The moment Leo rushed into the blood collection room, Lydia was on the verge of collapse, her face pale. If Leo hadn’t been fast enough and taken her in his arm in time, she would have fallen on the floor.
“Lydia!” Leo was devastated to see Lydia glassy-eyed.
“Leo… Leo… Hold me…” Lydia came to her senses upon hearing Leo’s voice. She clutched Leo’s shirt, as if her life depended on it, her breath shallow, as if she was suffocating.
Leo watched this scene, distraught. He realized that the director must have told her what he hadn’t dared to tell her all the time.
The truth would eventually come out in the end. Instead of setting Lydia free, it broke her down, and it had altered her perception of reality.
“What’s going on?” Dumbfounded, Caroline stared blankly at Lydia, who was breaking down.
The director turned to Caroline and said slowly, “You father actually has another daughter, and it’s Miss Henderson.”
“What?” Caroline was astonished to learn the news.
Meanwhile, Rebecca, who rushed in a moment later, was also stunned to watch this scene. She realized that the secret kept by the Ford family for over 20 years, was finally disclosed.
“Shut up, everyone!” Leo suddenly roared and glared at everyone. “Just let it alone and don’t talk about it again!”
Everyone on the scene was startled. The next moment, the director took all the others away.
After a long pause, Caroline finally came to her senses and looked around at Rebecca. “Is that true, mom?”
Rebecca hemmed and hawed, not daring to speak. However, under Caroline’s piercing gaze, she gave a slight nod at last.
“Mom, why wouldn’t you tell me the truth until now?” Caroline was filled with both anger and confusion. She wondered why things would turn out like this.
“What on earth happened?” Caroline growled. It was hard, even for her, to accept the truth. She had always considered herself the only daughter in the family, but now it turned out she had an elder sister.
And that person was Lydia.
Rebecca, however, actually felt relieved since the secret was revealed, but she got annoyed with Caroline about the question.
“Ask your dad!” Hardly had Rebecca finished her words than she stormed off the hospital.
In the meantime, something was reflecting light faintly at the top of the opposite building.
On the rooftop, someone was watching closely what was happening in the hospital through the telescope. He burst into laughter at the sight of the devastated Lydia collapsing in Leo’s arms, as if he was watching some hilarious comedy.
“That’s what I thought. What a priceless secret!” He muttered to himself as he guffawed.
“I don’t think the Henderson family knows this secret. If word gets out, will they give up on Lydia, or play dumb?”
The man took out his phone and made a call to report to his boss.
“Miss Lawson, you’re a real prophet. As you expected, Lydia’s freaked out after she learned the truth!”
“OK,” Kate said flatly on the phone. “Now take the next step!”
The man sneered as he hung up the phone.
“He’s nothing but a loser living off his wife. How dare he call himself ‘King of Emerdale’! He’s overestimated…”
Soon, the man disappeared into the darkness.
Leo held Lydia tight, trying to calm her down with his warm body. However, not only didn’t she calm down, but she became more and more agitated.
“Leo, tell me they’re all lying. Isn’t he your father? How come he suddenly becomes my biological father? Who can tell me what the hell is going on?” Lydia cried, the sudden change choking her words.
Leo said nothing, but held her tighter and patted gently on her back. He would be by her side, no matter what happened, or what she became.
“I had lived in Valenham for 20 years. Twenty years! How many 20 years does one have? How can they suddenly tell me everything in Valenham is fake? What’s the point of living for me? I don’t believe it. If that was true, then my mother and father would have known it, right?” Screaming, Lydia poured out her heart.
Leo remained silent for a while before saying, “We won’t know everything until dad comes round.”
Leo’s words pacified Lydia a little. The awful truth made Lydia unable to think straight, and she was enlightened by what Leo said. Now that the director told her that she was William’s biological daughter, the rest of the facts wouldn’t be known until he woke up.
“OK, I’ll go!” Lydia wiped the tears off her face. Her eyes remained red, but one could tell from the look in her eyes that she had come to her senses.
Lydia went back to the ward in the company of Leo.
Caroline, Rebecca, Medical saint, Nadine and Luna were all in the ward. They came up to Leo and Lydia the moment they came back.
Leo waved his hand. “There’s no need to say anything. Since Lydia is father’s daughter, then she must be the one he misses the most! Leave her alone for now.” Leo left the ward as he finished speaking, while Nadine and Luna followed him.
Caroline hesitated for a moment before she stood up and dragged Rebecca away from the ward.
Soon, only Lydia and the unconscious William were left in the ward.
Leo and Nadine were waiting out of the door, and they would rush in if anything happened.
Lydia sat by the bed and stared blankly at William, saying nothing. She looked closely into her biological father’s face. It seemed so strange, yet so familiar at the same time. Compared to her indifferent and overbearing father, William was much gentler.
Suddenly, Lydia thought of the past and her body trembled slightly.
Women were sensitive to details. In the past, she had ignored many of them, but now it all clicked into place.
Now, Lydia was holding that simple and valueless jade pendant in her hands. Her father, Karl, had told her before that her father had left the jade pendant for her.
At that time, Lydia naturally believed that the father Karl was referring to was himself, and she had no doubts. Now thinking of it, Lydia felt she was so stupid. How would someone like Karl give her such a cheap and ordinary jade pendant?
So it must be from William!
Besides, William had treated her like his own daughter instead of his daughter-in-law. He even chose her instead of Rebecca without hesitation…
Lydia’s eyes grew misty. She grasped William’s rough hands, tears streaming down her face.
“Dad, are you really my biological father? If yes, wake up and tell me personally, will you? I don’t believe anything other people tell me. Wake up and tell me the truth! Why did you ditch me? Why did I grow up in the Henderson family? Who’s my mother? Where is she now? Tell me!!”
Lydia bent over the bed and burst into tears, pouring out all her feelings.
Lydia’s voice might have worked, because William’s body actually twitched. The next moment, tears should roll out of his closed eyes.