She believed that she would not end up the way she had when she had fallen from the second floor if she jumped from here. She had broken a few ribs but she had lived and been discharged from the hospital previously. She would die if she were to fall from this floor. However, Deirdre did not feel an ounce of fear in her heart as she felt the wind. She stepped over and sat on the ledge easily, her feet hanging in the air. It felt as if she had traveled back in time while playing with the water in the pond of the slums. She felt more joyous and relaxed than she had ever felt before. The doctor noticed that something was off and came rushing to the third floor. His expression turned pale with fear. “Ms. McKinnon! Don’t do anything rash! Come down here, quick!”“Don’t come near me.” Deirdre turned her head, her hair blowing in the wind, her gaze so empty that the sight of her was pitiful. “I will jump if you take one step closer to me!”The doctor was almost in tears, as no one wo

“I have something important to attend to. Postpone the meeting!”Sam was stunned, and his face turned pale. “Mr. Brighthall! You’ve been after this project for more than six months…”“I said, postpone it! Get me flight tickets immediately! We’re going back to Neve!”Sam had also noticed that something was off. “What’s going on in Neve?”“Deirdre is threatening to commit suicide on the third floor of the villa.”He wanted to hop on a flight to return to Neve, but doing so was not as simple as he thought it would be. There was no available flight now, and the earliest flight would take off at midnight. He would need to wait five more hours. Forget about five hours. Deirdre might not necessarily be able to withstand three hours in the cold wind given her health condition. Brendan could only arrange for a private jet, so more than two hours had already passed by the time he arrived in Neve. He ran through all the red lights on the way home and found the woman’s emaciated figure

Hence, Sam ran over instinctively with his arm outstretched and grabbed Deirdre’s wrist the very moment Deirdre jumped without the slightest hesitation. He only discovered how absurdly skinny the woman was the moment he grabbed her wrist. She was all skin and bones. “Ms. McKinnon! Give me your other hand! Quick!”Deirdre’s expression, which had been filled with despair, finally changed ever so slightly when she heard Sam’s voice, but it was only a minute change. Tears kept flowing out of the corners of her eyes constantly. She raised her head and said with feigned calmness, “Sam, I treat you well usually. If you really want to do something good for me, loosen your grip, okay? It’s too painful to live. Let me be with my mother and perform my duty as a daughter.”Sam felt an ache in his heart so painful that he could not speak. Brendan ran over with bloodshot eyes and clutched Deirdre’s arm tightly.No one knew this, but Brendan had felt his sinking heart halt to a stop the very

“While there’s life, there’s hope?” This was simply the biggest irony to Deirdre. She had been trying to live with great effort all this time, yet in exchange for her effort, she had been dragged into this hell of despair. “My mother is dead, and I’ve been turned into this creature. You tell me… What else is there to hope for?”She loathed Sam for saying ‘while there’s life, there’s hope’ so easily. ‘Can’t he see that all that is left of my life is darkness?’“Are you still lying to me at this point?” Deirdre looked at him with hatred and despair. “Why didn’t you bring her with you if she is still alive? Brendan, does keeping me in the dark and using my mother to have a hold over me give you a sense of achievement?”Her hysterical episode made Brendan’s eyes redden, and he felt suffocated. He had not wanted Ophelia to die. But if he were to acknowledge her death, he would not only need to admit his mistake, but Deirdre would lose her hope to live too. She would loathe him an

Dr. Ginger ran over to Deirdre as well. He felt Deirdre’s forehead with his hand, his expression unpleasant as he said hastily, “Take her to the room! Ms. McKinnon’s body is too weak. She can’t stand the cold.”Brendan carried Deirdre down to her room and wrapped her body tightly in a blanket. He turned on the heater as well. The knot in the pit of his stomach felt relieved ever so slightly when he felt the warmth returning to the woman’s body. He left the rest to Dr. Ginger. Brendan headed outside for a smoke while Sam guarded the door. He said with difficulty when he noticed Brendan, “Mr. Brighthall…”He kept his head lowered, his expression overwhelmed with emotions. He hesitated for a long time before he finally said, “Is Ms. McKinnon’s mother… still alive?”Brendan turned his head and took a cold glance at him. He had a cold, threatening look in his eyes. “What are you trying to tell me?”Sam pursed his lips. “If Ms. McKinnon’s mother is not alive anymore, this lie won’t l

It was all related to Ophelia. Brendan had known how important Ophelia was to Deirdre for a long time. Ophelia had been sick because of Deirdre, so she had carried the heavy burden of raising Deirdre by herself. She had refused to marry again and taken three laborious jobs to make a living. Deirdre had once whispered to him, “Brendan, you’re the second most important person in my life.”He had been agitated at the time and he had humored her by asking with a cold face, “Who’s the most important person then?”“My mother!” Her tiny face had blushed scarlet because she had misunderstood his reaction for jealousy. She had explained herself in a panic, “Don’t misunderstand.”“What’s there for me to misunderstand?”Deirdre had chuckled before falling silent. “She has experienced way too many hardships for me, so I would die willingly for her if it meant that she’d get to live to see another day.”Deirdre had assumed that she was the happiest girl in the world at the time. She had

“I won’t…” Deirdre’s hand was swollen from the hit. She pulled back her hand and held it with her other hand as she said in an airy voice, “I want to live because I will only meet my mother by staying alive.”Brendan’s expression was tainted with sternness when he heard that. He removed the tie that he had been attempting to tie around his neck but had failed due to agitation. He grabbed Deirdre’s hand and stuffed the tie into her fingers. “Fasten the tie for me!”Deirdre reacted when her hands felt the tie. It had already been a very long time since she had done this, but her movements were still extremely skillful. It was because she used to practice every day in the past so she could perform her duty as Mrs. Brighthall. Brendan was completely unaware of that. The reason he made Deirdre fasten the tie was to change the topic of conversation, but he felt infuriated by the sight of Deirdre being so skillful with the tie. “I suppose Sterling frequently taught you how to fasten

She could no longer care and she did not have the mental capacity to let herself be distracted by that incident. All she wanted was to meet her mother. “Nothing happened, really. The idea occurred to me all of a sudden…”Before she could finish her sentence, Brendan grabbed her face, exuding displeasure with his overbearing presence. “Deirdre, are you aware that I can see that you’re lying every time you do it? You’re really disobedient, which makes me think that you just don’t want to meet Ophelia again!”Deirdre felt her heart racing, and all the blood drained from her face instantly. In the end, she bit her lower lip tightly and said, “Brendan, would you believe me if I told you the truth?”Brendan furrowed his eyebrows subconsciously when he heard her reply. “What kind of trick do you have up your sleeve again? If you’re telling the truth, why wouldn’t I believe you?”“It was Charlene.”Deirdre could feel the coldness emanating from Brendan’s body when she uttered that nam

“How did that happen…” Charlene bit her lower lip, feeling scared out of her wits. She asked in a flurry, “What happened afterward? Is Ms. McKinnon alright? She’s too foolish. Why would she commit suicide because of this?”“She was saved in the end.”“Great then.” Charlene felt relieved. She remembered something that made her face turn paler and she looked at Brendan incredulously. “Brendan, you’re here to tell me about Ms. McKinnon’s suicide attempt… What are you implying? You also asked about my whereabouts yesterday. Could you be suspecting me of exposing the secret?”Brendan did not answer, but Charlene’s eyes reddened with tears instantly. “Did Ms. McKinnon tell you that I told her the secret?”“No.” Brendan frowned deeply, and his voice sounded agitated. “I was only asking casually.”Tears were falling from Charlene’s eyes. “You don’t have to put in a good word for Ms. McKinnon. Why would you associate the incident with me if she hadn’t mentioned it? Besides, Brendan, you’re

’She just won’t give up on her sinister, malicious nature. I was wrong too for actually believing her and questioning Charlene.’Brendan downed glass by glass of alcohol with a cold expression. A beautiful woman approached him from the side with a seductive gaze. “Are you here alone, handsome?”“Leave.” Brendan did not even bother taking one glance at her.It was inevitable that she’d be infuriated. “You think you’re better just because you’re good-looking…”She left furiously. Sawyer stepped forward when he checked and realized it was time. “Mr. Brighthall, are we leaving?”“And going where?” Brendan pointed at the seat next to him. “Come and drink with me.”Sawyer could tell that Brendan was in a very bad mood because he was drinking constantly, but he still declined Brendan’s offer. “Mr. Brighthall, I’m driving.”Brendan did not try to convince Sawyer to drink but he kept drinking more and more. After a few bottles, his expression changed at last and his gaze began to appea