Chapter 608 Crushed By Guilt
After going down the stairs with Eleanor, Amelia grabbed her hand and whispered, “Stop it, Mom! Let’s just go back, okay? Dad is really mad this time!”
Eleanor brushed her arm off. “You head on back.”
“Mom, I’m begging you… We’ve been together for almost thirty years! Are you seriously going to choose Amelia Winters over me?” Amelia pleaded as she followed beside her.
Eleanor paused in her tracks for a brief moment before carrying on.
Infuriated, Amelia shouted angrily, “Mom, must you make me hate Amelia Winters?”
Eleanor stopped in her tracks this time, much to Amelia’s relief.
She then grabbed Eleanor’s hand and said, “Come on, let’s head back for now.”
Eleanor gave Amelia a conflicted look and squeezed her hand as she said, “Amelia, I love you the most, and I believe you understand me best in this family. I know you’re not like your autocratic father. You’ll support me no matter what I do, right?
“I can support your decision on everything else, but not this one. You can either come back with me, or I will get in between Amelia Winters and Oscar. The choice is up to you.”
Eleanor simply slapped her hard across the face in response.
Amelia rubbed her cheek in pain as she glared at her with tears in her eyes.
“I can’t believe you hit me again, Mom! Fine! I see how it is! You only want that other daughter of yours, right? Well, guess what? You’re not my mom anymore! I’m done with you!” she cried out before running off.
A glint of guilt appeared in Eleanor’s eyes when she saw Amelia running away. She held up her hand and attempted to call out to her, but the words were stuck in her throat.
Eleanor let out a huge sigh as she watched Amelia disappear into the distance. She then quickly walked out of the neighborhood and took a cab straight to the hospital.
Dominic and Melanie were surprised to see her show up at the ward. “Excuse me, madam. Who are you?” Dominic asked after a brief pause.
“Hello, you two must be Lia’s adoptive parents. I’m her biological mother, and I’ve been searching for her for over twenty years. I happened to bump into her in Beshya a while back, and I was glad to see that she has been raised incredibly well. I came here today to properly express my gratitude to the both of you.”
Dominic and Melanie exchanged shocked glances upon hearing that.
“You’re Mrs. Hutton?” Dominic asked after regaining his composure.
A hint of confusion appeared in Eleanor’s eyes. “You’ve heard of me?”
Noticing that Dominic was starting to panic, Eleanor continued, “I never mentioned anything about my husband’s last name, so why did you call me ‘Mrs. Hutton?’“
Dominic simply lowered his gaze as he tried to come up with something to say.
“Mind answering my question, Mr. Winters?” Eleanor pressed on.
Dominic looked up at her as he replied, “Please don’t get the wrong idea, Mrs. Hutton. You see, your husband came by some time ago. He told me about his relationship with my daughter, and he also said you’re her biological mother. That’s how I figured out that you’re his wife.”
The look in Eleanor’s eyes turned gloomy instantly.
“My husband was here?”
“Yes.”
“Did he mention anything else?”
“He praised us for raising Amelia well because of how polite and gentle she is. He also told us how he had thought about reuniting with Amelia, but couldn’t bring himself to separate us from her.” Dominic then started wiping his tears as he continued in a shaky voice, “Mrs. Hutton, please don’t take our daughter away! We may not be related by blood, but we have always loved her like our own! Please don’t take her from us!”
Eleanor had a conflicted look on her face as she stared at him in silence.
Casting all of his ego and pride aside, Dominic knelt down on the floor and pleaded with tears in his eyes, “I know that the Hutton family is wealthy, and that it would be best for Amelia to reunite with you. However, we did go through a lot of pain raising her, so please don’t take her away from us!”
Eleanor bent over to help him to his feet, but Dominic refused to get up. He even grabbed her by the hand as he continued to beg, “Please don’t take Amelia away! Mr. Hutton told me that you two already have a son and daughter!”
Eleanor glanced at him and said softly, “I have been investigating Lia, and I have also secretly visited her hometown. The neighbors told me that you two weren’t particularly nice to her. I came here today to thank you two for not actually abusing her.”
Dominic’s expression tensed up upon hearing that, and he stared at her in disbelief.
“Will you please stand up, Mr. Winters? We’re similar in age, so people might think I’m bullying you if they see you kneeling like this!” Eleanor said while pulling harder on his arm.
Dominic had no choice but to do as told and got back on his feet.
“Have you calmed down yet, Mr. Winters?” Eleanor asked.
Dominic nodded.
“I heard your son has been hospitalized. Is his condition improving yet? I contacted a team of specialists that I found in Saspiuburg. I could have them take the next flight here if you’d like,” Eleanor continued.
Melanie stepped forward and pushed Dominic aside as she asked, “Really? You know specialists who can treat him?”
Eleanor nodded.
“Please get them to come over! You can have Amelia back if you can get Oscar treated! We won’t object to it at all!” Melanie pleaded anxiously.
Eleanor frowned in displeasure upon hearing that.
She didn’t like how Melanie had just given Amelia up like she meant nothing at all.
I’ve heard rumors about the Winters family not treating my daughter well, but I didn’t think it was this bad. Her attitude is making me really uncomfortable…
With that in mind, Eleanor replied, “I can have them come over, but I would appreciate it if you’d refrain from treating my daughter like trash. You two have raised her for over twenty years now, so you should at least love her like your own. Please do not make light of her value like that. Just so you know, she means the world to me.”
Melanie simply stared at her in confusion as if she didn’t understand what she meant by that.
Eleanor walked up to Spencer’s bed and glanced at him as she made a phone call. “Hello, Dr. Fleming. Remember what I told you about my friend in Tayhaven whose son is suffering from cirrhosis? Yeah, his condition is a little serious. Could you please come over?”
After a brief pause, Eleanor continued, “Thank you in advance, Dr. Fleming. I’ll treat you all to a meal when you guys arrive in Tayhaven. All right, we’ll talk further when you get here.”
After that, Eleanor hung up the phone and told them, “Dr. Fleming and his team will be taking the afternoon flight today. They’ll come over to the hospital as soon as they land in Tayhaven and discuss your son’s treatment with his doctors here.”
Melanie stepped forward and asked anxiously, “Mrs. Hutton, is my son really going to be okay?”
“Sorry. I’m not a doctor, so I can’t promise you anything except for the fact that these doctors will do everything they can to treat him.”
Melanie felt a little disappointed, but nodded helplessly anyway.
Eleanor then pulled out a credit card from her purse and handed it to Melanie. “Mrs. Winters, please accept this as a token of appreciation for you two raising my daughter. You will need a lot of money for your son’s treatment, so I’m sure you’ll be able to put this money to good use.”
After hesitating for a bit, Melanie was about to take the card when Dominic rushed over and rejected the offer. “Mrs. Hutton, I appreciate your kind offer in our time of need, but we can’t accept your money. After all, we haven’t exactly done our best job as Amelia’s parents.”
However, Melanie quickly snatched the card over and protested, “Nonsense! We provided Amelia with the best we could and even got her into university! Giving us this credit card is the least she can do to repay us! We’re going to need a lot of money for our son’s treatment, and we can’t be relying on Amelia to pay for everything!”
Dominic tried to take the card away from her, but Melanie clutched it tightly against her chest.
The look in Eleanor’s eyes turned icy-cold as she watched from the side. It pained her to see how unfairly her daughter had been treated by the Winters family.
While the two of them were still fighting over the card, Eleanor left the ward and took the elevator downstairs. She had a conflicted feeling in her heart as she wandered aimlessly along the sidewalk.
I can’t imagine how terrible Lia must’ve felt growing up without the love and care of her parents… The fact that she became such a polite and mature person today shows just how much pain she went through in the past…
Eleanor teared up at the thought of that. Her heart was filled with so much guilt that it felt like she was being crushed to death by it.
