Chapter 245 Lesson Learnt
Mrs. Clinton was still obviously skeptical and furious, so Amelia tried to calm her mother down. “Mom, I don’t think Oscar’s the one who hurt Tiff. He’s always been a fair guy, and Tiff’s his sister. Even if he’s angry about her actions, I don’t think he would stab her in the back. If he really wanted to teach her a lesson, he would have done so a long time ago.”
Mrs. Clinton took a deep breath and shot Amelia a complex look, though she knew she was indeed getting a bit too agitated. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Amelia. I’m not blaming Oscar, but I’m worried about Tiff. I was just trying to vent my anger on someone,” the woman said softly.
Amelia went silent. She was slightly offended by Mrs. Clinton’s uncorroborated accusation, not to mention how the woman was taking Stephanie’s side without bothering to look into the truth. Anyone would be offended by that.
Olivia seemed like she cared about Oscar and Amelia, but that was only because Stephanie wasn’t in the picture. Olivia would scold Stephanie whenever she tried to pull a prank, but she’d take her side when it came to the important things; she obviously loved Stephanie more.
Amelia still respected Olivia after the Stephanie incident, but not as much as she used to. Ever since that incident, a wedge had been lodged between them, and it was one that was hard to get rid of.
Olivia didn’t know what to say either, so the conversation came to an abrupt halt. She took a look at Stephanie and soon realized that she must have hurt her son deeply. However, even with that in mind, she couldn’t bring herself to apologize. No mother would apologize to her children.
In the end, she kept her silence and allowed the atmosphere to grow more and more awkward. Luckily, Stephanie regained consciousness half an hour later, breaking the ice. However, she was confused to see herself in the hospital.
Olivia darted toward her darling and asked, “Are you feeling better, Tiff? Does it still hurt?”
Stephanie blinked in confusion. “What happened, mom? Why am I in a hospital?”
Olivia pushed the strand of hair on Stephanie’s forehead away lovingly. “You were feverish because your wound was infected. If we were even a moment late in getting you treated, you’d have contracted pneumonia.”
Stephanie instinctively looked at Oscar after hearing that. She panicked for a moment, her finger griping the sheets tightly. Everyone saw that, including her parents. They wanted to know what was going on, so they looked at their son too.
The woman blurted nervously, “It’s not Oscar’s fault. Don’t blame him for this.” Perhaps she was putting up an act, but that was unbeknownst to us.
That didn’t help Oscar’s case at all. Olivia’s face fell, and she shot her son a quizzical look. Stephanie grew even more nervous after that, so she explained, “T-That’s not what I meant. What I’m trying to say is he didn’t do this.”
Olivia sat down, held her hand, and calmed her down gently, “Don’t worry, Tiff. Your father and I are here, so you’re safe. Now, tell us who did this to you.”
Stephanie looked at Oscar again before saying, “I don’t know, Mom. I can’t tell. Someone kidnapped me when I went to see Oscar yesterday. They packed me into a big sack and took me somewhere. When I finally got out of the sack, they blindfolded me, so I don’t know who the kidnappers are. They gave me a whooping before sending me back to town, where I called Oscar to pick me up. He was the one who took me to the hospital. I thought you guys might worry, so I told him to send me home. I was already feeling sick during the dinner with the Walkers, but I held it down in fear that you would notice something. I didn’t expect it to get worse at night. Sorry for making you worry, Mom.”
Stephanie was trying to garner everyone’s sympathy, and her understanding attitude worked just like she wanted since Olivia sympathized with her more.
“You should have told me about it from the start. What if something happened to you? I’d be crushed,” Olivia chided.
Owen didn’t believe his daughter’s words at all, but since his wife was too worried about her to care, he didn’t say much. “Olivia, take care of Tiff. I’ll need to talk to Oscar outside.”
Mrs. Clinton had a good guess what her husband was trying to say, but she nodded anyway. After the men were gone, only Amelia, Olivia, and Stephanie were left. Because of Stephanie’s lies and deceit, Amelia didn’t want to stay around either, so she excused herself. “Olivia, you guys didn’t have breakfast, so you must be starving. I’ll grab some food for you two.”
Olivia finally realized Amelia was still around. “Amelia, you’re still recovering, so just hang around. I’ll get the servant to send us some food.”
“It’s fine, Olivia. It won’t take long. It’ll be lunchtime if we wait for the servant, so I’ll take the elevator. Be back in a second,” Amelia said.
Since the woman disliked Stephanie, Olivia knew she was just finding an excuse to leave. Not insisting further, Olivia said with concern in her tone, “Alright, be careful. Call me if you can’t handle it alone. I can help you out, alright?”
Amelia nodded.
After she left, Olivia turned back to Stephanie. “Tiff, tell me the truth. Is your brother behind this?”
At that, Stephanie pulled her blanket up, refusing to answer the question.
“Say something, Tiff. The doctor said you sustained multiple wounds, and they might get infected easily. If we hadn’t found you in time, you would have developed pneumonia. You could have been killed! You don’t have to hide anything from us. Your father and I will help you out.”
Stephanie looked at her mother. You think I don’t want to talk? So what if I spilled the beans? Would you and dad punish Oscar for me? No, so why would I sell him out? That’ll only cross him.
“Mom, I told you I was kidnapped by strangers. I must have crossed someone for them to do this to me.” Stephanie said that on purpose, wanting to direct her mother’s anger toward Amelia. That woman was the only one she had bad blood with, for Stephanie had once hired someone to crash into her before. In other words, Amelia would be the prime suspect if Stephanie was hurt.
Everyone would list the individuals who had bad blood with the victim as prime suspects, including the police officers. As expected, a frown creased Olivia’s forehead as she pondered upon the case.
Stephanie fanned the flames even more by saying, “I’m not pointing fingers at anyone, but Amelia’s the only person I’ve crossed. She might be the one behind—”
Before she could finish, Olivia interrupted, “Nonsense. Amelia’s not that kind of person. Yes, she dislikes you, but she wouldn’t stoop so low. Please don’t think of her that way. You’re just going to cross Oscar again. These are trying times for our family, so just focus on your recovery. Don’t pull anything funny.”
Stephanie instantly grew irked. “Mom, you’re still defending her when she might be the one behind this?” she questioned angrily.
Olivia tucked her in and stated firmly, “Calm down, Tiff. I’ve already scolded your brother because of this. Almost yelled at him too, and I did it for you. Amelia knew I was being unfair, so let’s stop while you’re ahead. You don’t want us to fight among ourselves, do you? Besides, there’s a silver lining in this, since you’ve also learned a lesson. Yes, I know nobody wanted this, but I’m not trying to defend Amelia either. I just know she’s not the kind of person who’d stoop so low for something so petty. Just rest up and don’t do anything funny.”
Stephanie’s wounds were already torturing her, and her mother wasn’t helping the situation at all. Since Olivia wouldn’t help her out, the wounds felt twice as painful. However, she knew shouldn’t talk back to her mother, no matter how much she wished to. If she wanted to live a happy life, she had to rely on Olivia, who was an elder, not to mention that she’s also Oscar’s mother. As long as Olivia was defending her, Oscar wouldn’t do anything to her.
Making an ally out of Olivia was a good move from Stephanie. She would do anything to get all of Olivia’s love, even if that meant being the woman’s pet. Stephanie knew she stood now that she was no longer the young lady who could do whatever she wanted. After she had lost Oscar’s support, her life had become significantly harder.
