Charlene could not help becoming panicky and clenching her teeth.

‘Damn it! Why would this lingering b*tch show up here?’

She took the preion written by Sterling, tossed the money to him, and ran outside in a haste. She was attempting to conceal her expression to the best of her ability despite feeling like she would lose it soon.

She could not help panicking, and she had a feeling that something was about to change, yet she was trying to calm herself with great effort.

‘Those people in jail did a rather good job. Deirdre is already hideous beyond recognition. It would be fine even if Brendan were to encounter her.

‘How can a woman who disgusts anyone that steals an extra glance at her be worthy of Brendan’s attention?’

At this thought, she calmed down and went after Brendan.

Deirdre was frozen in the same spot in the office. ‘Why do I feel that the man who slammed the door and left had a familiar presence about him?

‘It feels like…’

Deirdre’s gaze was filled with chaotic emotions, but she was clenching her hands tightly to make herself calm down.

‘It can’t be… It can’t be…’

“Are you okay, Deirdre?” Sterling’s concerned voice was heard, and he took her ice-cold hands in his. “Did that startle you?”

He furrowed his eyebrows in the direction of the departing people. “I don’t know what is going on with these two and why they just left so suddenly. That was really strange.”

“It’s fine.” Deirdre recovered from her surprise and said in a self-mocking manner, “Perhaps they were petrified by the sight of my face? Most people react that way the first time they see me. Don’t mind that.”

Sterling still felt that something was off, but there was no other logical explanation for the situation other than Deirdre’s. Therefore, he diverted the topic of conversation by saying, “The rope swing snapped?”

“Yes.” Deirdre suppressed the ineffable emotion in her chest and chuckled. “The children were really vexed because they thought that they were so heavy that they broke the rope swing.”

Sterling rubbed her silky hair. “Let’s close up the clinic earlier since there are no more patients. I’ll come with you to get the rope and fix up the backyard.”

“Hmm.”

They left the clinic together. Sterling handed Deirdre her white cane and locked up the clinic before they walked side by side. However, they failed to notice the car parked not far away, right under a tree behind them.

Brendan was in the driver’s seat, and his dark pupils were staring straight at the departing silhouettes of those two people. He clenched his fists tightly as he watched their intimate interaction; he was so furious that he felt like his chest was about to burst.

“Bren…” Sitting in the passenger’s seat, Charlene was shaking fearfully upon sensing Brendan’s ice-cold presence. She took a deep breath before she attempted to speak. “Is that woman really Ms. McKinnon? I remember her still being fine before she moved to another country. How did she turn into this… out of nowhere? She has been disfigured. I wonder if…”

Charlene paused for a moment.

“She disfigured herself willingly to avoid being found by you so she could be with Dr. Fuller?”

When her voice died away, Brendan threw a punch at the steering wheel, producing a piercing noise.

Deirdre had gone missing suddenly without a trace after moving to another country for three months. He had never given up on looking for her all this time. In fact, he had thought that Deirdre would come back with the child one day.

However, he would never let her off the hook if he found out that she had run away just so she could cheat on him with another man and would even disfigure herself just to avoid being found!

His sudden reaction startled Charlene. She recovered from her surprise and responded by holding Brendan’s hand tightly.

“Brendan, won’t it be better if she really is Ms. McKinnon? Dr. Fuller seems to treat her well, and they seem happy together. If that’s the case, we don’t need to feel guilty about her anymore, and we can live out our lives in peace…”

“That’s not her.” Brendan caught Charlene by surprise when he pulled back his arm, a storm of emotions brewing within his dark pupils. “That woman is not Deirdre.”

‘Deirdre loves me so much that she couldn’t love anyone else, so how can she be with another man?

‘It’s fake. It must be fake!

‘I must have mistaken someone else for her, or she’s just feigning being disfigured to trick me.

‘I’m going to figure out what she is doing!’

-

A few days later, Deirdre did not feel that presence anymore. She believed that it had been only an illusion the other day.

Deirdre was sitting on the newly-repaired rope swing during lunch, having no idea that a man was leaning on his car bonnet and watching her from the backyard fence.

Brendan screened through the information on the document through narrowed eyes while he smoked, his eyes filled with hatred.

It turned out that she had never moved to another country, but she had made up a gross ploy to hide from him and get together with Sterling.

As for her disfigured face and loss of eyesight, Steven claimed that there was no detailed report on that. Brendan had no choice but to associate these things with Deirdre’s deception.

However, he had no choice but to acknowledge that he felt very agitated at the moment.

“Deirdre.” A gentle voice disrupted his train of thought. Sterling walked out of the clinic with dessert in his hand. He handed it to Deirdre with a smile on his face. “Give it a try.”

“What is it?” Deirdre lowered her head and gave it a sniff before she beamed with joy. “It smells very sweet.”

“Engel sent it. She mentioned that it is Coral’s birthday, so she sent two slices of the birthday cake for you to taste. Let me know if you like it, and I’ll serve you the other slice.”

“Hmm!”

The woman’s smile was an eyesore to Brendan, and Sterling’s intimate treatment infuriated him even more.

He remembered very few occasions of the woman smiling when she had been with him, yet she was smiling so sweetly at this other man?