Chapter 286

The death of Joanna did not make Harrison feel guilty. But now - When he found out that Giselle was his child, the child he and Joanna had, he began to feel remorse and guilt. "I...." Harrison held his head, at a loss for words. After Joanna's death, his love for Giselle, the little remains of it, evaporated into nothing. The reason he kept Giselle in the Hawk family was two-fold. Firstly, the four had made an agreement long ago that the incident was to be treated as if it had never happened. After Joanna's death, Mr. and Liyana had never inquired about Giselle. Outsiders believed that Giselle was prematurely born, but these two understood clearly. Their absence indicated that regardless of who was Giselle's child, it was none of their concern. They, never interfered. Harrison, of course, would never bring it up himself. He, Harrison, cared about his reputation. He pursued Joanna for so many years, like a love-struck puppy, finally marrying his goddess. Everyone thought he was incredible. If he now exposed Giselle's birth background, wouldn't that be equivalent to telling everyone in the imperial city that he was willing to bear the disgrace to marry Joanna? Too humiliating, Harrison refused to allow it. Secondly, the night before Joanna's suicide, she had called Harrison from the hospital, pleading humbly, hoping he would take care of Giselle. That night happened to be Gloria's birthday. Despite sensing something was off with Joanna, Harrison really didn't have the strength to care, he was even annoyed, hanging up after saying that he understood. Later, Joanna jumped off the building. This was the last thing Harrison had promised her. They all tacitly agreed about Giselle's origin, but in the end, it turned out to be a farce. "When Mom was sick, she always said it was her fault..." Giselle couldn't understand, "Why did you all determine my identity without even verifying it?" Why— Harrison said, "Because nobody wanted to face the reality." They didn't want the outcome. One was out there with a mistress having an illegitimate daughter, blaming her for not being his child. After being betrayed, because of her, one felt like it was their own problem, drove themselves mad, jumped off the building to commit suicide, causing her who knows the truth, to suffer from self-blame.... One didn't want to admit that she was his daughter, yet asked her to donate a kidney for his son when he was sick. One thought she was his sister, gave up the love they had shared, and decided to leave. They all had no faults, they all had their reasons. But what had she done? She had done nothing, yet she lost her mother, lost fatherly love, lost the person she once loved.... And even— She was about to lose everything she has right now. Giselle sat on the long bench in the hospital for a long time, so long that her hands and feet began to feel numb. She even thought, how wonderful it would be if she were Gemini's daughter. At least in that way, everything would have a cause and effect, and it wouldn't seem so ridiculous. At the very least, she could save Patrick. She could save him... She truly wished to save him! The sky turned dark without her noticing, and finally, Giselle got up. But when she stood up, she had no idea where to go. Her legs were numb, so she gingerly moved her feet. But then she saw Dr. Chen suddenly rush from the other side of the hospital into Patrick's ward. Others from the medical staff followed him in, expressing serious faces. Obviously, something had happened. Giselle walked towards the ward, not quickly, and just as she arrived... Patrick was wheeled out of the room. On the movable patient bed, his eyes were tightly closed and his face was pale as a ghost. The doctors and nurses in white coats were pushing the bed at a swift pace. Behind them was Gemini and the rest of the family. In this chaotic scene, Giselle felt her mind grounding around. She took a step back and unknowingly, someone took hold of her waist. This time, even without turning her head, Giselle knew who it was. The smell of Maverick's presence was too familiar to her. She clutched onto Maverick's arm tightly, at this moment, he was her crutch. Her slender fingers trembled slightly. Through the thin cloth of his shirt, Maverick could feel the coolness of her hand, it lacked the usual warmth of a human hand. He came to take her away. Yet at this moment, his motions halted. Giselle remained still, Maverick kept silent. Until Patrick was once again pushed into the hospital room, out of danger. Maverick bent over to hug Giselle and turned around. He said, "Let's go home." Giselle, in Shallow Bay, slept dazedly for two days. During this time, she received a call from Harrison. He began to show concern for her, would tell her, "Take care of your health, don't overthink." He would ask her, "Is there anything you want? Dad will buy it for you." He even apologized to her, "I'm sorry, if I had known you were my daughter earlier, I would have treated you and your mother well." But it was all to no avail. Nothing can be done anew. During this period, Harper also contacted Giselle. She had no knowledge of what happened in Metropolis, and Giselle didn't tell her. She just asked Harper, "When will you be coming back?" Harper replied, "There are some tricky problems at home. Once I have sorted them out, I will come back." Giselle didn't interrogate her as she usually would, but only asked, "Do you need my help?" Harper said, "No need." Then she fell silent. This wasn't like Giselle, Harper noted. She asked if something had happened, but Giselle didn't respond, only speaking in a distracted manner. Harper felt worried, but she couldn't leave. Outside their old house, a crowd was demanding repayment of debts. Inside, Harper's gambling aunt and uncle were insisting on her giving them the deeds to the house and land. Claiming this house and land were the inheritance from Grandma Zhu, they insisted they had a share and planned to sell them to repay their debts. They even said that as Harper was now successful outside, she could not stand by and watch her only uncle perish, urging Harper to help repay the debts. Harper's aunty, slapping her thigh and wailing, said, "I must've been cursed to marry your uncle, look at your two younger siblings, suffering because of their good-for-nothing father. You can't just stand by and watch, you've forgotten who fed you and gave you water when your parents passed away. You're successful now, but you need to remember to show some heart." Harper replied she had no money, but her aunty retorted sarcastically, "Everyone knows how much doctors can earn nowadays; you guys get tired from receiving all those red envelopes. Besides, the boyfriend who came back with you a few years ago, wasn't he rather wealthy? His watch alone is worth hundreds of thousands, yet when we asked you for 400,000, you refused. Are you planning to be an ingrate?"