Chapter 525 Worsened
After Jennifer got home, she asked some people to look into June. When she received a stack of documents regarding June’s private information, she looked through them intently. A smirk flashed on her face as she scoffed, “June’s appearance gives off the impression of someone loyal and a womanizer at the same time. During his and Cassie’s years-long romantic relationship, he had also been fooling around with other women. Indeed, he’s made full use of his abilities to woo women. Yet, it does seem like he’s in love with Cassie, judging by how he looks at her in these photos. Those two wicked people are indeed a match made in heaven. Neither of them is sincere when it comes to relationships. No wonder they remained together for so many years.”
After flipping through the rest of the information, she kept those documents inside her bookcase and locked them up.
She went and stood by the window, quietly gazing at the scenery outside. One could not tell what she felt at that moment.
Right then, someone knocked on her door anxiously. A maid soon called out, “Ms. Larson, something’s wrong! Mrs. Larson is having another episode! She’s smashing everything in sight. Please hurry downstairs.”
That sent a shock wave through Jennifer’s mind. She made her way downstairs with haste, where Laura behaved like a lunatic and bashed things into pieces. Her expression instantly changed as she went up to Laura and hugged the latter. “Mom, I’m Jennifer. I’m your daughter. Please calm down before you hurt yourself.”
Laura vented her emotions for a while before she eventually calmed down. She turned around to look at Jennifer with a horrified expression. “Jennifer, someone was trying to kill me! That person was aiming a gun at me. That’s why I rushed downstairs to scare him away with these. After that, you came down. Yes, you came down right after that. Jennifer, you have to protect me. These people are scary.”
Jennifer’s eyes reddened as she looked at the crazed Laura in shock. She felt like her heart was being torn apart by a pair of invisible hands.
It broke her heart to see her well-mannered and elegant mother become this hysterical woman. At the same time, she felt remorseful, as if an ocean of guilty thoughts were suffocating her mind.
How I wish I could undo everything. If there were a way to reverse time, I would do it right away. I shouldn’t have come back from overseas during my parents’ and I’s last visit there. I would’ve never looked for Carter again, and perhaps my mom would still be sane. She wouldn’t become how she is now if I’d done all that. Oscar and Amelia, you guys are so heartless. If my mom’s condition can’t get healed, I’ll remember all the hardships she’s going through now and avenge her. An eye for an eye, after all. Wait and see, you too. I’ll undoubtedly seek my revenge.
After Jennifer helped Laura settle down, she rang her family doctor and asked him to come over to have a look at the latter. While waiting for the doctor’s arrival, she exploded in rage. “Esme, what happened? Didn’t I ask you to take care of my mom? Is this how you do your job?”
Esme Xanthos, a plump maid in her fifties, rushed over and answered cautiously, “Ms. Larson, I didn’t mean to let this happen. I was right next to Mrs. Larson when she was fast asleep earlier. Suddenly, she woke up and said someone wanted to kill her. Before I could react sensibly, Mrs. Larson had already rushed down the stairs. What happened next was what you just saw, Ms. Larson.”
Jennifer rubbed her forehead and said in frustration, “Okay. You can leave now.”
“Yes, Ms. Larson.”
After that, Jennifer glanced at all the maids present and instructed, “No one is allowed to tell my dad about my mom’s episode earlier. If he finds out about this, all of you might as well pack up and leave the Larson residence.”
“Understood, Ms. Larson.”
Some time passed before the family doctor, Johnny Dixon, arrived alongside two nurses. Jennifer rushed to welcome them and politely said, “Mr. Dixon, my mom has fallen sick again. Please take a look at her. She’s upstairs.”
“Calm down, Jennifer. I’ll go check on her now,” Johnny said.
He then went upstairs to examine Laura’s condition, which soon led to a solemn expression on his face. That worried Jennifer, so she asked, “Mr. Dixon, how is it? Is my mom’s condition serious?”
Johnny tucked Laura’s hand back under the blanket before standing up. He looked at Jennifer and said, “Let’s talk about this in the study instead.”
That only made Jennifer even more concerned. Her heart raced at lightning speed, making her feel a little faint.
Upon arriving at the study, Jennifer asked immediately, “Mr. Dixon, how is my mom doing?”
“I suggest you guys admit her into the psychiatric hospital where she can get proper treatment. Otherwise, her condition is going to worsen,” Johnny suggested solemnly.
Jennifer’s eyes widened while her face paled to a ghastly white. Even her hands started to tremble. Nevertheless, she flashed a tense smile before asking, “Mr. Dixon, you’re kidding me, right?”
“I’ve known your mom for over twenty-odd years now, Jennifer. If I could treat her condition, I would because I don’t want her to get sent to the psychiatric hospital either. However, things are getting serious. Your mom’s mental health has deteriorated rapidly over the past few days. If you don’t admit her to the psychiatric hospital, I’m afraid her condition will only worsen from now on,” Johnny answered.
Hands still trembling, Jennifer asked in despair, “Mr. Dixon, is there truly no other way?”
Johnny shook his head in response.
After he left, Jennifer slumped onto the floor while various thoughts ran wild in her mind. How did this happen? Everything was fine, weren’t they? Why does Mom suddenly need to be admitted to the psychiatric hospital? It’s all happening too fast!
Everything felt like a dream and seemed too surreal at that moment.
Not long after that, Laura woke up but seemed absolutely normal. As she climbed off her bed, Jennifer came out of the bathroom.
Laura flashed a gentle smile while asking, “Are you not working today, Jennifer?”
Seeing her mother’s sudden change in demeanor, Jennifer froze and stared blankly at the former.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you recognize your own mom?” Laura chuckled.
“Mom, are you okay?”
“Nonsense! Why wouldn’t I be? What time is it now? I’m feeling hungry all of a sudden. I’m going downstairs to get something to eat. Do you want anything?”
“Y-Yes. Of course.” Jennifer paused for a moment before nodding profusely.
Laura seemed to have returned to her normal mental state, and the family of three soon had dinner together when Vincent came home. The latter took some food for Laura and uttered, “Eat more, okay?”
“Sure!” Laura was gobbling down the food happily. At that moment, everything seemed normal, and they had a good time together.
After dinner, they even watched a drama on the television. While doing so, Laura was excitedly discussing the plot with Jennifer. In response, Jennifer used her eloquence jokes to cheer her mother up.
Since Laura and Vincent were people of age, they went to bed after an hour later. At that point, Jennifer had switched off the television and retired into her room too. She then climbed into bed before going on her phone.
Now that Laura had mysteriously recovered, Jennifer thought about Carter again, whom she hadn’t seen for a few days. She scrolled through her contact list, and her eyes fixated on Carter’s name for the longest while.
Should I call him? Should I not? Should I? Should I not? Jennifer was in a dilemma.
After pondering for a while, she ultimately decided to type a message: Are you asleep? I haven’t seen you in so many days, and I’m starting to miss you. I’m sorry for throwing a tantrum over my mom. Please don’t be angry at me anymore, okay? I was wrong.
Before sending the text to Carter, she looked at the contents of her message and smiled bitterly. Don’t I have principle and dignity? I’ll look so spineless if I send this to him.
In the end, Jennifer decided not to send the text. She put her phone aside and fell asleep with the rare opportunity of not having any troubled thoughts on her mind.
After sleeping for some time, she couldn’t help but feel like someone was staring at her in her sleep. It sent chills down her spine and instantly awoke her from her dreams.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw a figure standing at the head of her bed. A pair of terrifyingly piercing eyes stared at her. Despite her room’s dim lighting, she could sense that figure’s presence fixating on her.
“Ah! Help! Someone!” Jennifer shouted in fear. It was then that a cold yet familiar chuckle sounded when she clambered to flee. Despite being halfway out of her bed, she froze and quickly turned around to see the figure. “Mom?”
The figure then giggled eerily and stumbled out of the room like it had been sleepwalking. At that moment, Jennifer brushed aside her fear and got out of bed before following from behind.
Upon exiting the bedroom and standing under the hallway’s light, Jennifer saw that it was indeed a sleepwalking Laura. Jennifer instantly turned paler and yelled, “Ah!”
She was on the verge of a breakdown after seeing her mother’s unusual behavior.
It was then that Vincent ran out of his bedroom and bumped into Laura at the entrance. He immediately held onto the latter, but to his surprise, she chuckled coldly and shoved him aside before walking into their bedroom. Vincent froze on the spot for a few seconds before following her.
“Are you all right, Dear?” Vincent asked worriedly.
Not a word came from Laura as she climbed into bed. Moments soon passed, and steady breaths sounded from her sleeping body.
Vincent was dumbfounded as he watched that entire scene play out. What on earth is happening?
“Dad, what should we do? Mom seems…” Jennifer asked as she entered the room and saw the snoozing Laura. She couldn’t bear to finish her sentence by saying her mother seemed off.
With a darkened face, Vincent replied, “Let’s talk outside.”
The two of them headed downstairs right after that. Jennifer told the maid, who got woken up by the commotion, to make them two cups of tea before dismissing the maid.
Moments later, Jennifer picked up her hot cup of tea and took a big gulp, accidentally burning her tongue.
Vincent glanced at her before speaking. “Drink slowly. There’s no rush, nor is anyone racing against you.”
Jennifer put down her cup and sank deep into thought. “Dad, Mom’s condition seems to have worsened. Mr. Dixon came to check on her earlier today, and he said she’s not doing well. Perhaps we should get her checked at the psychiatry department. If her condition worsens, and this continues, we’re both going to lose our minds.”
Seeing that Vincent had remained silent, Jennifer kept mum as well. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to send Mom to the psychiatric hospital. After all, her life and reputation might be over if she gets admitted there as a patient.
“I’ll think about it. It’s getting late, so go back to bed, okay? I’m heading upstairs now.” With that, Vincent returned to his room. As Jennifer watched him leave, she noticed that he looked miserable. Plus, more and more white hair was growing on his head.
That made tears well up in Jennifer’s eyes. My family is falling apart because of Oscar and Amelia’s ruthlessness.
Her hatred for Amelia intensified as she dwelled on the matter. If it weren’t for that wretched Amelia, my mom would still be the almighty noblewoman she once was.
While Jennifer regretted being the reason behind everything, she still felt the need to push the blame onto someone else, considering the direness of her mother’s situation; She had to pin her pain and guilt onto another person to convince herself that she had nothing to do with her mother’s ordeal.
