Chapter 48
Chapter 48
They crowded around Lydia, treating her like she might break at any moment. Even Lucas, with his bruised face, was pushed aside, but he didn’t care. In fact, he thought it was exactly how things should be.
Emily had no idea how long she’d been unconscious. She felt trapped in endless darkness, unable to find her way out no matter which way she turned.
Finally, her eyes flickered open. She stared at the white ceiling, the strong smell of disinfectant filling her nose. It took her a moment to realize where she was.
“Awake? You feeling okay?” asked Bob. He sat beside the hospital bed, looking concerned as he gently helped Emily sit up.
As soon as she was propped up, Emily noticed she was in a hospital gown. Her face tightened-she grabbed at the fabric instinctively and looked over at Bob.
Bob knew why she reacted that way. Remembering the wounds the nurse had discovered while changing her clothes, a sharp pain twisted in his chest.
He gave Emily a serious stare. “Ms. Bennett, would you mind telling me what really happened? Where did they send you these past two years?”
Emily’s fingers gripped her hospital gown, but her voice remained calm as she said, “They did send me abroad.” She looked up, meeting Bob’s eyes with a smile that seemed completely sincere.
But Bob wasn’t buying it. “Is that so? Then how did you end up with all those injuries?” he pressed.
He’d only seen her arms and legs, but there were those marks that weren’t recent. The nurse had even mentioned that such injuries covered her entire body.
Emily forced a faint smile. “I was new in a foreign country and didn’t speak the language, so people gave me a hard time at first. But it got better eventually.”
Even though it sounded plausible, Bob, who’d stood beside Charles in the cutthroat business world for years, wasn’t falling
for it.
“Even if you were bullied, how could things get this bad?” he said, his chest tightening at the memory of those wounds. “How much money did the Bennetts send you each month while you were overseas?”
He figured that even if the Bennetts were heartless enough to abandon Emily abroad and ignore her, they should at least have sent her some money. With enough cash, she never would’ve been treated this badly.
Just the question felt like a needle jab. Emily’s whole body trembled.
A year after Lydia returned to the Bennett family, Emily’s money was cut off. The Bennetts claimed she’d had it too good and that was why she’d bullied Lydia. So they gave every single penny to Lydia instead, calling it “getting even.”
Later, Emily barely maintained her dignity by selling off some of her old luxury items. And then, she was sent to the St. Gabriel Reform Academy.
At St. Gabriel Reform Academy, money still worked. Three thousand might get one a bread and a sausage. With enough cash, one could avoid being chosen as a “Stray Dog.”
But Emily had nothing. The Bennetts had frozen her accounts ages ago. When they sent her to St. Gabriel, they took
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Chapter 48
everything from her.
For Emily, who’d once spent six figures on a single shopping trip, this was pure hell. But she knew complaining was pointless, and she’d long ago lost the right to do so.
Emily gave Bob a small smile. “I’m fine, really. It’s all in the past. Look at me. I’m doing okay.”
Even though she was smiling, he couldn’t help but feel a sharp pain seeing how pale she looked.
Emily tried to sound casual, forcing another smile as she asked, “Bob, does Grandpa Charles know about my injuries?”