BXBX NOVEL Chapter 39 - 39: Truth
Poppy was terrified.
Only she and her brother, Finley, knew about her switching the girls!
She had never mentioned it to her real daughter, Isla.
How could Old Mrs. Horton know?
Moreover, she spoke in an assertive tone, not of suspicion, but of certainty!
Seeing Keira and Lewis approaching, Poppy looked even more uneasy in her guilt!
They hadn’t heard what she’d just said, had they?
Old Mrs. Horton huffed out, “I know. You bullied my granddaughter-in-law.
You’re a bad woman!”
The old lady rambled on and on. It seemed like something was wrong with her mind…
Poppy breathed a sigh of relief. She approached Keira with the thermos in hand, “Keira dear, I’ve brought you some chicken broth. You must be tired from caring for old Mrs. Horton. You need to eat more to regain some strength…” The aroma of the chicken broth from the thermos wafted into the air, but to Keira, it was nothing more than irony.
This was the first time Poppy had ever made soup for her.
She asked in a voice devoid of emotion, “What do you want?
Poppy smiled. “I’m still after Isla’s two percent share… Old Mrs. Horton values you a lot. She help you arrange a hospital room for Mrs. Olsen and get you that medicine. She’ll definitely agree if you ask for it. Help out your sister, otherwise, how could she be confident around Jake?”
Keira’s expression turned ice-cold, the words escaping her lips devoid of warmth, “No.”
Poppy’s face hardened, her facade crumbling. She glared at Keira, “That’s right, huh? I worked so hard to give birth to you. You climb the social ladder, and now you won’t respect me anymore?!”
She plopped down onto the ground, crying out, “If you don’t help me today, I won’t get up! Everyone, come look at this! My daughter is an ungrateful wretch! She’s embarrassed by her mother’s lowly background, so she’s serving Old Mrs. Horton with such dedication! She wants to be their granddaughter now!”
The surrounding medical staff and patients began to whisper among
themselves.
“Miss Olsen seemed nice. I never expected her to be like this…”
“She’s so materialistic. She’s even denying her own mother. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life!”
Keira stood there with an expressionless face.
She truly didn’t want to admit that this woman causing a scene was her mother.
Yet regretfully, such a relationship was impossible to sever.
She felt helpless.
Keira sneered, her voice as icy as her expression. “Go ahead, make a scene. If you interrupt anyone’s rest, the security will escort you out.”
After she finished speaking, she walked past Poppy.
Poppy was enraged. “Ungrateful wretch! Little slut!”
Out of spite, she stood up abruptly and threw the thermos full of chicken soup roughly at Keira!
“Watch out!”
Keira heard a deep voice. Then she was tightly enveloped in a sturdy embrace! She looked back in surprise, only to see Lewis standing protectively in front of her, shielding her from the scalding hot chicken soup with his broad back…
Steam was rising from his black suit.
Keira gasped and asked anxiously, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
He squinted at Poppy.
Poppy was petrified. She waved her hands frantically, “Mr. Horton, I… I didn’t mean to splash you. I… I…”
She was so flustered that she turned to escape, quickly disappearing from the corridor.
No one paid her any heed as everyone circled around Lewis to enter their wards.
The old lady immediately rushed over, quickly stripping off Lewis’s clothes, “Quickly, take it off and let me see how bad it is! Are there any blisters.” Lewis calmly took off his suit and white shirt, revealing his sturdy chest. Keira instinctively wanted to look away, but not before her gaze fell onto his back which was now bright red and full of blisters…
That wasn’t a minor injury. It was clearly very serious!
“Oh my, does it hurt? Keira, apply some ointment for him…” The old lady snatched the burn cream from the nurse’s hand and thrust it into Keira’s hands. She pushed Keira behind Lewis, then beckoned to the others to leave the room, “Let’s not crowd around here. The brat will be embarrassed to be naked!”
Then, moving closer to Keira, she whispered, “Granddaughter-in-law, it’s up to you now!”
Keira was speechless.
In an instant, only the two of them were left in the ward.
It was so awkward.
Lewis said in a low voice, “This is my grandma’s whimsical thinking. I’ll let the
nurse come in…”
“I’ll do it.”
Keira interrupted him and walked behind him.
It was the twilight hour, and the golden light spilled in through the window, casting long shadows of the two.
Lewis stood before the window, the halo through the glass illuminating his broad back, and his fitted trousers outlined his slender waistline.
One look and Keira lowered her gaze.
It was as if a tiny stone had been thrown into the lake of her heart, causing ripples to spread outward.
She dabbed the ointment on her fingertips before gently applying it to his burned area.
Lewis remained silent, his muscles tensing subconsciously the moment her fingertips touched his skin.
Her faint breath sprayed onto his back like a flame was scorching him.
Noticing his discomfort, Keira asked softly, “Does it hurt?”
Lewis lifted his eyes, and in the reflection of the window, he could see her expression, which was serious and focused as if she were handling a priceless antique.
His attention was drawn to her, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
“No, it doesn’t hurt.”
A moment later, having applied the ointment, Lewis put on a new shirt and buttoned it up. “Thank you, Miss Olsen.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Keira hesitated, then looked up at him, “Actually, you didn’t have to take the hit for me. If you get hurt, your grandmother would be devastated.” “If you get hurt, my grandmother would be even more devastated.”
“Well, after all, I’m an outsider.”
His dark eyes fixed on her, and he said slowly, “You forgot. You’re now my
wife.”
Keira’s breathing quickened, the air around her seeming to thin out due to Lewis’s words.
Her heart skipped a beat, and her eyelashes fluttered like a fan.
“I’m going out for a bit.”
Keira turned to leave the room.
Lewis asked, “What are you going to do?”
“Take revenge.”
It didn’t matter how Poppy treated her, but if she had hurt Lewis, she couldn’t just let it go!
Keira went to Mrs. Olsen’s room, intending to check if Poppy was there.
But just as she got close, she spotted Isla and a man disappearing into the corridor.
The man was slimy and sneaky; it looked a lot like Uncle Finley.
Out of curiosity, Keira followed them.
In the corridor.
Finley was rubbing his hands together, “My dear niece, your uncle is a bit short on cash…”
Isla suppressed her anger. “I’ve already given you my pocket money for this month!”
Finley was her nightmare.
Without warning, he came to her on New Year’s Day and said that she was Poppy’s daughter. He demanded money from her, threatening to reveal the truth to Taylor and Mrs. Olsen…
Despite her pleas, Finley remained unfazed. He smiled and said, “Either way, I can’t survive without money. If you won’t give it to me, I’ll go to Keira, and tell her the truth. She would definitely give me a large sum of money!”
At that moment, the door was pushed open.
Keira stood there, her back against the light.. Her voice was cold, “What truth?”