Too Much to Bear, My Love Chapter 171
Elizabeth sneered as she stared coldly at Charlie. “Charlie Yard, I’ve finally seen your true colors. You love Olivia, and you pander to her son’s every whim. But you don’t even care that your own daughter is now facing a life and death situation in the operating room. What a great husband and father you are.”
Charlie looked defeated and sighed, “You’re being irrational, Elizabeth, and I don’t want to argue with you.”
Upon hearing that, Elizabeth’s face contorted even more with rage.
“Is that your guilty conscience, Charlie? You had a sordid affair with Olivia, and now you’re even covering up for her son. What? Are you afraid that if Oscar found out about it, he will look down on you for being a good-for-nothing hypocrite?”
Her words dripped with so much sarcasm that Charlie couldn’t stand it any longer. “That’s enough from you!” he bellowed.
Despite that, Elizabeth cackled even louder, to a point where she looked almost maniacal.
“Feeling guilty, aren’t you?”
Charlie was silent. At this point, he knew it’d be impossible to talk sense into someone who was being unreasonable.
Elizabeth continued, “You are a heartless hypocrite, and that makes Olivia a shameless b*tch!”
As soon the words left her mouth, Elizabeth felt a tight slap to her face. She instinctively brought her hand up to where she had just been slapped and looked helplessly at Oscar.
Even Charlie was taken aback. He never expected Oscar to be that heavy-handed.
“Oscar, you… “ Charlie wanted to speak but eventually held his tongue.
Oscar’s expression was dark as he glowered at Elizabeth. “Mrs. Yard, I never expected Cassie to be suicidal. I will make it up to her, but please do not drag my mother into this. She is a respectable woman, and I will not let you tarnish her reputation.”
Elizabeth could still feel the burn on her cheek right then. She was humiliated, but that slap did also knock some sense back into her.
With that, she straightened herself up and raked through her hair. It didn’t take long before she regained her poise and composure. If it hadn’t been the handprint on her face, one wouldn’t have known that she had thrown a fit only a while ago.
“Oscar, I will never forget that slap from you. I won’t hold you fully responsible for Cassie’s suicide, but it is still a fact that Cassie tried to kill herself over you. You better pray that she pulls through this, or I won’t let you off. Nobody bullies my daughter!”
Nonetheless, Oscar remained sullen throughout.
Elizabeth distanced herself further from Charlie as she looked silently in the direction of the operating room.
Because of Cassie, the relationship between her and her husband had become even more strained. Gone were the days when they still loved and supported each other.
The three of them paced outside for almost three hours before the light above the operating room door finally flickered off. A team of doctors made their way out, all of them exhausted after such a long procedure.
Elizabeth couldn’t hide her anxiety as she rushed up to them. “Dr. Kane, how is my daughter?”
Dr. Kane’s face took on a ghastly expression. On top of work fatigue, he was also exasperated at Cassie. It hadn’t even been ten days since she got hospitalized, yet she had already caused so much trouble for the staff. More importantly, he was upset at the lack of care she had for herself.
“Mrs. Yard, your daughter is out of danger. But if she continues to have so little regard for her own life, I’m afraid there’s nothing much we can do for her.”
Elizabeth’s face fell.
Meanwhile, Charlie quickly stepped in to change the subject. “Dr. Kane, thank you so much for all your help today. I’ll play host another time and buy everyone here a meal.”
That put a faint smile back on Dr. Kane’s face as he politely took his leave.
Cassie was soon rolled out of the operating room by three nurses. Elizabeth was anxious to see her, but one of the nurses pulled her away. “Please calm down, Mrs. Yard. The patient’s condition is very fragile. We need to let her rest for now.”
For the sake of her daughter, Elizabeth held herself back.
After that, Cassie was admitted to the intensive care unit as her condition needed close monitoring. She’d be transferred to a normal ward only if there were no other complications.
Charlie looked at his daughter through the glass with mixed emotions. It pained him to see Cassie in this state, but all he could do was to hope for the best. After a while, he turned to his wife. “Elizabeth, why don’t you head home and rest? I’ll stay here with Cassie.”
When Elizabeth didn’t answer, Charlie sighed. “Fine, you can stay here and watch Cassie. I need to speak to Oscar.”
Elizabeth still didn’t answer.
“Come on, Oscar. I want to talk to you.” Charlie gestured for Oscar to follow him.
There was a brief hesitation on Oscar’s part, but he eventually nodded and went along.
The two men found a quieter spot where they could sit and speak freely. But for the first two minutes, no one said a word.
Charlie was the first to break the awkward silence. “Oscar, I’m sure you can guess what I wanted to talk to you about, so I won’t beat around the bush. What are your plans with Cassie? Be honest.”
Oscar tugged at his hair in exasperation. “Honestly, I have no idea,” he said solemnly.
Charlie shot him a dirty look. “Cassie had a miscarriage because of you. She slit her wrists because of you. And now all you can say is that you have no idea? I watched you grow up, Oscar, but I never thought you’d be this callous and irresponsible.”
Oscar mulled over it for a while before replying, “Undoubtedly, Cassie’s actions have stressed me out a lot. You’re a man too, so I’m sure you can understand what it feels like when a woman you love constantly threatens you with her life.”
Charlie grew silent.
Then, Oscar continued, “I’m glad that Cassie is fine now, but- “
“But now you don’t wish to marry her, is that right?” Charlie finished his sentence.
Oscar furrowed his brows when he heard Charlie’s reply.
“I’m really disappointed, Oscar. I had always thought you were a responsible man, so I was happy when you and Cassie started dating. I even had plans to let you manage the Yard Group once you got married.” Charlie sighed deeply. “Unfortunately, Cassie was wilful and ran away to start a new life abroad. I was so mad at her for throwing away a good husband like you. Five years later, you married another woman, but we were still on friendly terms. The biggest mistake you made was getting back with Cassie.”
Oscar’s expression immediately changed.
“I don’t wish to blame you either, Oscar. But Cassie did hurt herself because of you. That’s how determined she is to marry you. As her father, I can’t possibly watch her suffer.”
After hearing that, Oscar felt even more overwhelmed with conflicting emotions.
He smacked his forehead in frustration. There were so many thoughts racing through his head that he couldn’t make any sense of it.
After some time, he finally spoke up, “We’ll talk about this again when Cassie recovers.”
Charlie gave him a firm pat on his back. “It’s not that I want to pressure you. But since you’re back with Cassie, it’s only right that you marry her. Extramarital affairs are taxing, and someone always ends up being hurt the most by it. Cassie has already suffered a lot. I don’t think you’d want to see her suffer anymore, do you?”
Oscar’s expression remained grave, but his eyes were burning with unwavering determination. “This is between Cassie and me, so we will resolve it ourselves.”
“Oscar, I won’t force you. But I still look forward to having you as my son-in-law. I hope you will consider that well.”
Having said his piece, Charlie gave Oscar another pat on his shoulder before walking away.
Oscar remained in his spot, still fighting the wave of emotions and thoughts that plagued him. He eventually gave in and followed Charlie back to Cassie.
When Elizabeth saw them walking back, she scowled. Then again, how could her mood improve when her daughter was in the ICU? Seeing how tired and angry she was, Charlie decided to take matters into his own hands. “Oscar, we’ll leave Cassie to you. Elizabeth and I need to take off to do something.
Oscar merely stared at Cassie and nodded.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, looked ready to throw hands. “Cassie will be fine with me here. I don’t want to leave and risk losing my daughter again.”
Charlie let out a deep sigh. His wife’s stubbornness was getting on his edge. “Will you just listen to me for once? For our daughter’s sake?”
Elizabeth thought long and hard about it but eventually still left together with Charlie.
As soon as they stepped out of the hospital, Charlie immediately called up Olivia.
“Hey Olivia, it’s Charlie. It has been a long time, so I was thinking of asking you and Owen out for tea. It’d be good for us old friends to do some catching up too.”
Olivia must have agreed to it because Charlie soon added, “Great! Let’s meet at our usual place in about an hour.”
Elizabeth was glaring at him the entire time. “Why did you call her?” she demanded.
“My dear, we’ve been married for more than thirty years now. I don’t want to argue with you. If you really have Cassie’s best interests at heart, then all the more you should stop throwing these tantrums,” Charlie replied very patiently. “Since Cassie wants to marry into the Clintons, we should also manage the relations with Owen and Olivia. We wouldn’t want Cassie’s relationship with her in-laws to start on the wrong foot, would we?”
Elizabeth wasn’t entirely pleased with this arrangement, but Charlie was right. They should smooth things over with Owen and Olivia to make sure they accept Cassie into their family.
“When you meet them later, please watch your attitude. After all, we’re old friends. Let’s not make things any more awkward.”
However, Elizabeth still refused to say a word.
“If you’re reluctant, I can go on my own,” Charlie suggested.
“No, I’ll go with you. That way I’ll get to see how much of a prude Olivia is.”
This time, Charlie stayed silent.
It took almost an hour of driving before the two of them arrived at their destination.
There was a sense of familiarity as they strode into the restaurant and immediately headed for their usual private room.
Owen and Olivia were already seated inside but quickly got up to greet them when they walked in.
“Charlie! Finally!”
“Sorry, we were held up by traffic. Have you been waiting for long?” Charlie asked apologetically.
Olivia smiled in return. “No, no. We’ve only just got here ourselves. Please, let’s sit and talk.”
The four of them took their seats and placed their usual orders of tea and pastries. After exchanging some more pleasantries, Olivia changed the subject. “Charlie, how’s Cassie now? I’ve been rather busy these few days, so I haven’t found the time to visit her.”
Charlie stiffened visibly, not knowing how to respond.
On the other hand, Elizabeth was understandably still in a very foul mood. Her tone was harsh when she spoke, “All thanks to Oscar, my daughter had a miscarriage and even slit her wrists to try to kill herself. Luckily, the hospital staff got to her on time. If it was any later, we might have lost her for good.”
Olivia’s eyes flashed with surprise and panic. “What? What on earth happened? Is Cassie all right now?”
Elizabeth was about to reply when Charlie grabbed her hand and interrupted, “She’s out of danger now. But she has to be kept in the ICU for observation.”
“Charlie, what exactly happened? Why would Cassie do such…”
Elizabeth was all riled up as she angrily pulled her hand away from Charlie. “Olivia, you should be asking your precious son what he has done. Cassie is in this state because of him. It’s only right that he takes responsibility for it.”
Olivia’s frown deepened as she turned to look at Charlie. “What do you think about all this?”
Charlie subconsciously averted his gaze, but his voice was solemn when he replied, “Olivia, our families are of the same socioeconomic status. So in that respect, Cassie and Oscar are very well matched. And besides, it’s been almost five years. Surely you can go easy on Cassie now? Once she marries Oscar, our Yard Group would fall under his management too. It’s win-win for him.”
The expression on Olivia’s face instantly darkened.
“I don’t agree,” she replied curtly. “I’m very sorry about what happened to Cassie, and I’m willing to compensate you for that. But I will not agree to Oscar marrying her.”
The fury in Elizabeth’s eyes intensified. She looked ready to shred Olivia into pieces.
Charlie felt at a loss. “Olivia, you used to like Cassie and even looked forward to having her as your daughter-in-law. Why the change now?”
“I do like Cassie, and I wouldn’t mind having her as my goddaughter. But Oscar is still married and even has a child along the way. We will never do something as heartless as abandoning our family. So again, I’m sorry we can’t accept Cassie. Truthfully, I’m shocked that you’d even suggest this.”
The moment Olivia said that, Elizabeth had had enough. She wasn’t going to stand by and let them bully her daughter. “Don’t go getting all high and mighty on me, Olivia. Oscar has to marry Cassie whether he likes it or not.” She slammed the table in anger. “Nobody messes with my family. If you don’t take responsibility for Cassie, I will unleash hell on your family.”
Frankly speaking, Olivia had never seen a more unreasonable woman. She was just as upset, but after listening to Elizabeth’s maniacal rant, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
