Filed to story: Revenge Marriage Sweet Love Novel Read Free Online
Cate had never missed Joel more than at this moment. She really wished he could gain consciousness so she could at least have a family member to depend on.
“Dad, please wake up soon. I’m suffering, and I miss you terribly.”
Her teardrops landed on the back of Joel’s hand. She did not notice that his fingers were shaking.
Later, she went to check on Boris in another hospital ward.
She discovered as she walked inside that the man was struggling to reach the bedpan beneath the bed.
“Uncle Boris, allow me to help.” She quickly walked over to lend him a hand. “I’m a friend of Charity’s.”
“Thanks.” He received the bedpan looking slightly embarrassed.
Several moments later, she emptied the bedpan into the toilet bowl. “Uncle Boris, why are you alone? Where’s Aunty Jennifer and the carer?”
“The carer wasn’t free this morning, and Jennifer left home to pack up our belongings. She said she wants to transfer me to another hospital in Melbourne. But she hasn’t shown up after that and I can’t reach her on the phone either.” He sounded worried. “I wish I could go look for her but I can’t in this condition. Fortunately, Mireya dropped by earlier so I got her to check in on Jennifer.”
Cate had a bad premonition and she suddenly remembered Charity’s request to get her parents out of Canberra as soon as possible. “What about your son? Or Sarah? She came back not long ago. Didn’t she come to look after you?”
“Sarah?” Boris appeared shocked. “Isn’t she dead?”
“I guess you still don’t know that she isn’t dead. I even met her in person.” She was speechless. Sarah had time to attend Shelley’s funeral yet did not even visit her birth father who had been hospitalized for a few days. She should not be like this even if he had remarried.
“I really had no idea.” He shook his head weakly as a bitter smile spread across his face. “Forget it. I don’t expect anything from those two children of mine. Fortunately, I can still rely on Charity and Jennifer, but she’s now in…”
Tears welled up in his eyes. “I was just telling Charity that afternoon that we should sell the company and leave this place altogether before the police showed up at our house…”
Cate inquired after a brief hesitation, “Do you know that Thomas has taken over Neeson Corporation?”
“Thomas?” Astonishment washed over his face before he shook his head. “That rascal is not capable of running the corporation. My biggest regret in this life is having raised this son. He’s done so many horrible things in his life but why hasn’t he been put in prison? He’ll only get worse after becoming the president.”
This took her by surprise. She had no idea that Boris was so dissatisfied with his son, although on second thought, he was just telling the truth.
A few seconds later, he heaved a long sigh and waved his hand in the air. “Well, I don’t care about the business anymore. All I want now is to leave Canberra with Jennifer. We can try our best to get Charity out of prison then. I know for sure that she’s innocent. There’s no way she would hurt Shelley. They used to be playmates when they were younger…”
Cate asked hesitantly, “Do you not have a good relationship with Sarah as well? Otherwise, why hasn’t she come to see you…”
Colors flashed across his face in quick succession.
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer this…”
“It’s fine. Perhaps she blames me for getting remarried.” He smiled bitterly. “Did I have other options? I was too occupied with work back then and Sarah’s mom had been fooling around with other men behind my back. I couldn’t take it anymore and finally asked for a divorce. But to ensure the two kids would grow up in a healthy environment, I never bad-mouthed my ex-wife even once. Perhaps they thought I was the one who betrayed their mother and slowly distanced themselves from me because of that. In fact, Jennifer treated them like her own kids yet they were unaccepting and inconsiderate—just like their mother.”
Cate was surprised to learn that.
It seemed that Boris had it tough as well.
Evidently, Sarah and her brother were not good people but Shaun and his friends could not see that. This really frustrated Cate.
Not long later, Mireya called her on the phone. “Cate, something terrible has happened. Charity’s mother is dead.”
Cate was stunned into silence. She forced herself to react calmly before walking out of the ward. “You can’t be serious,” she whispered.
“It’s true.” Mireya was choked up. “Uncle Boris said he couldn’t contact Aunty Jennifer since she left home this morning to pack up, so I came to look for her in their house. All their servants had left and I had to climb over the wall to get in. She was lying in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor and had stopped breathing when I found her. The police came over earlier and said she must have fallen over and hit her head on the cabinet. They think she died after losing too much blood.”
“How is that possible?” A shudder went down Cate’s spine. “She looked healthy to me. Did you check the surveillance cameras?”
“They’ve been turned off since no one had been living here in the past few days,” she replied through clenched teeth, “But I checked the neighbor’s surveillance cameras. Sarah came over this morning but she left after half an hour.”
Cate was shaking by now. “She’s definitely involved in this. She hates Aunty Jennifer.”
“I know, but the pathologist said it has nothing to do with her. They couldn’t find her fingerprints on the second floor. Besides, Aunty Jennifer is estimated to have died around 9:00 a.m. but Sarah left the house at 8:30 a.m.”
Mireya said with trembling lips, “Cate, I read before that some psychologists are terrifying as they can use hypnotism to…”
“You mean… Sarah hypnotized Aunty Jennifer?” Cate had goosebumps all over her body.
“It’s not impossible. She could’ve hypnotized Aunty Jennifer into a half-conscious state so she would fall over by accident. This way, there wouldn’t be any evidence pointing toward Sarah as the murderer.”
Cate rubbed her temples. Jennifer’s death was too suspicious. How terrible would Charity feel if she found out about this while in prison? Boris too. He would be left alone with no one by his side. “Let’s try our best to hide this from Uncle Boris for now. I’m afraid he won’t be able to take the news well. We should step in and handle Aunty Jennifer’s funeral.”
…
8:00 p.m.
Cate returned to the villa, exhausted.
As soon as she stepped through the door, she noticed Shaun and Sarah walking down the stairs next to each other. The man was wearing black and white striped loungewear. The hair that hung over his forehead made his stern eyes look tender and calm. The woman, on the other hand, was wearing a denim one-piece dress that revealed her slim waist and supple skin. It looked as if they were the owners of this house.
Cate felt uncomfortable at the sight of this.
She used to be so much prettier than Sarah but her skin was no longer in its prime condition since the disfigurement.
“Young Madam Lyons, you’re back. We’ve just finished today’s treatment for Shaunic,” Sarah spoke first in a gentle tone.
“Do you know the time? It’s already 8:00 p.m. I’ve just agreed for you to go back to work and you’re already skipping dinner at home.” Shaun frowned, evidently displeased. She was the one who wanted Sarah to treat him in the villa but she only came home after their session was over.
“Shaunic, don’t say that. Women need to have their own freedom too,” Sarah said, smiling.
Cate felt annoyed at their voices. “Miss Neeson, have you heard that your stepmother passed away in the bathroom today?”
“I heard…” Sarah’s eyes welled up. “I just saw her this morning and not long later, this happened. I should’ve left later.”
“Really?”
A shudder passed through Cate as she was suddenly reminded of Mireya’s assumption. This woman was terrifying. “I went to visit your dad in the hospital today. Poor guy. He’s not young anymore. His wife is dead and no one’s there to look after him. He was even struggling to retrieve the bedpan on his own. You and your brother are successful and wealthy now. You should at least hire a carer for him no matter how much you dislike the man.”
“You’re right. I’ve not been the best daughter.” Sarah looked remorseful.
“Well, she doesn’t know that you’ve done your best.”
Shaun looked at Cate with a slightly displeased look after saying that. “Cate, that’s their family affairs. You don’t know much about it, and you shouldn’t stick your nose into it either. Sarah had tried to hire a carer but her father refused. I heard her talking about this earlier this afternoon. She’s planning to organize a proper funeral for her stepmother.”
Cate felt like knocking Shaun on the head upon seeing how he had completely taken Sarah’s side. Could he not see that the latter was obviously a scheming woman?
“It’s fine, Shaunic. It shows that Cate is kind-hearted as she cares about her friend. I should leave now. I need to go to the funeral parlor tomorrow,” Sarah said with a bitter smile.
Cate was speechless. Jennifer would probably be unable to die in peace if Sarah was the one organizing her funeral. “No, Mireya and I will take care of Aunty Jennifer’s funeral.”
“Don’t cause trouble. What can you do with your big pregnant belly?” Shaun said irritably, “You’re not Jennifer’s daughter, so you can’t even retrieve her dead body.”
“Cate, don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.” Sarah smiled.
Cate clenched her teeth. How could she not be worried?
Sarah might even be the cause of Jennifer’s death. A person as vicious as her will definitely make sure Jennifer could not rest in peace.
After Sarah left, Cate straight out refused to acknowledge Shaun.
“Cate, are you still angry at me about what happened in the morning? Why do we always quarrel about the Neeson family? I promise you I’ll stay away from Sarah after my illness is cured.”
Shaun caught up with the woman.
She suddenly turned around and stared at him angrily. “Shaun, do you realize that you always take Sarah’s side when she’s around? It makes it seem like I’m an unreasonable person.”
He felt aggrieved. “Cate, can you stop losing your temper at me every time you meet Sarah? Why do you care so much about the Neeson family’s affairs?”