Chapter 118
Kelly offered an awkward, embarrassed smile as she lowered her head and apologized. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful next time. I promise, it won’t happen again.”
The medical staff, seeing how quickly she admitted fault, decided not to press the issue.
Watching all this unfold, Sharon couldn’t help but feel a kind of twisted admiration for her. Kelly had a rare talent. She could appear delicate to draw sympathy, and steer the crowd in her favor with just the right expressions. And if things turned against her, she’d bend without breaking, apologize without hesitation.
Her skin was so thick, others would feel secondhand embarrassment on her behalf. But she remained perfectly composed, even smiling as she clung to the image she’d built for herself.
That was how she managed to keep both Carter and Theo tightly in her grasp..
The ambulance arrived at the nearby hospital. Theo was rushed into the emergency room.
Sharon sat with Matty on a bench in the corridor. They waited quietly.
Kelly stood outside the operating room, hands clasped, eyes brimming with tears as she whispered prayers. “Please, God, please … Let Theo be okay. I’m begging you…”
Her display of remorse moved Carter. He spoke gently, “Kelly, this wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do it on purpose.”
Wiping at the corners of her eyes, Kelly replied, “If something really happens to Theo… how will I ever face him again?”
Sharon looked at the pair, her gaze frosty. The sight of them made her stomach turn.
Then Matty’s soft voice broke the silence.
“Sharon, didn’t the doctor say Theo’s not in any real danger? Why is Kelly crying like someone died?”
Sharon glanced at him, her voice tender. “I’m not sure either. Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
Matty nodded obediently. He walked over to Kelly and gave a light tug on her sleeve. “Kelly, why are you crying so hard?”
Kelly felt her performance unraveling-again-at the hands of this child. She was growing more and more irritated. But with Carter nearby, she had no choice but to maintain her carefully curated image.
She crouched down and explained patiently, “I’m just very worried about Theo.”
“But… isn’t he okay now? If you keep crying like this, someone might think he died.”
Kelly froze, then quickly covered Matty’s mouth. “Shh, you can’t say such unlucky things.’
She took him by the hand and led him a few steps away, just about to start working on his impression of her, when Matty suddenly dropped to the floor with a soft thud.
He looked up at her, eyes wide, clearly hurt and confused.
Kelly stood still, stunned, not sure how to react. “I-I didn’t push you…”
Sharon rushed over and helped Matty up. “Matty, are you alright?”
“I’m okay, Sharon,” Matty murmured, head down, his lips trembling. “I’m sorry… I said something wrong.”
Sharon noticed the dried blood on his arm-the wound from earlier, when he had tried to help Theo and Kelly had pushed him down.
Her gaze chilled.
1/2
the raised her head, looked Kelly straight in the eye, and said one wordt text sherp
“Apologize.”
Before Kelly could speak, Matty cut in “Sharon, 1 fell on my own. I didn’t stand steady, it’s not Kally’s Land”
Sharon’s tone was firm and cold. “Matty, don’t defend her, I saw it with my own eyes. The gashed you. Do you think I’d lie about that? Besides ”
Her eyes never left Kelly, “tot long ago, you pushed him once already-when he tried to help Theo. Did you think I wouldn’t remember that?”
