Deluged with the ups and downs of her past memories, Dorothy did not sleep well for the entire night, assaulted by a headache.
She had a bad dream. In the dream, not only did that man in her heart give Rosalie a grand wedding that shocked the whole world, she had even given birth to a pair of fraternal twins, who were both gorgeous.
They were his spitting image, and anyone who so much as looked at them could tell that they were Credence’s children. They were nothing like Belle, who had golden hair and blue eyes, looking not an inch similar to Credence. No one would believe that Belle was Credence’s biological daughter.
At first, when Belle had been born, even Dorothy was unable to admit that she had borne a child who resembled nothing like the two of them.
It was only until she had taken great care of Belle in her difficult times that she could feel Belle’s cuteness and loveliness. She slowly fell in love with the child that belonged to her and only her.
What was even more ridiculous was that in the dream, Credence had not only rejected to undergo the bone marrow examination, he had even sneered at her, mocking her and claiming that she had found Belle on the streets and was using her to blackmail him? He said that she had overestimated her own abilities!
No matter how Belle had cried and shouted for her father, he had kicked her away ruthlessly. She had fallen to the ground and continued to cry profusely, sobbing and gasping, until Dorothy’s heart had almost shattered to smithereens.
That was his daughter, so how could he do that to her?
Dorothy shivered and woke up from the nightmare, cold sweat soaking her body. She held her sleeping daughter in her arms tightly. Her heart was in so much pain that she almost burst into tears.
Ever since Belle had been diagnosed with leukemia, Dorothy had been both mentally and physically exhausted. She wished she could bear the pain and torture of leukemia on Belle’s behalf.
Every time Belle was sent to the hospital and subjected to the agonizing blood transfusion, Dorothy would also break down and cry all the same. She secretly thought in her heart that the heavens must be punishing her for giving birth to Belle without Credence’s consent!
Dorothy laid on the bed, her eyes wide open for a long time as she was in deep thought. Suddenly, she noticed the bright sky and the rising morning sun shining brightly from the windowsill, filling the room with beauty and warmth.
She glanced at the screen of her phone. It was almost seven in the morning, so it was time for her to get up and prepare to head over to Juelz’s company, for she needed to be there at nine o’clock.
She got out of bed and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. There was not the slightest movement in Germaine’s room. She might still be sleeping as she had dallied with her boyfriends too much till late at night.
At half past seven, Dorothy brought a plate of sandwiches and a few other dishes to the dining table. Yawning, Germaine opened the door and came out. She stared at the scrumptious breakfast, her charming eyes suddenly sparkling as she said, “Girl, I haven’t eaten your food in years. Imagine how famished my stomach is.”
“Now that I’m back, you can request anything that you want to eat. Help yourself to the food.”
Dorothy smiled and urged Germaine to quickly wash up as she still needed Germaine to drop her off at Juelz’s company.
When it was almost eight o’clock, Dorothy walked into Belle’s room and woke her up. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she changed Belle into a pink dress and a pair of small leather shoes of the same color. She then took her to the dining table so that she could have breakfast with Germaine.
After the meal, Dorothy adorned herself with light makeup and changed into a black shirt and pencil skirt. Her hair was tied up into a bun that was fixed at the back of her head, becoming a portrait of a typical office beauty.
Ten minutes till ten o’clock, Dorothy and Belle got dropped off at the doors of Juelz’s company. As soon as they got down from the car, Juelz, completely unheeding of his image as a boss, crouched down and embraced Belle with his arms wide open. He asked, “Belle, have you missed me?”
“Yes, I have! You’re the one I miss the most!”
Belle’s sweet words sent Juelz into sheer happiness, “Oh, that’s my good little Belle. Come on, let’s go. I’ll take you to my office so you can unwrap the gifts.”
“Dory, Belle, I have to go to work first. Ciao!”
Germaine really did not want to see Juelz’s acting so dumb and cutesy. After giving him a simple greeting, she then left Dorothy and Belle to him and hit the road.
…
The three of them walked together into the company. Juelz held Belle in his arms while Dorothy fell in step next to him. From afar, they looked like the perfect picture of a blissful family.
Juelz had been occupied with official business all this while, so he could not find time to fly to Monticello to visit Dorothy and Belle. Sometimes, he wished that he could dismiss his company on impulse to stay abroad and accompany them for the rest of his life.
However, every time he remembered the shame he had faced when he could not refute Credence, he suppressed his manic impulse and tried his best to develop his company little by little. He wanted to strive to be able to provide Dorothy with strong and solid support.
A man only had real power when he amassed money aplenty. That was the only way to protect the woman he loved, the only way to stop her from worrying and suffering, and the only way for her to have someone to rely on.
This time, after Dorothy and Belle returned to the country, Juelz had completely reverted to his usual self. He was so excited that he was even more raucous than an army of ducks.
“Dory, let me tell you a joke. I have a customer whose surname is Stine. Do you know what his full name is?”
“It’s Bear Stine,” he responded to himself in a fit of laughter.
“Oh, I have another customer whose surname is Cox. You know what his full name is?”
“It’s Nutella Cox! Man, he almost made me lose myself when he introduced himself.”
Dorothy was struck speechless.
She had never known Juelz to be such a childish gossiper. It must have been the way she had made an entrance that had set him off like this!
He kept turning around to look at Dorothy’s doting expression while she smiled and nodded with him in agreement. Belle’s sweet and melodious laughter could be heard as well.
The staff who walked past them quickly launched into bouts of gossip. It turned out that their boss was indifferent to all the beautiful women in the company, not because he was cold and impotent, but because he already had a beautiful wife and lovely daughter.
A car slowly drove by the street. When the owner of the car saw Juelz and his companions, she abruptly stepped on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. She took off her sunglasses, frowned, and carefully looked at them for a long time. In the end, she finally took her phone out of her bag and made a call.
“Hey, it’s me. I just saw Juelz of the Sherman family, you know, the one who has turned over a new leaf. Yes, him! He was holding a little girl in his hands and was accompanied by a woman. She looks really familiar from behind, kind of like… Gee! She looks like Dorothy, the same Dorothy who has disappeared for a long time. Yes, I see it now, Dorothy, your sister!”
The woman on the other end of the line fell silent for quite a while before she softly asked, “Are you sure?”
Although the woman was forcing out a gentle tone from her end, the driver of the car could still hear her gritting her teeth. She held back the chill in her heart and nodded hard, “I’m absolutely certain about this!”
“Okay, understood.”
On the balcony of a bungalow surrounded by flowers, a graceful woman disconnected the call. She walked into the empty bedroom, frowning. Opening a box that had settled with dust due to being left for many years, she took out an album, turned to the last page, and held a photo up.
In the photo, Dorothy was young and beautiful. She was standing under a cherry blossom tree and smiling brightly.
She raised her slender fingers and gripped the photo. She tore it into two, then into pieces, chucking it into the bin. After that, she wiped her fingers with a tissue, her face gradually turning dark.