Chapter 4 Hospital Discharge

Derek didn't really want to let George and Caroline go, but Sara shook her head at him. Seeing this, all he could do was frown as he waved his hand at the couple and gestured for them to leave.

With smiles on their faces, George and Caroline went ahead and left the ward.

After a while, the crowd receded gradually, and the ward became peaceful again.

Taking a deep breath, Wendy grabbed the quilt on both sides, looked Derek straight in the eye and asked, "Are you my father?"

Hearing Wendy's question, Sara was taken aback. Then, she anxiously explained, "No. No, he's not."

Derek had to swallow the words that he was just about to say. Then, he glanced at Sara and saw her eyes filled with reluctance. Letting out a deep sigh, he shook his head and said, "No, I'm not your father. I'm a friend of your mother. You can just call me Uncle Derek."

After examining the strange expressions on their faces, Wendy continued, "Nice to meet you, Uncle Derek. But, I think I heard you say that I was your child..."

"That's only because Uncle Derek wanted to lend me a hand. You just woke up, but you should have a good rest. You shouldn't be thinking too much," Sara said in a gentle tone.

"Wendy, you should rest well. Your mom and I are going to buy you delicious food later." Derek looked at Wendy with loving eyes.

Noticing how her mother's face had gone pale, Wendy simply lowered her gaze, nodded her head, and closed her eyes obediently.

Derek then gave Sara a wink, and with that, the two of them went out and closed the door. Outside the room, Wendy wouldn't be able to hear their conversation.

"Click." Shelly was watching TV in the living room. As soon as she heard the sound of the door open, she immediately lifted her feet off of the table and sat up straight on the sofa instead.

'What? Why did Dad come back with Mom? Something doesn't seem right!' From just a single glance, Shelly saw how pale her parents' faces were.

'Did I end up killing Wendy? It can't be true!' Shelly gulped nervously.

Taking a seat next to Shelly, Caroline turned her head and glared at her. George, on the other hand, let out a soft sigh as he leaned against the sofa and tidied up his hair.

All Shelly could do was look at her parents. After hesitating for a moment, she worriedly asked, "Dad, Mom. Is there something wrong?"

Hearing these words coming from Shelly, George gave her an intense glare and replied, "What's wrong? I sent you to school to study. But, look what you've done! That's just great! How dare you hit your classmate's head with a flower pot? Were you trying to kill her?"

Hearing the word "kill", Shelly's heart skipped a beat. Too overwrought to speak clearly, she replied, "That's impossible, it wasn't that high..."

"What? Not that high?! You were probably trying to kill her! Are you holding a grudge against her? How could you do such a thing?" Fuming with anger, George walked to the side and grabbed a feather duster.

Feeling angry and afraid at the same time, Shelly stepped back and said, "Dad, you're beating me for that bad woman!"

"Bad woman?" George asked Shelly, feeling so confused.

"Yes! Wendy's mom! Dad, I'm your own daughter. You're not related to Wendy by blood. How can you hit me because of her?! Are you really going to cast Mom and me aside?" The more Shelly talked, the angrier she became.

"Why would I leave you and your mother?" George looked at Shelly and then at Caroline, confusion written all over his face.

"George, please don't be mad..." At that moment, Caroline realized that she was in trouble. So, she knew she had to stop Shelly right away.

"A few days ago, Aunt Lily came over and I heard her say that the bad woman had seduced you and you're going to leave me and Mom for her!" Shelly was so overcome with anger that she didn't notice that Caroline winked at her.

Hearing this, George shoved Caroline away in anger. Pointing a finger at her nose, he scolded, "Is that the only thing you're good at? Playing mahjong and gossiping with your friends?! Look at what you're teaching Shelly!"

"Are you seriously going to blame me?! If my friend didn't see you getting so intimate with that woman, it wouldn't have come to this! What were you thinking when you did that?" After holding it in for so many years, Caroline just couldn't take it anymore.

"I, I just had a quick chat with Sara. What are you thinking about?" George's face turned red as he tried to explain himself to Caroline.

"I know what kind of person you are! Sara? You called her name so sweetly! Had a small chat? My friend told me that you looked like you couldn't wait to get your hands all over her. How can you even say that? Who are you trying to fool?! I know what you've done before!" Caroline said, raising her voice in anger.

Pointing his finger at Caroline, George yelled, "I don't want to talk about this with you! You are such a fool. You're giving me such a headache. Do you have any idea who that man is?"

"It's because you seduced her. I thought that woman was just a nobody. Shelly told me that she was a widow. How come she suddenly has a husband? For all we know, that man could also be one of her lovers! That woman looks like a bitch anyway!" Caroline grumbled.

"How dare you talk back when you're the one who's bringing trouble? I'm going to kill you!" George never would have expected that Caroline didn't care about his feelings. She had been berating him in front of their child. In a fit of rage, he grabbed the feather duster and hit Caroline with it.

"Ah! George! How dare you hit me! Don't think that I'm not going to fight back!" Just a second later, Caroline's arm got injured and the tears started rolling down her cheeks. Feeling so furious, she came at George and grabbed his hair. Then, the two of them started to fight.

Hiding in a corner, Shelly watched as her parents fought it out with each other. This brought her to tears and caused her to hate Wendy even more.

The treatment took almost a month. Sara didn't want to take Wendy back home until she was almost fully healed.

When Derek helped them out by carrying their luggage and putting it into the trunk of the car, Sara's face turned into a frown, and she said, "You didn't have to come here yourself because I know that you have a lot of things to deal with. There are a lot of buses in the town, we can just..."

"I'm free today. You don't have to worry about bothering me," Derek said, as a helpless smile crept onto his face.

Wendy was secretly observing them. When she saw how her mother was trying to drive Derek away, she began to doubt whether Derek really was her father or not. He must have done something wrong to her mother for her to treat him like this.

As Wendy quietly sat in the car, the coldness overwhelmed her. The disturbing scene of her mother being tied to the back of the off-road vehicle and the deafening explosion, along with Harold who died an unfortunate death in the car suddenly came to her mind.

Sara noticed right away that there was something wrong with Wendy. So, she worriedly asked, "What's the matter? Are you not feeling well? Oh, dear! Why are you sweating bullets?"

As her body trembled in fear, Wendy didn't hear a word her mother said. Instead, the only thing that filled her mind was blood, explosion, and the burning fire.