When Darwin, Clara, and Tanya arrived at the hospital, Candace and her parents were enjoying their breakfast.
“Candace!” Darwin exclaimed the moment he saw Candace’s leg, feeling both angry and heartbroken, “What happened to you?”
Linford and Cristelle were startled by their sudden appearance.
Candace shuddered. Grandpa looked scared right now.
Tanya tried to calm her husband down, “Darwin, just calm down. You’re scaring the baby.” Saying that, she put all the gifts she brought on a table, “We just got the news this morning. Darwin insisted on coming and visiting Candace. Is Candace getting any better?”
Linford frowned slightly, “How did you guys know about this?”
He had told Franco to keep it a secret from these people.
Clara cast a dark look at Cristelle before murmuring, “Well… We read it on the news.”
News?
Linford arched an eyebrow, “What news?”
He had sent people to lock the information.
Linford grabbed his phone, and his face suddenly fell.
“How come you two can’t even take care of your own daughter? Look what you’ve done!” Darwin hissed.
“Are you here to judge?” Linford clenched his fist and snapped back harshly.
Clara tried to make the atmosphere less intense, “This is not what father meant. Candace’s still here. You guys will scare the little girl.”
“I think maybe we should continue this conversation outside,” Linford stood up from his chair and walked out.
Darwin followed, his face was gloomy.
And then, the three women and the girl were the only people left in the room. Cristelle didn’t know Clara and Tanya well. She didn’t want to get too familiar with them. But they were still Bradley’s, and that made them Candace’s family. Cristelle knew she still needed to act at least politely.
“Honey, is your leg getting any better? My poor sweet thing.” Tanya sat by the bed, showing Candace the desserts she had brought for her, “Grandma brought these for you. Why don’t you have a taste?”
Candace turned to look at her Mom. She had just had her breakfast, but she still wanted to have some dessert. Besides, this was a gift from Tanya. Cristelle didn’t want to be rude, so she smiled, “You can have some, honey. But don’t eat too much.”
Candace nodded. Tanya broke the cookie into pieces and fed the girl little by little, “Aww… She’s such a sweet girl. Look at her. How cute she is.”
Clara smiled, “She has beautiful parents. Of course, she’s cute.” And then, Clara suddenly turned to Cristelle, “Cristelle, do you mind me asking what is your relationship with Jasper?”
Cristelle said without looking away, “We’re friends.”
Tanya took a sip of water, “Only friends? Now, everyone in the city knows that you two have a history. It’s your freedom to be with anyone you like. We can’t judge you. It’s just… you still need to take care of the babies. If you can’t give Candace and Cody all your attention, to be honest, Darwin and I will get so worried. Candace is lucky to keep her leg this time. I can’t even imagine what it would be like if the doctors failed to save her.”
Cristelle instantly understood Tanya’s meaning. She grabbed her daughter’s hand, “I can take care of my babies.”
“Saying is easier than doing,” Tanya shook her head, “The girl can’t bear being hurt like that anymore.”
Cristelle was so annoyed, but she knew she had been wrong.
She couldn’t shift blame onto another person. It was her fault that things like this happened.
Clara noticed the tension, so she instantly said, “Mom… None of us predicted this to happen. You can’t blame Cristelle for this, you should at least be careful with your words.”
Tanya frowned, “So you’re saying she has no responsibility?”
“Yes, I do have responsibilities for getting Candace hurt. But… I’ll never leave my babies to other people just because of what happened,” Cristelle’s tone was harsh and ungiving.
“You…” Tanya didn’t expect Cristelle to be so tough.
Clara instantly meddled, “Tanya, come on. Stop saying anything. Cristelle, why don’t we go out and have a talk? Just leave Tanya here to take care of Candace. She missed the baby so much.”
Tanya dropped her gaze and took care of Candace, not even wanting to look at Cristelle again.
Cristelle could only sigh, “Fine!”
Clara and Cristelle sat face to face in the guest room. Clara poured them two cups of coffee before starting to talk, “I bet you still don’t know what those journalists wrote on the news, do you?”
Cristelle didn’t even need to read to know how humiliating those comments must be.
“What do you want to say?” Cristelle asked immediately.
Clara smiled sweetly, “Don’t be nervous, okay? Tanya just said that it’s your freedom to choose who you will be with. I just want to tell you that if you don’t like Linford, you can always leave him and go find your own happiness. But if you’re just doing this for the babies, it just doesn’t seem necessary to me. I know Linford’s responsible for the babies, but that doesn’t mean he’s also responsible for you, does it?”
“So you’re saying that I’ve been using the babies to force Linford Bradley to be responsible for me, aren’t you?” Cristelle’s voice was a bit harsh, perceiving Clara’s cunning trick.
Clara blew her cup of coffee calmly, “I believe you would never do that, Cristelle. But not everyone understands your situation as I do. In other people’s eyes, you do look like a freeloader.”
“So, in your opinion, I should leave the babies to you, take your family’s handout, and leave the city right away?” Cristelle clenched her teeth. She couldn’t stop shaking, “Mrs. Bradley, you need to get this very clearly both Linford and I have never expected to have babies. First, our encounter was an accident. I didn’t even know the babies were his in the first place. Second, I’ve raised the babies for five years. During that time, Mr. Bradley has never shown up even once. Your house also didn’t fulfill any kind of fostering responsibility. Third, Candace was tortured and abused under Franco’s nose. If you want to figure out who’s responsible for my daughter’s injury, it’s your grandpa, not me. And the last one, I’ve never forced Linford Bradley to do anything. I just want to be with my babies. That’s the only reason behind and for whatever I did to make you and your family unhappy, it’s up to your opinion.”