Candace nodded. She had been good all the time.
Linford stared at the woman on the screen with a cold look on his handsome face. Candace missed her so much, but she still refused to come back.
He knew that man was using tricks to keep her, but she still bought it. Was she stupid or secretly enjoying it?
“It’s getting late, Candace. You still have classes tomorrow. Just hang it up,” Linford grabbed the phone and ended the call.
Candace looked a bit disappointed, but she still went to bed and lay down.
****
The piano lesson finished earlier than usual. Candace grabbed Peter’s hand. She didn’t want him to go.
She wanted to delay it a bit so she didn’t need to go to the dance class so soon.
Peter noticed the difference. He asked gently, “Candace, do you have anything to tell me?”
Candace pointed at the piano, telling him that she only wanted to practice. Peter smiled and took her to the bench again.
However, Cindy suddenly showed up.
She smiled as she saw Peter, “Candace, honey, you still haven’t finished your piano lesson yet?”
Candace flinched. Peter noticed how scared the girl was.
He went forth and smiled at Cindy, “The piano lesson would be over soon. Could you wait for a second, Cindy?”
“Of course,” Cindy pushed the glasses on her nose, “Don’t mind me. Please continue.” She turned around and sat on the couch. But soon, she suddenly asked, “Have you been studying in France before, Peter?”
Peter shook his head, “I’ve been studying in the States. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m just curious,” Cindy smiled.
The practice ended soon. Peter stood up from the bench, “Candace, the class is over. Let’s practice more tomorrow, okay?”
Candace didn’t want him to go. And she was so scared.
But she could only nod.
When Peter left the room, Cindy stood up from the couch, “Candace, let’s go to our dance class now.”
Candace, however, took a step back when Cindy tried to hold her hand.
“What’s wrong?” Cindy asked, frowning.
Candace shook her head and ran into the dance room instantly.
Cindy was so confused right now. What happened to Candace? She seemed scared. Cindy got changed and went to the dance room. Candace had started to practice splits already. She was doing so much better compared with the two days before.
She couldn’t even do a split back then.
****
Candace tried to run out of the dance room the minute the class was over. Cindy grabbed her arm. Candace was so scared that her eyes widened like saucers.
“Candace, what happened to you? Can you tell me about it? Are you feeling unwell? Or you’re just not that interested in dancing anymore?” Cindy asked gently.
Candace shook her head and ran off.
Cindy was so weird. She’d been so scared yesterday, but she was so nice today. Candace was both scared and confused. She couldn’t figure it out. She only knew that she didn’t want to see Cindy anymore.
So she went to the bathroom and filled the bathtub with cold water, soaking herself in it.
Linford came back pretty late tonight.
Franco had had dinner already.
“Candace went to bed early today. Maybe you should check on her.”
****
Linford could tell Candace had been acting weird since yesterday. He went upstairs and pushed open the door. Candace was lying on her bed. She didn’t even use a blanket.
Linford sighed and went forward to tuck her in. But the unusual heat radiating from the girl’s body caught his attention. Linford put his palm on Candace’s forehead. Candace was burning.
“Sweetie? Sweetie!” Linford rocked the girl gently.
Candace tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t. Linford carried Candace in his arms and walked out of the room instantly.
Franco’s mouth fell open as he saw that, “What happened?”
“Candace has a fever. I think we need to go to the hospital.”
“No, stay here. I’ll call my doctor.”
“It will take at least an hour before your doctor comes here. So it’s pretty fast if I send her to the nearby hospital right now.”
With that, Linford took the girl into his car.
****
Linford blamed himself for neglecting Candace’s condition. How could he come back so late today?
“The doctor has put her on a drip. She’ll be fine. Here, you haven’t had dinner, right?” Drew handed Linford a sandwich.
“I don’t want to eat now,” Linford didn’t have much appetite.
Drew shrugged and sat down beside Linford, “You look weird recently, bro. What happened to you?”
Linford didn’t say anything. He felt like a mess right now, but he also felt like a loser if he told Drew that he was still pissed off by Cristelle.
Candace was half awake in the middle of the night. She wriggled in her bed, murmuring to herself. Linford went forward and listened closely.
“Mommy… Mom-”
Linford sighed as he pressed his hand on Candace’s cheek gently, “Mommy will be back soon, honey.”
He pulled out his phone, staring at Cristelle’s number, battling himself.
After a while, he slid the phone back into his pocket.
****
Candace woke up quite early the next morning. She sat up from the bed, rubbing her eyes. She looked around and found herself in the hospital. Spotting her Dad’s phone on the sofa, the girl jumped off the bed and switched it on, sending Cristelle a video call.
Cristelle was still sleeping at the moment. She grabbed the phone and realized that it was Linford who was calling her right now.
Why did he even bother to call her? Was it an emergency?
She accepted the call and saw Candace’s little face.
“Candace? Why are you having Dad’s phone?” Cristelle frowned.
Candace couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. Finally, she opened her mouth, calling “Mommy” soundlessly as tears streamed down her face.
“Stop crying… Honey… Did someone bully you?” Cristelle’s heart was broken. Candace shook her head. She just missed her Mom. Cristelle noticed that Candace was in a hospital.
She hurried to ask, “Honey, are you sick? Why are you in the hospital?”
Candace nodded. She felt awful, and she missed her Mom so much. Cristelle was so sad that she couldn’t even breathe.
“Come on, honey. Stop crying. I’m going back today.”