Chapter 788 A Devastating Blow
The next day, when Tiffany received a call informing her that Kate was awake, she hurried to the hospital. Amelia and Oscar, too, rushed to join her.
The moment Amelia entered the ward, she was given a fright by the sound of a lunch box smashing onto the ground.
Subsequently, Kate’s high-pitched voice rang out. “Tiffany, I know that you don’t like me, but it’s wrong for you to harm me. I just woke up, and you’re serving me seafood chowder? What sort of agenda are you hiding? Are you hoping that I die an early death?”
Baffled by the accusations, Tiffany shifted her gaze toward Derrick, who came over to defuse the situation. “Mom, Tiffany didn’t do it on purpose. She figured that adding seafood to the chowder would make it more nutritious, but she wasn’t aware that you were allergic to seafood. Therefore, please forgive her for the innocent mistake.”
Kate sniggered in anger.
“Finnick, look at this son of yours. Now that he has a wife, he has forgotten about his mother. Not only was I served seafood chowder when I awoke, but the ingredients were also all mashed up. If my senses hadn’t been sharp enough to catch it, I would be lying in the operating room at this very moment. And when I reprimand her, he would jump into her defense. Forget it; I no longer want to eat. I’ll stop complaining too, as my son and I have never been on the same page,” Kate lamented.
With her head hung low, Tiffany apologized, “Mom, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you were allergic to seafood. I’ll go back and make something else.”
Waving her hand, Kate put on the haughty expression she wore all the time.
She replied, “Forget it, as I don’t dare to taste your cooking anymore. Besides, your resentment toward me is obvious enough. Whenever I lecture you, Derrick would accuse me of picking on you. Therefore, I have to treat you as the apple of my eye before he thinks that I’m a good mother.”
Amidst Derrick’s furrowed brows, Amelia walked up with Oscar in tow to defuse the situation.
“Mrs. Hisson, Oscar and I rushed over to see you the moment we heard that you’re awake,” Amelia remarked cordially.
Retracting the distant aura she was exuding, Kate broke into a flat smile. “Amelia, I appreciate the thought. Please have a seat with Oscar.”
After Amelia and Oscar settled down on the couch, Amelia said, “Tiffany has been worried about you and feeling guilty over the last few days. Now that you’re awake, no one is more delighted than she is.”
Smirking, Kate responded sarcastically, “Of course, she’s worried about me, as my waking up wasn’t what she was hoping for.”
As Amelia was rendered speechless, tension began to fill the ward.
In the end, Amelia and Oscar couldn’t bare to stay for more than half an hour.
When Tiffany escorted them out, Amelia held her hand and suggested, “Tiffany, come with us.”
Tiffany shook her head.
“It’s fine. At the end of the day, she’s my mother-in-law. Hence, it would be inappropriate for me not to be there,” Tiffany replied.
Amelia gave her a thoughtful look. She could feel that the previous feistiness in Tiffany had clearly been blunted. In the past, the latter would wear her heart on her sleeve, but now, she had kept her emotions all hidden away.
“Call me if you need me instead of suffering in silence.”
Tiffany let out a light chuckle. “Don’t worry. Don’t forget who I am. Something as trivial as this won’t break me.”
Amelia, too, reciprocated with a laugh.
Nevertheless, her spirits stayed low after leaving the hospital. Hence, Oscar stroked her face and reassured her, “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll be able to overcome it.”
Amelia nodded in response.
However, her conviction was shaken in the afternoon when she received the photo of Derrick drinking and kissing Crystal in a bar. She was worried it would wreak emotional devastation upon Tiffany once the latter saw it.
In the midst of her confusion, she felt as if there was an invisible hand guiding everything that had happened. This mastermind must be desperate for Tiffany and Derrick to divorce. And when that happens, who would be most delighted by the fact?
The first person who came to mind was Kate. As for the second, it was Crystal. Could it be a plan hatched by both of them?
Her concern for Tiffany sent a shiver down her spine. With so many people hoping for Tiffany and Derrick’s divorce, any cracks in their faith in each other would cause their marriage to collapse, regardless of how much they love one another.
As Amelia held the pictures in her hands, keeping the matter from Tiffany was the only thought in her mind. Nonetheless, she was cognizant that whoever sent the photos was gloating, as if to show her how her best friend was struggling helplessly in a tormented marriage.
Jolin asked, “Mrs. Clinton, do you need me to destroy the photographs?”
Amelia smiled wryly. “So what if you destroyed them? We are powerless without the negatives in our hands. What I’m considering now is to send Tiff on an overseas trip. Do you think she’ll agree?”
“She won’t,” Jolin replied candidly, eliciting another wry smile from Amelia.
“You’re right. With Mrs. Hisson lying in the hospital now, there’s no way she would go on an overseas trip.”
When she saw the troubled look on Amelia’s face, Jolin added, “Mrs. Clinton, why don’t you get Boss to station two men close to her? they can stop anyone suspicious from approaching her. Moreover, I can guarantee that they will get to the bottom of the matter. This is certainly something you don’t have to worry about.”
With her eyes lighting up, Amelia agreed, “All right, get it done.”
Unfortunately, Amelia could never have imagined how fast the mastermind’s actions were. When the frustrated Tiffany returned to the condominium she used to stay in, she felt her head spin to the brink of losing consciousness the moment she saw the pictures.
Holding onto her chest, Tiffany slumped onto the couch with tears welling up in her eyes. Through the mist of moistened eyes, she stared at the man and woman in the photo. After doing so for an unknown period of time, she took a deep breath before forcing herself to calm down.
Picking up her phone, she gave Derrick a call without any hesitation.
She mustered all her willpower the moment the call got through. “Derrick, can you come over to our old condominium? I suddenly miss the times when both of us were living here and want to relive those memories. All right, hurry up, please. I feel as if I miss you a lot today. Okay, I’ll wait for you here.”
After ending the call, Tiffany fell into deep thought.
Upon entering the house, Derrick was greeted by the sight of the sorrowful Tiffany. With his heart sinking instinctively, he hurried to her side. However, the moment the scattered pictures on the table caught his attention, he stopped abruptly in his tracks. Shock, disbelief, and panic began to flash rapidly across his eyes.
Kneeling down in front of her, he—worried that he would give her a fright—called out softly, “Tiff.”
With a slight movement in her eyes, she raised her head to look at him and murmured, “Derrick, don’t you think those pictures look artistic? It’s really good to be born handsome, for you look good regardless of the angle.”
As Derrick grabbed her hand, an inexplicable sense of dread suddenly gripped him.
“Tiff, let me explain. I did go drinking with her to blow off some steam, but I didn’t do anything that crossed the line,” Derrick clarified.
Holding the photo that showed them kissing, Tiffany sneered, “Derrick, you have now learned to lie to me. What do you mean by not crossing the line? Isn’t that you kissing Crystal in the picture?”
The sight of the photo caused Derrick to be tongue tied.
“Tiff, listen to me. I really don’t know. I was just drinking with her, and nothing happened at all. You have to believe me,” Derrick frantically explained.
Holding her head with both hands, Tiffany failed to hold back her tears.
“Derrick, my heart hurts. All this while, I would never shed tears regardless of what happened, for I have always seen it as a sign of weakness. But now… Derrick, to be honest, I’m really disappointed in you.” Tiffany’s tears gushed out with greater intensity. “Derrick, it’s obvious to everyone that your mother favors Crystal. Now that the photo has revealed your feelings for her, why don’t we just get a divorce?”
Derrick’s eyes widened abruptly.
Staring deathly at her, he muttered through gritted teeth, “Tiff, say that again.”
With a wry smile, she replied, “I said, let’s get a divorce. I had assumed that as long as I had your love, I could adapt to living with the Hissons. But now, I realize I had overestimated myself. Until your family stops resenting me, it doesn’t matter how much effort I put in. Also, you’re well aware of my limit, where I will never tolerate my husband fooling around with another woman. Thus, let’s get a divorce.”
“I won’t allow it. There’s no way I’m going to divorce you. You’re just not thinking straight right now. We’ll talk about this again when you finally calm down.” Derrick had barely finished when he hurried to leave. Unexpectedly, Tiffany grabbed his hand.
“Derrick, be honest with me. Are you and Crystal together?” Tiffany asked with her head hung low.
“No, there’s nothing whatsoever going on between us,” Derrick replied with conviction.
When she released his hand, he added, “Tiff, just calm down. I’ll get to the bottom of this and prove my innocence to you.” With that, Derrick left without looking back.
As the dejected Tiffany slumped on the couch, she didn’t know what to think.
All of a sudden, a shadow fell upon her. When she raised her head to be greeted by the sight of Crystal, she demanded with an icy expression, “What are you doing here?”
Shrugging, Crystal replied with a smile, “I came over with Derrick. Since he was worried that you might do something foolish, he asked me to stay with you.” No sooner had she spoken than she picked up the pictures on the table and lamented, “I didn’t expect someone to take photos of us when I went drinking with Derrick yesterday. This photographer is really good to have even captured us kissing. If I find out who he is, I’ll definitely reward him for his skill. Isn’t that right, Tiffany?”
Tiffany’s rage drained her face of all color.
Noticing the rapid change in Tiffany’s expression, Crystal twisted the knife further. “Oh my, I have forgotten that you’re Derrick’s wife. What was he thinking? Despite knowing that you hate my guts, he still insisted that I stay by your side. You know, that’s just his way of showing his concern for you, so don’t take it to heart.”
After being overwhelmed by anger, Tiffany finally got a grip on herself.
“Ms. Halliwell, are you here trying to spite me because you know that Derrick will never love you? Don’t you worry. My relationship with Derrick is rock solid and won’t crack just from a few malicious words from you, let alone a bunch of pictures. I have full faith in him, for he is a righteous man. When he says that there’s nothing going on between both of you, that, to me, is the truth,” Tiffany asserted.
Crystal was briefly taken aback before she cracked another smile. “If that’s true, why are your eyes so red?”
“Humans are emotional creatures. I’m crying because I don’t like seeing my husband kiss another woman. In spite of that, I still trust him. Therefore, Ms. Halliwell, your scheme has failed. Now, this is my home, and you’re not welcome here, so please leave,” Tiffany ordered, pointing at the door.
Crystal snorted in laughter. “Tiffany, you look adorable when you’re putting up a strong front.” After walking to the door, she turned around abruptly and sneered, “By the way, I forgot to tell you that Derrick kissed me for almost two minutes yesterday. I never knew he was such a good kisser. To be honest, I was impressed.”
Tiffany’s hand froze momentarily before sweeping all the photographs on the table onto the ground.
“Argh!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Climbing groggily up the staircase and into her bedroom, she buried herself in her bed without uttering a single word.
Meanwhile, Amelia had received a call from Derrick asking her to check on Tiffany at the condominium. When she arrived with Oscar, her face lost all color at the sight of the main door being left open. Subsequently, she dashed into the house without a moment’s delay.
Upon realizing the first floor was empty, she rushed upstairs. Only then did she spot Tiffany—whose face was flushed red—hiding underneath the blanket. Jolted by the sight, Amelia quickly placed her hand on the latter’s head. It’s hot. It’s scorching hot.
“Oscar, quick. Tiff has a high fever.”
After Oscar carried her, both of them sent her to the hospital.
While the doctor measured Tiffany’s blood pressure and put her on the drip, the anxious Amelia was pacing about outside the emergency room.
Suddenly, Oscar grabbed her hand and showed her the pictures he had picked up along the way. “Tiffany knows about them.”
After throwing them a glance, Amelia sighed. “Despite all our best efforts, the enemy still managed to sneak past us.”
“This isn’t your fault. No matter how much you try to prevent it, you cannot stop the truth from coming out if Derrick is really having an affair with Crystal. It’s better to face such pain earlier than later.”
Amelia commented, “I really trusted Derrick and thought that he would be the one to bring Tiff happiness. I didn’t expect something like this to happen. Truth be told, I’m truly disappointed.”
“Perhaps this is a misunderstanding.”
Amelia pursed her lips in silence.
