Chapter 1233
Harriet became a nervous wreck. Given that Zephyr had already dropped that statement, if she were to insist on opposing him, she would undoubtedly be humiliating Zephyr and at the same time make the rest suspicious of her.
Harriet could only compel herself to stay calm and stand by Zephyr quietly.
Time flew by. After more than half an hour, the door to the consulting room was pushed open. Coming out was Riley, sitting in a wheelchair pushed by a nurse. Alongside them was the doctor who helped diagnose Riley.
When Harriet clapped her eyes on that doctor, her heart sank. That doctor was one of the famous psychiatrists in Lommore. She could not believe that they would arrange for that particular doctor to see Riley.
When Riley was pushed out, she saw a plethora of people with flashlights flickering in front of her.
She recalled what the woman named Rosalie told her on the way there “The next step may be tough, and you may face all kinds of situations. However, I hope you can face whatever waiting for you as collectedly as possible. Now, what you need most is to stay calm. Only by doing that and controlling your emotions will you put up the best fight against the enemy. We’ll help you however possible!”
Staying calm was her top priority at that moment.
She used to be the rebellious ex-convict, the spirited eldest daughter of the Summer family. Times had changed, though, as she became nothing but a poor patient going through a torturous experience in the hospital.
Riley’s gaze swept over the crowd not far away one by one. Eventually, she noticed Rosalie, who brought her there, and also Amelia.
Amelia stood among the parade of people even with her bulged tummy, looking back at her eagerly and anxiously.
Tears welled up in Riley’s eyes instantly. Never did she expect that after so many years, Amelia still persisted in locating her whereabouts and sparing no effort in rescuing her.
Riley had thought that she would be spending her entire life locked up in the dark, seedy hospital, and she might have even chosen to end her life when she could one day take it no more.
Still, just as she wallowed in desperation, Amelia and her friend showed up, dawning on her new hope.
Right then, a reporter tried to tunnel through the parade of bodyguard on the frontlines and shouted at Riley, “Ms. Riley Summer, were you really abused in the hospital? Could you give us a clear answer now?”
Following that, more and more reporters hurled at Riley a series of questions. “What do you have to say, Ms. Riley Summer?”
“How did you actually lose your finger?”
“Could you describe how you were abused?”
Harriet sprinted ahead and wanted to get nearer to Riley. “Shut it, you all! My sister’s still a patient, mind you. Is that how you guys treat a patient? I’ll definitely get to the bottom of what happened today!”
Nevertheless, while walking up to Riley, she was halted in her path by one of Jonathan’s bodyguards.
Harriet glared daggers at that very bodyguard. “Get out of the way. I’m my sister’s guardian. On what grounds are you standing in my way?”
Even so, the next moment, a voice rang out. “I think it’s rather controversial whether Riley needs a guardian or not. At least from my initial diagnosis, Riley is in a normal mental state. Although she’s been under great pressure having been confined in a psychiatric hospital for so many years, she’s still a normal person rather than a mentally-challenged patient.”
The psychiatrist accompanying Riley was the one uttering that speech.
The audience was in an uproar when they heard that.
If Riley was not a mentally ill person, that meant the Summer family forcibly sent a healthy person to the hospital, treating her as one with a mental illness, not to mention imprisoning her in the hospital for years.
The act was tantamount to sentencing her and torturing her behind bars.
Any average person would have been pushed to the brink of insanity.
“What kind of nonsense is that? My sister’s mental illness has been diagnosed by several well-known doctors!” Harriet retorted.
Then came the doctor’s nonchalant look. “Are you doubting my profession? By all means, you may as well summon a group of authoritative experts in the psychiatry field to give Riley a thorough consultation. We’ll know by then granted she’s deemed a mentally ill patient!”
Harriet was abruptly put in a tough spot the moment that suggestion brought up by the other party. She was in a dilemma about whether give the nod.
“Well… I’ll be taking my sister home first, and then I’ll get the medical specialists for a consultation,” said Harriet.
“No way.” Amelia stepped forward and shielded Riley. “She can’t go back with you now, given how the Summer family treated her as a patient with mental illness and locked her up in the hospital before. Who knows what would happen if she went home with you? She’ll be better off staying in the hospital and receiving proper care from the nurses.”
“I’m her guardian!” Harriet emphasized.
“She’s not mentally ill. To begin with, she was never an incapacitated person, hence not needing any guardian! Or could it be that you’re trying to bring her back so that you could forcefully turn her into one with mental illness?” were Amelia’s frosty words.
At that moment, she was like a fighter, charging ahead to protect her friend and confronting their enemy.
“Why you…” Harriet shot Amelia an intense glare.
It was then that a hand moved bit by bit. Riley budged her right hand already missing a finger to hold Amelia’s hand with much difficulty.
Startled, Amelia turned to look at Riley, only to see that the latter’s pale face seemed even more drained of colors under the lights at the hospital. Even so, her gaze was poles apart from the way she used to look.
“I… was never mentally ill. My dad, my mom, and my sister slandered me for being mentally challenged and sent me to the hospital by force for various so-called treatments. Their motive was to get hold of my shares of Summer Group. I believe the expert consultation to come will grant me the justice I deserve! At the same time, I also refused to go back to the Summer residence with Harriet. If I set foot in that place, I’ll be entering yet another cage!”
Riley gushed out her speech right before everyone.
Suddenly, flashes of cameras from the media kept flickering, and Harriet’s countenance became royally grim. She knew that when Riley said those words, taking Riley back that day was no longer possible.
Moreover, as long as she hesitated even a little, the news media would have dirt on her.
So, she could only pretend to be aggrieved. “Riley, what makes you think so? You were sick back then, so Dad took charge of those shares. We always hoped that you’d recover someday. If you really recover, then all these years of treatment won’t go to waste. Since you don’t trust your own family right now, you can stay at the hospital first. I believe that everything will come to light by then. We’re still family, right, Riley?”
