Chapter 572
And yet, despite the suffering she had endured from him, a part of her still screamed that he didn’t deserve to die the way he did in Brandon’s hands. No matter what kind of criminal he was, Jethro was still her daughter’s father. Lydia had always been soft— so much that some people might even call her a coward.
She was a quiet, servile woman who had always heeded her husband’s beck and call. Perhaps it was also because she depended on him for everything. Now that he was gone, she, too, had lost any semblance of direction.
Lydia looked down at her daughter and closed her eyes in pain, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, darling…” she slowly uttered to the child in her arms.
The baby, blissfully innocent and uncomprehending, waved her tiny hands and babbled at her mother.
Natalie’s heart sank deeper with every step she took away from the ward.
She was pulled out of her despairing thoughts by the ringing from her phone. She looked at the screen, her brows furrowing at the caller ID.
Why was Brandon calling her?
Sean must have told him about her visit to the hospital. Natalie didn’t answer the call, afraid that Brandon would question her. She put the phone back inside her bag and pretended not to hear anything.
Just as she walked out the hospital gate, a woman wearing a blue baseball cap brushed past her. The stranger felt familiar for some reason. Natalie was about to take a second look, but she bumped into a man who was walking towards her.
“What the hell, woman! Don’t you have eyes? You knocked my phone to the ground!” the man cursed angrily.
“I’m sorry.” Natalie apologized and picked up the phone, and then handed it to him. When she looked back again, the woman was gone.
Was she just seeing things? The woman’s side profile seemed to resemble Vivian.
On one corner, Vivian pressed her back against the wall as she gasped for breath. She then gingerly poked her head out from her hiding place to look at the gate of the hospital. Natalie had left.
Vivian stepped out from the corner. She had never expected to run into Natalie.
She remembered the forlorn look on Natalie’s face. It could only mean that Natalie wasn’t able to persuade Lydia to appear at the press conference to clarify the truth.
Relief flooded Vivian. It was a good thing that she was one step ahead. She had already paid someone to pretend to be an employee from Jethro’s factory and tell Lydia that her husband was killed by
Brandon before Natalie could get to her. It was easy enough to make up a story where Brandon had bribed the police to shoot Jethro and shut him up for good.
Lydia ate up everything like a fool.
“You couldn’t even deal with a woman and a baby. I didn’t take you for this much of a fool, Natalie,” Vivian mocked as she walked into the general inpatient building.
“There’s really nothing money can’t fix.” Before entering the room, Vivian touched up her makeup and applied more perfume.
The plan was simple. She would make Lydia to change her mind later and then take the credit for saving Brandon’s reputation. There wouldn’t be any complications.
Vivian stepped inside the room confidently.
Lydia’s eyes shot to the door as another woman came in. She looked at her new visitor. The woman wore bold make up, and a strong scent of perfume came from her. Lydia’s nose wrinkled at the overwhelming smell.
There were no cameramen following this woman. She wasn’t dressed like a reporter either.
Lydia instinctively held her baby closer. “Who sent you here?”
“Hello, Lydia. I’m here to help you.” Vivian always had a smile on her face, to make her seem approachable.
As Lydia made no reply, Vivian walked right in. She held Lydia’s hand kindly, saying, “As long as you make everything clear for Brandon at the press conference, I can triple your compensation.”
Lydia felt sick for no reason. Maybe Vivian’s pungent perfume had caught in her throat.
She covered her nose and asked, “Are you from the Larson Group?”
But since Natalie had only just been there, Lydia had a hunch this woman wasn’t from the Larson Group.
“Not really. I’m a philanthropist, I try to reach out and help the people in our society who are most in need of it. As for why I want this clarified for the Larson Group, it was them who established the charity I work for.” Vivian thought she was making a reasonable explanation. She carried on laying out the offer, “If you don’t like it here, I can arrange for you and your baby to live abroad, far away from any harassment, where your baby can grow up carefree.”
Lydia refused mercilessly. “I don’t speak any foreign languages, and I don’t want to live abroad at all. Besides, I’m more than capable of working to support myself and my daughter. There’s no need to worry about me.”
Vivian’s mouth turned up in a half smile, but her heart was filled with scorn.
“Lydia, I don’t think I’m wrong in saying you were a housewife when you were with Jethro, right? You don’t know how to do anything else apart from house chores. How can you support yourself and a baby?” ɳσʋҽʅσȥ.ƈσɱ Vivian s*tripped away Lydia’s lie.
She was nothing like Lydia. She could not understand Lydia’s pain at all.
Lydia trembled with anger. This woman hadn’t come to help her after all.
She looked so arrogant with her delicate makeup, stinking of perfume. Had she come here deliberately to make fun of her?
Lydia looked away and saw herself in the mirror. She looked withered and fat. Her heart ached at the sight of herself.
Lydia held back her tears. She had only just realized how kind Natalie was to her.
