Silence hung heavily in the ward as William uncovered the secret of the Henderson family.
Caroline and Lydia were stupefied and unable to say a word, while Leo listened with a serious face. Even if he had roughly guessed what had happened in the past, he was still affected by the whole story.
As for Rebecca, her features softened as William finished the story.
Everyone had some happy memories. Despite what she was now, Rebecca had used to be a girl in love 20 years ago.
Just as the old saying goes, time heals, but time also kills.
William cast an apologetic look at Rebecca. “I have to apologize to Rebecca. Truly, I married you, and I’ve loved you, but deep down inside, I’ve never forgotten Vanessa. Of course, I’ve also been thinking about Lydia all the time.”
Rebecca said nothing but clenched her teeth.
Then William turned to Caroline. “It’s not that I don’t love you. It’s just that I miss my eldest daughter more. I owe her too much, but I don’t have the chance to make up for it.”
Finally, Caroline stopped crying, but after hearing what William said, she started weeping again.
“Dad, don’t say that. I understand you!” Caroline said in a choked voice, “Now that you’ve woken up, it’s all worthwhile us looking after you for the past few days.”
Leo also chimed in, “Exactly. When you were in a coma, Lydia was so worried about you. She donated two big bags of blood to save you. I’m sure she did it out of kinship in addition to her kindness.”
At this moment, William’s gaze fell upon Lydia, who had been quiet. She was better than before, but still pale from anemia.
William couldn’t help but reach out, trying to stroke her cheek, but he stopped halfway before drawing back his arm.
He was aware that he was an unfit father, and that he was unqualified to touch his daughter.
However, the next moment, Lydia grabbed William’s hand and leaned over.
“Dad!” She took William in her arms and called sincerely. She poured down all her emotions and squeezed them within this word.
William froze before his eyes turned red. Now Lydia called him dad not because she married Leo, but because he really was her father.
“I don’t hate you. On the contrary, I know you did that to protect me. To me, Valenham is my sad place, while Emerdale is my real home!” Tears gushed out of Lydia’s eyes. “You make me feel fatherly love. You are my real father! And Caroline, from now on, you’re my little sister!”
“And you!” Suddenly, Lydia’s eyes turned to Leo, who hadn’t said anything.
Leo burst into laughter and took Lydia in his arms, while Lydia showed her emotions in front of everyone and rested her head against Leo’s shoulder.
After all they had been through, the family finally got together.
Rebecca, nonetheless, watched this scene blankly, feeling left out. A pang of regret welled up inside her, but soon, it was replaced by resentment.
What was done couldn’t be undone, and she couldn’t turn back.
“I have a confession, Lydia.” Suddenly, Caroline seemed to remember something and looked earnestly at Lydia. “Actually…”
Sensing danger, Rebecca rushed forward and yanked Caroline’s long hair.
“Ah!” Caroline moaned, slumping down to the floor. The next moment, she came to her senses, only to see Rebecca staring coldly at her, which made her eyes misty all of a sudden.
“What are you doing, mom?”
“Come with me!” Rebecca dragged Caroline out of the ward in a huff.
Lydia was confused, while Leo’s eyes glinted knowingly.
At this moment, Leo’s phone rang. Nadine’s calm voice came from his Bluetooth earphone. “My lord, I’ve got some findings. Something’s wrong with Rebecca.”
Alertness flashed across his eyes as Leo heard that, and he walked out of the ward silently.
“Go ahead!” Leo said in a low voice, and rarely, there was a look of anger on his face.
It turned out it was an inside job!
“I checked Rebecca’s call records and cash flow. Recently, she has called a few unidentified numbers, and each call lasts less than one minute. Meanwhile, she suddenly transferred one million to another account, on the day your father was shot. The following is the call recording captured by my men. It isn’t fully restored, but you can get a general idea of the content.”
Before long, an audio clip was sent to Leo’s phone. He played it, and there came the on-and-off conversation between Rebecca and a man with a synthetic voice.
“Transfer one million…”
“I’ll solve the problem for you.”
“Do it at the party.”
“Your target isn’t William, but Lydia!”
Leo’s eyes glinted dangerously as he heard the restored call recording.
“Rebecca!” Leo growled through clenched teeth.
“Do you want to do it now, my lord?” Nadine asked in a low voice.
Leo pondered for a moment before shaking his head. “Now that we’ve figured out who the perpetrator is, we don’t have to rush. Rebecca doesn’t have the guts to do it alone, so the Ford family must be backing her up! Prepare to play a long game. Our target isn’t only Rebecca, but the mysterious man behind her!”
“Yes!”
Leo hung up the phone and went back to the ward.
At this moment, Rebecca and Caroline had already come back as well. Rebecca was playing with her phone as if nothing had happened.
Looking distraught, Caroline rose to her feet and left the ward soon.
It was true that William had woken up, but he had to stay in hospital for another few days for observation.
Meanwhile, Medical saint was also about to leave, but Leo stopped him.
“Hold on, Leon.”
Medical saint was surprised to hear Leo calling him his first name.
“What do you want, my lord?” he asked respectfully.
Uncommonly, there was an apologetic look on Leo’s face. “In fact, besides my father, I hope you’ll check on another patient. She’s in Hopkins, and her name is Alina Palmer. She suffers from coronary heart disease and has a weak heart. Maybe you can do something about it.”
Medical saint paused for a moment, but then he beamed a smile. “I thought it was something serious. Of course I’ll go. As a doctor, treating patients is my duty!”
“I appreciate it.” Leo patted Medical saint on the shoulder and turned to William. “Dad, we’re going back now.”
After that, Leo left the Hospital with Lydia.
To Lydia, it was a special day today. She had learned the truth about her origin. She wasn’t the princess of the royal family in Valenham, but an ordinary girl from an ordinary family.
However, Lydia wasn’t disappointed at all. Instead, she felt so relieved.
Finally, she wasn’t bound up in fetters of unnecessary formalities of an old and well-known family anymore. She could be a carefree ordinary woman right now.
Lydia was quite satisfied with her current life. This was the family she really wanted.
“Kiss me, Leo!”
Lydia threw herself in Leo’s arms and turned off the light in passing. Suddenly, the room was filled with darkness.
The street was bustling.
Rebecca’s threat kept ringing through Caroline’s mind.
However, what really bothered her wasn’t Rebecca’s threat, but the fact that she herself was also an accomplice. What should she do now?
Just at this point, a car stopped at Caroline’s side abruptly. Two men rushed out and tried to drag her into the car.
“Who are you? What do you want? Help! Hel…” Before Caroline could call for help, a towel was thrust into her mouth.
Soon, she lost consciousness and was pulled into the car, which receded into the night a while later.