions to prove how angry he was, how excited, happy, and...Countless emotions were intertwined in his body, causing him to bow his head and kiss her lips fiercely.Ivy
"Okay, I'm sorry." Ivy got up and walked around in front of him, sitting on his lap and hugging his neck with a smile. "Do I need to make up for you as well? Say sorry to you?""Yes, of course.""I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn't have kept it from you for so long. I shouldn't have kept the news about Siena's from you until now, okay?""Do you think I'll let you off with just that?" Liam was not satisfied."Then what do you want?""The rest will be paid in the evening.""Okay, double compensation," Ivy responded generously.Hearing her say that, Liam was extremely satisfied.He did not mind his daughter's presence at all. He instructed her, "Siena, turn around, I'm going to kiss Mommy.""Why can't I see you kiss Mommy?" Siena was puzzled."Because your Mommy will be shy.""Oh, okay then." Siena turned around wisely."I'm not shy, it's you who is shy." Ivy held Liam's handsome face and kissed him on the lips.Liam was moved for a second, and when he tried to dee
The adoptive parents expressed their understanding. They waved their hands and said, "It's alright. If it were me, I'd be crying happy tears too.""Anyway, thank you very much," Liam said."Mister Liam, you don't have to be so polite. Otherwise, we will be even more embarrassed," the adoptive father said.The adoptive mother held Siena, who seemed a little lost. She pulled Siena in front of Ivy and said softly, "Siena, I'm sorry, Mommy never told you that Ivy is your biological mommy."Siena looked at her in shock. "Really? Is Mommy Ivy my biological mother? Did she give birth to me?""Yes. Mommy wouldn't just pass you to a random stranger, right?" The adoptive mother smiled and said, "Siena, you will be able to spend time with your biological mommy in the future. Isn't that great?"Siena nodded, then stretched out her palm and gently stroked Ivy's face. "Mommy, why are you crying? Don't you want to be my biological mommy?""Siena!" Ivy suddenly pulled Siena into her embrace."
Siena's adoptive parents expressed that they understood. They waved their hands and said, "It's fine. If it were me, we would cry happy tears too." "Anyway, thank you very much," Liam said."Mister Liam, don't say such a thing. If not, we will be even more embarrassed," Siena's adoptive father said.Siena's adoptive mother pulled Siena, who did not know much about what was happening, over to Ivy's side and gently said, "Siena, I'm sorry. I have never told you that Ivy is your real Mommy."Siena looked at her in shock. "Are you serious? Mommy Ivy is my real Mommy? The one that gave birth to me?""Yes, if not, how could I simply give you to any other person?" Siena's adoptive mother said with a smile, "In the future, you will be living with your real Mommy. Are you happy?"Siena nodded before reaching her hand out and touching Ivy's face. "Mommy, why are you crying? Don't you want to be my real Mommy?""Siena!" Ivy suddenly hugged her."Darling, I have been looking for you for s
Siena's adoptive parents looked at each other and smiled.The kitchen was calling them to take their seats.Liam got up and said, "Come, let's eat and talk."Then, he said to Siena, "Siena, go get Daddy and Mommy to eat. They must be hungry."Siena happily brought her adoptive parents to take their seats. The dinner was in the garden. They ate and talked at the same time. The entire process was pleasant.Toward the end, Siena's adoptive mover suddenly got up and walked over to Ivy. She looked at her deeply and said after a while, "Ivy, there is a secret I have been hiding from you for a very long time.""What is it?" Ivy saw how serious she was. She could not help but feel the severity of it."Siena…" Siena's adoptive mother paused for a while before saying, "Siena is the baby that you have been looking for all these years."Ivy was stunned. Liam was stunned too.Ivy was feeling uneasy. Blood was rushing to her head. Shock, delight, surprise, excitement, all of the emotions ga
Ivy heard what Liam said and looked out at the door.When she saw that it was Siena's adoptive parents, she was instantly stunned."They are the guests that you mentioned?""Yes." Liam stood next to her and smiled. He said, "They said they hoped that they could see Siena one more time.""Is that so? That's great." Ivy held Siena's hand and walked out.Outside the door, Siena's adoptive parents were extremely friendly. "Hello! Ivy! Haven't seen you in a while!""Hello." Ivy welcomed them. "Welcome."They looked at Siena behind Ivy. "Hello, Siena. It's been a while."Siena was so anxious she was almost in tears. She said with reddened eyes, "I don't want to go back! I don't want to!"Seeing how Siena was against them, they looked awkward. From there, one could infer how irresponsible they were of their adopted daughter previously.Ivy ruffled Siena's head and said softly in her ears, "Siena, don't be afraid. Your adoptive parents are here to send you off because you're about to
Ivy cleared her throat. She ruffled Siena's head. "Don't listen to your Daddy. How could I be tired? Furthermore, taking care of you is the happiest and proudest thing I have ever done.""Really? Mommy, you really like me that much?""I do."Siena laughed happily."Let's go. We'll head home." Ivy held Siena's hand and they walked under the sycamore tree."Mommy, has Daddy gone back?""Not yet," Ivy said, "Daddy said he wants to give us a surprise.""Oh, that's great. I don't want Daddy to leave us.""Why? Do you like Daddy?""I do." Siena nodded. "Also, with Daddy here, you will be much happier. I like to see you being happy."Ivy saw Siena's face under the sun. She could not help but be moved. Siena was too understanding and caring.She suddenly thought of her own daughter. If she was still around, she would be Siena's age. She wondered whether she was as caring as Siena.At that thought, the smile on her face faded a little."Mommy, look! There are two birds!" Siena sudd