Chapter 1814
Marlinie held her daughter’s slightly cold hand tighter. “No. I want to take you away from here with me. Would you come with me?”
Ellinor seemed taken aback. The answer, which she thought was certain, now seemed uncertain.
Realizing that Ellinor was hesitating, Marlinie realized that her daughter was no longer a little girl.
Pearl had grown up. She had her own concerns and people who cared for her.
Marlinie wiped away her tears and chuckled. “Look at me, still thinking of you as a little girl. I must have forgotten that you’re now a grown woman with your own home and children.”
Snapping back to reality, Ellinor looked at her mother with some difficulty. “Can’t you just stay with us?”
The smile on Marlinie’s lips turned bittersweet. “Pearl, I…”
Ellinor had always been a smart girl. She almost immediately understood her mother’s reluctance. “Mom, you don’t want to stay because of the Howards, right?”
Marlinie fell silent. That silence was her admission.
The Howards were her nightmares.
She had barely managed to escape from them. She didn’t want to stay in a place where she could constantly be reminded of her past nightmares.
Ellinor held one of her mother’s hands tightly in both of hers. “I understand! The Howards are in Greenhaven, so we can live in another city. Somewhere far away from them. Would that be acceptable?”
Marlinie shook her head. “They… they won’t let me go. As long as they know I’m alive, they won’t let me live with you.”
After seeing her mother be so terrified of the Howards, Ellinor’s heart sank. She couldn’t imagine the kind of torment her mother must have gone through at the hands of the
Howards to be this scared.
She would definitely make them pay for what they did to her mother.
Ellinor wisely didn’t press the issue. “Okay, we’ll discuss whether you’re coming with me or staying here later. Right now, you’re injured. You should focus on getting better.”
Touched by her daughter’s understanding, Marlinie nodded. They held hands and chatted about where she’d been and what she’d been up to over the past few years.
Before long, Marlinie fell asleep due to exhaustion.
When her mother’s voice faded, Ellinor gently called out to her a few times. When she didn’t get a response, she made sure her mother was comfortably asleep before covering her with a blanket and stepping outside.
Bertha and Lea hadn’t gone out to shop. Instead, they were sitting on chairs outside the hospital room, waiting.
After seeing Ellinor come out, Lea ran over, asking excitedly, “Ellinor, how did it go with Ms. Marlinie? Have you two recognized each other as mother and daughter?
Bertha found her daughter’s question a bit forward. She pulled Lea closer to her and awkwardly apologized to Ellinor. “She’s a bit impulsive, Ellinor. Please, don’t mind her.”
Ellinor shook her head and bowed gratefully to Bertha. “Thank you! Thank you for giving me the chance to meet my mother!”
Before, Ellinor was somewhat wary of Bertha and her daughter; from that moment on, she trusted them completely. Her mother’s close friend could be trusted.
And if it weren’t for Bertha noticing her resemblance to her mother, Marlinie wouldn’t have come back to find her.
She was truly grateful from the bottom of her heart.
