Dorothy’s home was actually a house in the urban area under Germaine’s name. It covered an area of about 100 square meters, with three bedrooms and one living room. With simple and practical decorations, it contrasted Germaine’s usual luxurious style.
The most important thing was that it was incredibly close to Credence’s company, which would only take her about ten minutes to reach. That was the reason why Dorothy had chosen to live in this house, even picking it over Germaine’s other luxurious villa.
“Dory, since you like to keep a low profile, I’ve decorated this house in a simple manner. However, I’ve changed all the pillows and quilts to new ones for you. Belle is asleep, so just bring her to the children’s room as soon as possible.”
As Germaine spoke, she fished out the keys and opened the door. Dorothy followed her from behind, holding the fast asleep Belle and walked into the living room. She followed Germaine’s guidance and entered the room that had been filled with things little girls might fancy.
Dorothy placed Belle on the bed to rest and covered her with a thin blanket. After that, she rummaged for a clean and comfortable pair of pajamas from her suitcase and entered the bathroom to wash up.
When she came out, Germaine had already ordered takeout. The two of them sat in the kitchen, chattering as they ate.
“Dory, Belle’s face is looking worse, and her stamina is on the bad side too. Is her condition worsening again?”
Belle had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her skin was ridiculously fair, and her facial features were not like Credence’s at all, nor were they like Dorothy’s. If it weren’t for the fact that she knew Belle was Credence’s child, Germaine would really have assumed that Belle was the product of Dorothy’s affair with another handsome man from Monticello.
Two years ago, after she had heard from Dorothy that Belle had been diagnosed with leukemia, Germaine’s belief in karma had completely crumbled.
How could someone like Dorothy, who had done nothing wrong in her life, bear the pain of losing her beloved daughter? How could Rosalie, that wicked woman, be engaged to Credence and even made use of his power to allow the Fisher family to grow from a second-rate family to a top class family in Talco City? Their family’s wealth had even narrowly surpassed the Sherman family.
At the thought of that, Germaine felt a depressing feeling coursing through her stomach. Angrily, she chomped down a drumstick in her mouth, treating it as Rosalie and tore it apart fiercely, making crunching noises.
As they spoke of Belle, Dorothy showed a dreary smile, “Yeah. Belle’s condition is getting worse by the day. We’ve tried plenty of treatment plans, but the effects always fall short. They can’t cure her condition. In the end, the doctor proposed a last resort: a bone marrow transplant.”
“However, my bone marrow is not compatible with Belle’s at all.”
Speaking of that, Dorothy paused, tears glistening in the corner of her eyes. However, she quickly pushed away the sadness in her heart and said with a forced smile, “There’s still Credence. We haven’t examined him yet. Perhaps he’ll be a compatible donor. That way, Belle will be saved.”
Six years ago, when she had boarded the plane with Juelz, she had stroked the child in her belly and vowed to never return to Talco City. She never wanted to see Credence, the man who she loved but had hurt her, ever again.
When she had given birth to Belle, she had almost died from blood loss on the operating table. Back then, Juelz and Germaine had been the only ones accompanying her.
After a narrow escape, she finally gave birth to her child. Looking at the baby who had a tall nose and blue eyes, Juelz and Germaine almost thought that the nurses had brought a wrong baby over to them and had made a big mistake.
Dorothy had only come to after two days.
Under Juelz’s strong request, he had become the child’s godfather and named her Belle, a classy name that was pleasant to roll off the tongue.
Fortunately, with their company and help, Dorothy, who was a new mother, survived peacefully through her postpartum depression, and raised Belle into a lovely little girl.
As Belle grew up, Dorothy made up her mind not to get married, ever. She would be a single mother and live a peaceful life in a small town in Monticello with her daughter.
Unfortunately, fate dictated otherwise.
After her fourth birthday, Belle would often black out for no apparent reason and got sent to the hospital to do a checkup. In her bouts of anxiety, Dorothy had waited for an immense amount of time, and was finally presented with a report from the doctor that said that Belle had leukemia.
At first, Juelz and Germaine had sent all of their friends to the hospital for an examination, but none of them were compatible donors.
Dorothy herself was not a match.
At the end of their rope, and under the doctor’s careful proposition to Dorothy, she had no choice but to come back to Talco City in hopes that Credence could be of help.
If Credence’s bone marrow was not compatible with Belle’s, Dorothy would have to sleep with him again and get pregnant successfully. They would put to good use the umbilical cord from the new baby and utilize it to heal Belle.
Hearing that, Germaine grabbed Dorothy’s hand and held it, comforting her, “It’s alright, don’t worry. Belle will be fine.”
After hesitating for a few seconds, she suddenly thought of Credence who had brought Rosalie to a business party a few days ago and displayed their affection in public from time to time. She could not hold back the anger in her heart as she scolded, “Dory, I really think that Credence isn’t right in the head or something. He knew that Rosalie was the culprit behind your imprisonment and that Rosalie’s heart is sinister, but he actually agreed to be engaged to Rosalie last month.”
“Moreover, the engagement ceremony was more lively and magnificent than your wedding day. I heard that Rosalie’s wedding dress cost over ten million dollars! Ten million dollars! D*mn it, it really pissed me off!”
Previously, she had taken Dorothy’s feelings into account, which was why she had not breathed a word about Credence and Rosalie’s engagement. However, she really was unable to hold it in anymore.
Inadvertently, she caught sight of Dorothy’s face draining of color. She could not help but flutter her eyelids guiltily, “Dory, he’s just a man that you have dumped. Don’t be sad, okay?”
Dorothy, stumped for a moment, could not help but clench the spoon in her hands. She lowered her long eyelashes to conceal the pain on her face, “It doesn’t matter, I’ve already divorced him already anyways. No matter who Credence wants to marry, it is his personal freedom.”
It turned out that the intimate scene of Credence and Rosalie holding hands in the airport was real.
After she left, he had still chosen to be with the woman he had always doted on.
After learning about Credence and Rosalie’s engagement, she had completely lost her appetite and found the food to be bland.
After returning to the children’s room, she gazed at Belle as she slept, and lone courage quickly flitted across her eyes.
In order to have Belle’s body recover as soon as possible, she had to abandon all those negative thoughts and fight the upcoming siege with all her heart.
After pretending to be strong in front of Germaine, Dorothy was exhausted, both physically and mentally. She laid on the bed and fell asleep as she hugged Belle.
Just as she fell into a state of light sleep, she received Juelz’s phone call.
He said, “Dear Dory, Gordan has asked me to strike a deal with Credence. Don’t you want to get close to him to get his bone marrow and to see if it matches Belle’s?”
“Now, your chance has come, served on a plate. You should hurry and come to my office tomorrow and become my personal secretary. You are not allowed to refuse, nor are you allowed to be late tomorrow!”
“Well, actually, it doesn’t matter if you’re late. You’ll only have to be my girlfriend for two months as a punishment.”
At the other end of the phone, Juelz was smiling so brightly that his eyes had crinkled into crescents.
Teasing Dorothy was a breather he could take in the midst of his mounting workload.
“Great, I’ll go to your company tomorrow. See you then!”
Dorothy smiled upon hearing the heartfelt words from Juelz’s mouth.
Six years was neither a long nor short amount of time.
Not only had those years changed her into a capable single mother, it had even transformed Juelz completely. He went from a useless rich playboy to a successful cunning businessman. Every day, he competed with all kinds of businessmen on various occasions for the benefit of his company, using his social skills and intelligence in battles.
Hanging up on the call, Dorothy gently put it back on the bedside table and closed her eyes. She no longer thought about Credence and Rosalie but instead about what she would wear the next day to Juelz’s company.
“Credence, we’ll be meeting soon!” she thought.