Chapter 76 Torn
Kelly stood frozen, staring at Eric in shock. She lost control and grabbed his shirt collar.
He knew something–Eric definitely knew something.
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“The Professor didn’t commit suicide, did he?” Kelly asked, frantically grabbing the whiteboard, demanding answers from Eric.
Eric averted his eyes, unable to meet her gaze.
“Answer me! You know something, don’t you?” Kelly pressed, her voice cracking with desperation.
“Kelly, stop pressuring me. Anyone can tell that Dr. Cooper’s death is suspicious. How could I not have guessed?” Eric slumped against the door, reaching out to pull Kelly into an embrace.
Kelly stepped back, both terrified and in shock.
It’s true.
The Professor’s death had something to do with the Lynches.
But there’s no evidence.
“To get you to agree to sign the settlement, Clarissa has already come up with some despicable tactics. Do you know what they’re planning?” Eric wanted to tell Kelly that Clarissa was trying to frame her for extortion and send her to prison.
Buzz!
Before he could finish his sentence, his phone rang.
The ringtone echoed in the empty room.
Eric’s phone played Kelly’s favorite song–the one she’d loved before she disappeared.
It was as if nothing had changed, yet everything had.
“Mom?” Eric answered the phone, troubled.
“Come home quickly; it’s bad. Faye’s fever hasn’t gone down, and the Lynches said it’s been going on for three days. What should we do?”
Dawn’s voice trembled on the other end of the line; she was almost in tears, worried about her granddaughter.
“Mommy! I want Mommy,” Faye’s weak voice cried from the background.
“Eric, you need to come back. Faye’s fever is getting worse. I’ve taken her to the hospital, and the doctor said it’s meningitis,” Dawn’s voice quivered with panic.
Eric froze for a moment, staring at Kelly, his voice tense. “Kelly…”
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Chapter 76 Torn
“Eric, go take care of your daughter. The Lynches have done so many evil deeds; I hope you’re not involved.” Those were Kelly’s final hopes for him–that he wasn’t complicit in their wrongdoing.
Eric froze for a second, lowering his head in visible pain.
He couldn’t bear to look at what Kelly had written on the whiteboard.
She hoped he hadn’t been involved.
But he had married Regina, and he was trapped.
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“Kelly, I don’t want to hurt you,” Eric said, his voice thick with regret as he rushed to the hospital to see Faye.
Eric didn’t want to hurt her.
He had no intention to cause her pain.
But reality was pushing him into a corner, with no way out.
Seaville Hospital.
Clarissa was present. Dawn stood outside the ward, her face streaked with tears. “How did the healthy child end up like this? It’s all Kelly’s fault. Why didn’t she just die out there? Why did she come back, causing my granddaughter to get sick and always asking for her mother?
“She wouldn’t sign the paper. Regina couldn’t come home, and Faye kept crying. What can we do?” Clarissa pretended to be sorrowful.
Dawn snarled at Kelly. “I always say she was a disaster. It would’ve been better if she had died out there. But she has to come back and disturb my son’s family.”
In Dawn’s mind, if Kelly had died, she wouldn’t have come back to fight for the family inheritance.
Dawn thought that the assets left by Kelly’s parents should naturally belong to her son.
How deeply one’s perceptions could be twisted was evident in Dawn’s behavior.
“Dawn, we need to get Kelly to sign the settlement quickly. If not, it’ll be too late,” Clarissa urged, her worry growing.
Without Kelly’s signature, the police would transfer the case. Once convicted, Regina hiring someone to hurt Kelly would become undeniable. The truth would come out, the media would report it, and those who disliked their family would seize the opportunity to spread rumors.
That would drag the Lynches into the mess.
Clarissa and the Lynches were inseparable; when one prospered, they all prospered as well. She was also worried about how this might affect her reputation.
After all, she still hadn’t married into the Lockharts yet. If Wade heard about this, how would she explain it?
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In her view, there was something wrong with that man–why would an heir from a wealthy family choose to be a soldier, ending up looking like a ghost?
If it weren’t for the Lockharts‘ connections, Clarissa would never consider marrying such a flawed man.
“Mom! How’s Faye doing?” Eric rushed over, urgently asking about Faye’s condition.
“The doctor says it’s meningitis. Her fever is very high, and she’s been asking for her mother.” Clarissa sighed.
“Regina can’t get out, and it seems hard to stabilize the child’s condition,” Clarissa added.
Dawn was frantic. She angrily slapped Eric. “It’s all that little b*tch’s fault. Why didn’t she die out there? If it weren’t for her, would our family be in this mess? What’s she come back for? She’s just a harbinger of doom.”
Eric frowned. “Mom, don’t talk about Kelly like that.”
“Dr. Gray, the results are in. It’s not good. The fever has been too long. Meningitis has caused pressure in her brain. We’re looking at permanent hearing loss.” The doctor walked in, speaking apologetically.
Clarissa frowned, clearly not expecting it to be this serious.
Clenching her fists, Clarissa’s eyes narrowed. “Eric! Faye is burning up, and you’re still protecting Kelly? What are you hesitating for? Don’t you care about your own daughter?”
Dawn was horrified by the mention of permanent deafness. She collapsed to the ground and cried uncontrollably. “My God, why did this happen to us?”
Eric stood frozen, weary, as though countless hands were pulling him into hell, unable to think clearly.
One side was his daughter. The other was Kelly.
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