Maisie got in the car. “I’m done.”Nolan put his hand across her back and leaned in. “What’s wrong?”She frowned. “I didn’t know that she was so far gone.”Nolan hugged her. “She got what she deserved.”Maisie looked down, holding back what she wanted to say.Nolan noticed that and then held her face up. “Did you want to say something?”“I still have a question. How did Maxine find out about us?” Maisie looked at him.Maxine didn’t know them, but how could she know so much about Pearl and Linda?Nolan rested his chin on the top of her head. “Imitating someone, playing a character, then getting too far into character. That’s why she looked into our past. That’s not unusual.”Maisie didn’t reply. Even if she had a troubled life, and what happened to her was terrible, she lost all sympathy when choosing such an extreme path. Lisa had to go through life with trauma because of her madness. At the hospital…Lisa’s legs were bandaged after two rounds of surgery. Her bones had
“Yes, Ma’am, my name is Daisie Vanderbilt.” Daisie answered politely.Mrs. Fraiser walked to Lisa’s bed and said to her, “You should bring your friends home. We thought you didn’t have friends from school.”Lisa was still quiet.Daisie smiled and said, “I’ll visit after this then.”Mrs. Fraiser couldn’t stop smiling. “Great, you’re very much welcomed. Hey, how’s Lisa’s performance in school? I hope you can help her in the future.”“Yes, I will.” Daisie nodded.Lisa bit her lips and turned to her side. “I’m tired. I need to rest.”Mrs. Fraser was annoyed. “You stupid girl, we’ve come all the way to visit you, but you’re throwing a tantrum. Are you ashamed of your parents?”“Honey, Lisa is in bad condition. Just let it go.” Mr. Fraiser felt helpless but couldn't say much. His wife was the one who made most of the decisions at home.“Was I wrong? She never brings her friends home and won’t even let us go for the parent-teacher conference. Why would she be ashamed of us?” Mrs. Fra
Pearl froze.Tanner hugged her tightly and lowered his head. He pressed his lips on the top of her head and said in a soft voice, “You’ve become thinner.”Before coming to her, he had imagined many different kinds of reunion scenarios. Would he go crazy and express his longing for her? Or would he try to stop at nothing to trap her by his side again? Countless thoughts flitted across his mind, but he was scared when he saw her.He was afraid of her rejection. He was afraid that she would hate him. Pearl stayed frozen stiff in his arms for a long while. She pressed her lips thin and pulled his arms away.“Tanner,” she said without turning her head back, “What are you doing here? There's no way we can return to how things were.”His heart skipped a beat, and he froze. “Do you still hate me?”“Not anymore.” Pearl turned around to look at him. She forced herself to stay calm and said, “I’ve already let go of everything between us.” Tanner walked up to her and said, “But I can’t
“Tanner—”At Bassburgh’s Private Middle and High School…Just as Daisie stepped into the classroom with her backpack, Leah and a few other seniors approached her."Daisie," Leah called her out.She turned her head around and frowned. "What do you want?"Leah had been bullying Lisa, so Daisie did not like them. She did not know how she became the vice-president of the student council.Standing with her arms crossed, Leah said, "There is something I want to tell you."Daisie looked at her. "What is it?""Of course, it's about Lisa.""If it's about Lisa, then you can save your breath."Daisie turned around and walked into her classroom. Suddenly, Leah's voice erupted. "What if Lisa has been lying to you?"Daisie was stumped. She stopped in her tracks and turned her head around to look at Leah. "What are you talking about?"'Lisa has been lying to me? How is that possible?'Leah knew Daisie wouldn't believe her. She pulled her phone out and logged into her Kontact account."S
Daisie remained petrified on the spot. She lowered her head and fell into deep thought. Even though she did not believe in everything Leah had said, she found her words difficult to digest.‘Is Lisa materialistic?’She had known Lisa for years, so she knew her inside out. She was the one who willingly gave those things to Lisa, and Lisa had never asked for anything from her.‘Yes! That’s right. Lisa is certainly not materialistic!’In the evening, at the Goldmann mansion…Daisie had been absent-minded during dinner. Maisie noticed something and asked, “What’s wrong, Daisie?”Nolan and Colton looked at her as well. Daisie came around to her senses and shook her head. “Lisa will be discharged from the hospital in half a month.”Maisie chuckled. “Shouldn’t you be happy that Lisa is finally discharged from the hospital? You can play with your friend again.”Daisie did not say anything and buried her face in her plate.Colton looked at Daisie for a while but did not say anythin
Colton was the most popular student in the school aside from Zephir. Although he was just a junior high school student, he was as smart as a senior high school student. Leah turned her head around to look at Colton. She put the textbook down and walked up to him. “Are you here to look for me?”Standing with his hands in his pockets, Colton asked, “What is the thing about Lisa that you told my sister yesterday?”Leah was stunned. After a short while, she chuckled. “Lisa? Did Daisie not tell you about it?”Colton frowned.Leah handed her phone to him and said, “Why don’t you look at it yourself?”Colton took her phone and took a look at it for a moment.There was no expression on his face, and Leah patted his shoulder. She went closer to him and said, “Colton, I hope you don’t mind me saying this. You should talk to your sister. Don’t be the farmer in the Farmer and the Viper.”At the hospital, in the ward…Lisa was trying to get down from her bed without using crutches. She co
“Stop it, Noe,” Pearl said after coming back to her senses. She patted her son’s buttocks and continued. “You should stop calling other people your father.”She did not expect that her son would call Tanner “Daddy.”Even though Tanner was truly his father, she did not want Tanner to know about it. She worried that Tanner might harm her son if he found out he was the kid’s father.The boy suddenly cried, “Noa wants Daddy!”Pearl was stunned. She did not know what she should do when her son began to cry. When she thought about it, she was indeed not considered a competent mother in the past two years. Every time her son cried, her mother would help her to calm him down.Just when she did not know what to do, a figure approached her and took the kid away from her arms. A light chuckle wafted into her ears as the man said, “Do you know that a man shouldn’t cry?” Noah stopped crying and looked at him with teary eyes. “Daddy.”Tanner held him in his arms and stroked his head. “Yes, I
The furniture was all made of ordinary wood, which was much shabbier than the large Goldmann mansion.Mrs. Fraiser was very enthusiastic. “Daisie, do stay back for dinner today. What do you want to eat? I'll go out and buy some ingredients to cook something you like.”Daisie replied with a smile. “Anything will do!”“That’s good. Then I’ll go shopping now.” Mrs. Fraiser nodded and left immediately, but she did not forget to remind Lisa to entertain her classmate before leaving the house.Lisa brought Daisie to her room. Her room was much smaller than Daisie’s, but it still looked warm.The strange thing was that there was a double-decker bed, but the upper deck had obviously been vacant for a long time as it had become a storage space for boxes of all sizes.Daisie sat on a swivel chair next to Lisa’s desk and asked, “Lisa, does anyone sleep above you?”Lisa sat on the bed and lowered her eyes. “There used to be someone, but there’s no one sleeping up there now.”Daisie wondere