Chapter 9

Hurt, Catherine stormed off sobbing. Cillian rubbed the middle of his brows and heavily sighed. Catherine was three years younger than him. She was adopted by the Gessners when she was five, and he was almost immediately her sole guardian. Cillian himself had rarely gotten any love from his parents, so he'd made sure that Catherine didn't end up that way. Hence, he doted on her and spoiled her to the extreme. Now, however, he started to realize that perhaps his methods were wrong. He had made Catherine extremely reliant on him and would have to start disciplining her. "Brandon." Cillian instructed, "From now on, Catherine is not allowed out of her bedroom after eight at night." Brandon nodded. Then, he added, "Have you run the hot bath yet? Have Tania get ready. I'll be over right away." Brandon hesitated before saying, "Mr. Gessner… Mrs. Gessner isn't back yet." Tania wasn't back yet? Cillian was confused. After all, Tania had never once made him worry. Over the past four years of treatment, no matter how painful the treatment was, she had never shed tears in front of him, let alone complain. Staying out late and worrying him was not something that she would do. Cillian picked up his phone and called Tania, but no one answered. There was no reply for the messages he'd sent to her either. He slowly furrowed his brows. "Brandon, get people to look for her." With that, Brandon, the bodyguards, and the driver immediately left. Meanwhile, Cillian tried to pick up his medical book to study, but after a few pages, he couldn't focus at all. Suddenly, he thought back to when Tania had left the house that afternoon. She'd opened the door as the sun had shone in, and the warm rays of sun cast a warm glow around her. It had looked very much like the first time they'd met. That afternoon, Tania had simply smiled at him and nodded. Then, she'd left. After she'd shut the door behind her, Cillian inexplicably felt as if the entire room had been plunged into a cold darkness, and he was all alone. Now that he was waiting for her, he was getting even more anxious. Unable to sleep, he paced in his study until early in the morning when Brandon finally returned. "Mr. Gessner, we've looked around, but we couldn't find her." Cillian's mind buzzed. The bad feeling he'd felt had become reality. He grabbed onto the edge of his desk for support. "D-Do you think it was Ms. Gessner?" Brandon asked in hesitation. Cillian had thought about that too. With this in mind, he headed upstairs to the third floor. He was just about to knock on the door when he heard Catherine's voice loud and clear in the room. "Ms. Larson, don't worry. My brother will protect you. Just simply do as I say. Write a lethal-dose prescription of sedatives for Tania. I'll send her over this afternoon… "Murder? How is this murder? You're just releasing her from all the suffering. It's a good thing. I've already issued several terminal-illness diagnostic reports for her. When the time comes, you'll just have her sign a will…" Upon hearing this, Cillian was so furious that he trembled as his vision darkened. He opened the door and roared, "Catherine Gessner, have you gone mad?" The door slammed against the wall with a loud crashing sound, which made Catherine scream and jump. Instantly, her phone dropped to the floor. Cillian picked it up and yelled, "Ms. Larson, you're fired! If you dare lay a single finger on Tania, I'll take your life!" After that, he grabbed Catherine by the collar. By then, he was so mad that veins had popped up in his forehead. He raised his hand in midair, ready to slap her. However, Catherine immediately clutched her abdomen and sobbed, "Cillian, the baby! The baby! You gave me such a fright that my tummy hurts… "Why are you so mad? I've bullied Tania for four years, but you've never cared. Why do you care now? "You won't marry me, yet I still agreed to have your baby. Look at how much I'm suffering! But you don't even care for me! You only care for Tania!" Cillian took a deep breath. Then, he clenched and unclenched his fist a few times before finally calming down. This was all his fault. He had constantly given in and indulged in Catherine for so long that he had caused her to lose all sense of boundaries! Yet, he couldn't discipline her. After all, she was with child. Not to mention, it was his and Tania's child… He sighed and let go of Catherine. "Stop crying. And quickly get Tania back." But Catherine seemed surprised. She had indeed gotten someone to get Tania, but they hadn't sent her any updates. Could they have already gotten her? She said with feigned innocence, "I know nothing of this. I was planning to see Tania in the morning and persuade her to go back to the hospital." In truth, she obviously couldn't care less about Tania. She was going to kill her anyhow. Besides, Cillian hadn't even dared slap her earlier. How could he bear to send her to prison? Plus, she was pregnant with the Gessners' only heir. With that in mind, Catherine lowered her head and secretly smirked. But at the next second, Brandon frantically came in and said, "Mr. Gessner, trouble! Look up the recent news! Someone leaked evidence that Ms. Gessner has been deliberately misdiagnosing patients! The Medical Association has already launched an investigation." Brandon continued, looking troubled, "Also, a paternity test was uploaded too. Ms. Gessner's child… might not be yours..."