“You should just be happy that I‘m not giving you the silent treatment anymore.”
Sebastian pursed his lips, managed to get up, and asked, “Did you sprain your ankle when you fell down from the stairs?”
Having heard the question, Natalie finally realized that she had been kneeling on the floor, but she didn‘t feel a single pang of pain since all her focus was on Sebastian.
“We should head back.” Sebastian helped her up, shot Lila a glance as she stood on the stairway, trembling.
“Come with us inside.” She thought it would be insane for her to walk back into the house with them after what she had done.
Just now, she was so furious that she wanted to kill Natalie. Perhaps this idea had been at the back of her mind for a long time, which compelled her to push Natalie. Now that she had come to her senses, she was so terrified. She caught up to Natalie and broke into tears.
“Oh, my God! Natalie, are you okay? Do you want to go to the hospital first? I didn‘t mean to hurt you.” Natalie didn‘t even bother to look at Lila. She just looked ahead and pretended like she didn‘t hear the latter. On the other hand, Sebastian shot Lila a cold glance.
“Cut the crap! Let‘s go inside.”
Because she was scared of him, she couldn‘t dare to disobey him. Thus, she eventually followed them into the house, albeit reluctantly.
Thereafter, Sebastian assisted Natalie to sit down on the living room sofa. Until now, Johanna and Beal hadn‘t left the house. They had just finished eating breakfast and saw Natalie hobbling back into the living room not long after going out. Thus, they were concerned about her.
“What happened, dear? Did you sprain your ankle or something?” Natalie didn‘t respond. She just glanced at Sebastian and then she lowered her head in silence. Meanwhile, Lila was standing at the door, staring right at Natalie as her heart raced.
Sebastian was as composed as ever. He told Beal and Johanna a detailed narration of what happened just moments ago. Upon hearing the story, the couple looked at in disbelief.
Dead silence ensued in the room. Lila was so terrified that her entire body was shaking. She ran towards Beal and Johanna, got down on her knees, and began begging for mercy.
“Mom, Dad, it was an accident. Please believe me!” Tears welled up in her eyes. She tugged at the hem of Johanna‘s dress and cried, “I really didn‘t mean to hurt Natalie, Mom.”
As Sebastian sat on the sofa, he put his arm on Natalie‘s shoulder, and cast Lila a cold glance.
“There are surveillance cameras at the gate of the villa. Enough lying!” Only solid, incriminating evidence could get Lila to tell the truth. Thus, Johanna asked the servant to retrieve the surveillance footage. It was indeed as Sebastian had said. The surveillance footage caught Lila pushing Natalie.
And she shoved her really hard! In the video, Lila looked very furious. When she saw a car coming, she wasted no time and used the opportunity to shove Natalie.
Upon seeing the surveillance footage, Natalie felt a chill in her entire body. It happened in only a few seconds. Natalie didn’t see the hatred on Lila‘s face when she pushed her since she had her back against her sister. But now she saw it crystal clear on the footage. The look on Lila‘s face showed just how much she loathed Natalie and wanted the latter to die.
Heartbroken, Johanna turned off the player and looked at Lila. She shook her head and said, “I never imagined that I would raise such a cruel, heartless human being.”
What had happened previously came to Beal‘s mind. He said seriously, “I warned you once before, Lila. You knew full well that there was something wrong with the parachute but you purposely did not tell Natalie about that. It is clear that you actually wanted to watch her fall to her untimely death. And now, this? You pushed her to a moving vehicle? This is just atrocious!”
Johanna really couldn‘t make head or tail of it. How could her daughter, who had been carefully and lovingly raised by her, become such a venomous person?
“You cried so bitterly when our cat passed away, yet now, you are more than willing to kill your sister with your own hands?!”
Lila was still kneeling on the ground, crying piteously. She tried her best to defend herself.
“I was just envious of her. You‘ve never even looked at me since she came into this family. She had stolen all your love for me. I did it purely out of jealousy!”
Beal had already heard enough of Lila‘s excuses. He couldn‘t bear to hear another pathetic excuse ever again. He said in a stern tone, “Don‘t make any more excuses. Lila, I have warned you before.”
Johanna didn‘t believe Lila‘s words for a second. She was wholly disappointed in her. She was crestfallen.
“Had I known about your ways earlier, I would never have kept you as part of the White family. My original intention was to keep our family together, but it seems that such an attempt will just be futile and will never actually happen.”
Johanna had underestimated the intensity of evil in human nature. She had thought that everything could go back to being the same way it had been before if she handled the situation well.
But things went completely contrary to her wishes. Sebastian was right. Human beings were capable of insatiable greed. Some people would just never be satisfied. She had been a mother to Lila for over two decades, but regardless of how deep her love was, she could never bear the fact that Lila had tried to kill her biological daughter on two occasions. She could not keep Lila any longer.
“No, Dad, Mom, please don‘t abandon me! This time, I really understand how wrong I was!” Lila was in a state of complete and utter panic. She didn‘t know why she had done such a dumb thing, especially after Beal had specifically warned her prior to that.
Beal shook his head, with no emotion in his eyes.
“I said last time that I wouldn‘t allow such a thing to happen again, and yet you have repeated it again. This time, you even attempted to kill Natalie with your own two hands. The White family can‘t keep you here any Honger. You‘d better go back to your biological parents.”
No, no, Dad, Mom, I don‘t want to go back. I don‘t want to be separated from you!” Hearing this, Lila almost broke down. She cried pathetically, “Dad, Mom, don‘t drive me away!” .
Beal and Johanna both sighed with indifferent expressions on their faces. Lila immediately crawled to Natalie and began begging desperately.
“I‘m sorry, Natalie. Please forgive me for the last time…” She couldn‘t leave the White family. If she left, she would lose absolutely everything and be reduced to zilch.
Natalie felt absolutely nothing when she looked at Lila’s bloodshot, tear-filled eyes. She actually just felt like Lila was wildly ridiculous and like a clown putting on a show at the circus in that moment.
“You wanted to take my life from me. I will not exact the revenge I deserve against you, purely for the sake of my mother and father. It is impossible for me to forgive you. You’d better pack up your things and leave immediately.”
The look on Natalie’s face was icy cold. When she had finished speaking, her eyes fell on Sebastian’s injured knee. She felt a lump in her throat come up again.
Sebastian was injured because of her. How could she ever forgive Lila? If it weren’t for Beal and Johanna’s presence, she really wanted to give Lila a hard slap on the face. She also wanted to drag Lila down the street and make her taste how it felt to almost be hit by a car. Ignoring Lila’s hypocritical plea, Sebastian bypassed her and gently supported Natalie.
“Let me help you back to your room. You have sprained your ankle. You can’t go to work today.”
Then he turned to Beal and Johanna and said, “Mr. and Mrs. White, I will take Natalie to her room now.”
Seeing that Natalie’s ankle was red and swollen, Sebastian carried her in his arms and went upstairs. Beal and Johanna sat on the couch with morose looks on their faces. Lila was still crying on the floor. Johanna had creases between her eyebrows. It seemed like the ordeal had aged her several years in an instant. Lila’s bawling became more and more pathetic.
After a long time, Johanna looked up at Beal and said irritably, “Honey, give Lila her birth parents’ personal information and current address. We have to deal with this.”
Beal didn’t object. He adjusted his glasses and looked at Lila with gravely.
