Chapter 1883
Spotting Bertha emerging, McNeil approached her, asking, “What’s wrong with her? Is she ill?”
Bertha shot McNeil a resentful look, her voice icy, “She’s not ill. She’s injured.”
McNeil’s eyes narrowed abruptly. “Injured? How? Who hurt her?”
Bertha’s expression hardened. “You did!”
McNeil was taken aback, lost for words in his guilt.
Bertha continued, “All of this is because of you! If it weren’t for the Howards pushing Marlinie into a corner, she wouldn’t have had to leave her daughter in someone else’s care. Ellinor wouldn’t have had to suffer so much from a young age, and Marlinie wouldn’t have been injured by that unreasonable woman when she went to confront them! You’ve already hurt Marlinie enough. If you have any conscience left, stay away from her! You’ve seen how much she despises seeing you!”
McNeil felt shame, but also confusion. “I know I wronged her, but why did she avoid me to the point of leaving her daughter with someone else? I’ve been searching for her…”
Hearing McNeil’s words, Bertha’s anger surged. “How dare you ask such a question? If your family hadn’t been hunting Marlinie and her daughter, would she have left her child with someone else? You didn’t believe in her innocence. You and your Howard family blamed her for tarnishing your reputation. You’ve chased her away from her family. She feared involving her family and had to run and hide with her daughter! And now you have the audacity to ask me this!”
McNeil’s shock was genuine. “Hunting them down? What are you talking about?”
Bertha frowned. She thought he had shown remorse, but instead, he was playing innocent. No wonder Marlinie was so reluctant to see him. He was such a hypocrite!
“I don’t have time for this. Marlinie needs a doctor! If you have any decency left, don’t disturb her now!”
With that, Bertha sidestepped him and strode towards the nurse’s station.
McNeil stood there, dazed.
Hunting them down?
Byran, who had been watching from a distance, approached his father. “Dad, are you okay?”,
McNeil snapped back to reality, gesturing dismissively. “I’m fine. Let’s go home.”
Byran nodded, supporting his dazed father towards the elevator.
McNeil added, “Byran, assign some bodyguards to protect the people in that room, but make sure they don’t notice.”
Byran paused, then agreed. He had overheard the conversation and could guess who the woman in the room was.
His own feelings were complicated. As the son of his father, his natural mother and sister were…
Well, better not to dwell on it.
They got into the car to leave the hospital.
McNeil still seemed out of it, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Byran, worried about his father, waved a hand in front of his eyes. “Dad, are you okay?”
McNeil came back to his senses and glanced at his son, as if remembering something. “Byran, what time is it?”
Byran checked his watch. “It’s past four in the morning. The sun will be up soon. Dad, you’ve been up all night. You should rest when we get home.”
McNeil replied, “Byran, we’re not going home. Take me to the Howard Mountain Villa.”
