“If you were smarter and yielded a long time ago, your babies wouldn’t need to suffer,” Lana nodded toward her assistant. The assistant gave Cristelle a ticket, “The flight will be leaving this country tonight. Don’t be late, Cristelle.”
With that, Lana just stood up from her seat and left the room.
“Cristelle! You really don’t have to do this! Give that ticket back to her! Don’t let her get what she wants!” Claire was angry, looking at her sister in this kind of situation that she couldn’t help too.
She went forward, trying to take the plane ticket away.
But Cristelle held tightly on the ticket, “Claire, listen, I’ve really had enough of all these problems. We can’t survive that long.”
“What are you talking about? Are you really gonna leave Candace and Cody behind?” Claire asked, her voice trembling.
“If Pop didn’t allow her to come, she wouldn’t get in the house easily. The Bradley family is using her to kick me out,” Cristelle mentioned calmly. She didn’t expect Franco to yield so soon.
Claire sighed and pulled her into a hug. “But Linford hasn’t even given up yet. You shouldn’t get deflated immediately. Don’t you trust him?”
Before Cristelle could say anything, Jack suddenly walked in. The old man nodded politely at Cristelle as he entered, “Cristelle, can we talk?”
Claire loosened her hug on Cristelle. Cristelle nodded at her. Claire thus walked out of the room quietly.
“I know how much Linford loves you. But…” The old man began.
“Please don’t say that anymore. It really doesn’t matter,” Cristelle cut him off, her voice gentle and placid, “Just tell me why you’re here, Jack. I know you’re also exhausted from things that happened recently.
Jack sighed after hearing what Cristelle had said. The old man pulled out a black card from his pocket, “This is from sir Franco, Miss Friesley. From now on, this is yours, and you can use it to buy anything you want. And the Bradley family will also be in charge of your safety. We will send you our best bodyguards around, so you will be safe. As for Cody and Candace, they are both Bradley’s, and we will take good care of them. Sir Franco said he would keep the babies safe every day himself. You don’t need to worry about them.”
It was pretty clear that they’d planned everything out. Cristelle must leave.
She felt complicated. She felt like she couldn’t even breathe, and the suffocating atmosphere seemed to take her breath gradually. Her tears almost fell as she thought about Linford’s handsome face. She had tried her best to stay away from that man and was trying to alter his image in her head.
But when sad reality hit her, leaving Linford and her children was like a sharp knife piercing through her heart, slowly taking her last fiber of strength. She only found herself sad and devastated. She had to admit that she didn’t want to leave that man, as her feelings for him grew deeper every single day.
She even suddenly missed him and wanted to see him before leaving.
“Cristelle, I believe Lana has told you about the flight. Don’t get late.” Jack’s voice pulled Cristelle out of her deep reverie.
Cristelle cleared her throat, suppressing the urge to cry, “I understand.”
After that, Jack just walked out of the room.
Cristelle sat back on the chair, feeling all her strength had left her body.
Claire tried to stay calm, but she quickly shot up from the chair when she saw Jack come out, “How is Cristelle now?”
Jack cast her a look, “Tonight, 7 o’clock, and you can leave with your sister together.”
So, the departure was fixed. Both she and Cristelle didn’t have other choices.
Jack didn’t stay for too long after informing them about the flight. Claire stormed to Cristelle’s room immediately.
She wanted to ask Cristelle about something. Maybe just trying to comfort her a little. But when she entered the room, calling Cristelle’s name, her sister looked up with those tearful eyes.
It broke Claire’s heart.
Claire was lost for words. She slowly walked to her and sat next to Cristelle, pulling her into a hug. Cristelle started to cry, howling like a child that was robbed of her precious things. Claire had never seen Cristelle cry like this growing up.
****
Darwin came to the house at 6 pm, “Are you
guys ready? We really need to go.”
“I thought the flight was at 7 pm. Why did you come so early?” Claire frowned.
Darwin rolled his eyes, “The flight is not safe. Pop decided to use the jet.” Claire opened her mouth, but she couldn’t find a word. She turned to look at Cristelle. Cristelle just sat there silently.
She nodded, looking extremely tired.
Cristelle only brought the babies’ pictures with her. She didn’t take the card Franco gave her. She didn’t want to have anything to do with the Bradley family anymore.
The private jet landed on the roof. Darwin sent a couple of guards to escort Cristelle and her sister to the jet.
“Candace and Cody will be fine as long as you’re gone,” Darwin said coldly. Before Cristelle could get in the jet, however, a huge military helicopter suddenly flew over, landing on the roof as well.
The door was opened, and Linford jumped down. He was wearing a white suit, and he was as handsome as always.
He walked toward Cristelle, “Haven’t I told you before that you’re not allowed to leave?” He said firmly.
Cristelle looked at his face, and her tears just rolled down her cheeks. Linford walked forth and pulled the woman into his arms. He looked over his shoulder and glared at Darwin challengingly.
Darwin was furious, “Did you just misuse a military helicopter for this woman? Are you gonna ruin our family for this witch?
Darwin pulled out his gun and aimed at Cristelle.
Linford shouted as his father pulled the trigger. But he reacted faster than Claire’s scream.
He covered Cristelle with his body and caught the bullet with his body.
Cristelle’s eyes widened in shock as blood gushed out from Linford’s body.
“Linford! No!!”
Cristelle was shocked out of her wit. She crouched down and held Linford in her arms, crying as she screamed at Darwin, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?”
Claire went forth and quickly checked Linford, “He’s okay. It didn’t get in his heart. We need to send him to the hospital right now!”