Chapter 268
Kayla and Landon exchanged glances. “What did Tristan mean by that?” Kayla wondered. “Where’s Marvin?” Tristan asked. “He’s with Aunt Shelby,” Landon replied. “I just want to know the truth. I never meant to hurt them.”
Tristan nodded and let out a long sigh. Then, he sat down on the curb and started talking. “This whole mess… it’s all Shelby’s fault.” Kayla and Landon both breathed a sigh of relief.
‘So it was true—our father wasn’t a scumbag after all,’ both Kayla and Landon thought. “Shelby was infatuated with your father. Then, when your grandfather was celebrating his birthday that year, she…” Tristan’s voice trailed off. Whatever memory flashed through Tristan’s mind made him shudder hard in the sunlight. Kayla and Landon’s hearts leapt into their throats.
“She dressed up as your mother and tried to seduce Isaac. When she failed, she threatened him with Kayla’s whereabouts…” Tristan continued. ‘So it really was true!’ Kayla finally felt relieved. ‘Dad hadn’t wanted to betray Mom. He’d just been forced into it.’ But at the same time, she felt like crying. Her father, who had always been so proud and upright, had his reputation ruined in the end—all for her sake.
“Isaac was a real man. I… I can’t bring myself to hate him,” Tristan sighed again. After laughing and crying, his face was a mess, streaked with tears and snot. Landon handed him a wet wipe. He wiped his face messily and went on, “Landon, do you remember? Fourteen years ago, your father suddenly got really sick and was depressed for a long time.” “Yeah…” Landon said after thinking for a moment.
Back then, he had just joined the Flying Tiger Sect and was super busy, barely paying attention to what was going on at home. “He was eaten up with guilt and terrified your mother would find out the truth. But what really mattered was, Shelby was pregnant,” Tristan said. “So… did my father ever know there was a child?” Landon asked.
“No,” Tristan shook his head. “Because I told him Shelby had a miscarriage. Actually, I wanted Shelby to lose the baby. She betrayed me, yet she still wanted to give birth to that child. But her health was so bad that forcing a miscarriage could’ve killed her. So I had no choice but to wait until the baby was born and take care of it myself. I strangled that child with my own hands…”
“So how is he still alive?” After saying all this, Tristan looked completely lost. Tristan continued, “This was the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my whole life. It haunted me every night, drove me half crazy. My bosses all thought I was sick and forced me into early retirement. How is he still alive?” Tristan just couldn’t wrap his head around it.
It was all clear to Landon. Marvin had saved the child and, together with Shelby, plotted to raise the baby in secret, away from everyone else. Marvin had sold Tristan out for money, too. “Alright, I’ve told you everything,” Tristan said with a long sigh. “Can you let Marvin go now?” “Sure,” Landon nodded. “Tristan, he’ll go home tonight.”
“Okay.” Brian stood up and, swaying unsteadily, made his way along the road. His round, pudgy back looked especially lonely and desolate as he walked away. “Tristan really must love Aunt Shelby…” Kayla sighed. Landon pressed his lips together, his gaze steely and intense.
From a man’s point of view, most guys could never forgive their wife for cheating. But Tristan not only forgave Shelby—he even did everything he could to keep it a secret. If that wasn’t love, then what was? “Let’s go. We should head back,” Landon said.
Kayla asked, “Now that things have turned out like this, what do we do about Mom?” “Don’t tell her yet. Let’s wait until she’s out of surgery and stable,” Landon replied.
Chapter 268
At the hospital, Gloria woke up. When she saw Tuff and Amelia by her bedside, but neither Kayla nor Landon were there, she started to feel a bit anxious. “What happened to me?” “You had a bout of gastritis,” Amelia said with a gentle smile, handing her a glass of water. “Gloria, take your medicine first.”
“How could gastritis make me throw up blood?” Gloria asked, eyeing Amelia with suspicion. “You’ve just been pushing yourself too hard. And you never really got over that cold from before, so it all piled up,” Amelia said with a gentle smile. “Gloria, Landon’s checked you in. This time, we’ll make sure you’re fully recovered before you go home.”
Gloria took the medicine and swallowed it before asking, “Where are Kayla and Landon?” “It’s my fault for wearing Kayla out. I told her to go home and rest,” Tuff said. Amelia added, “There’s some work stuff Landon had to take care of at the company.” It was a flawless lie, and Gloria bought it.
“If it’s just gastritis, then let’s just go home!” Gloria said. Amelia hurried to hold her back. “Gloria, you’re in the hospital!” “What’s the big deal? I can just come back before the doctor does his rounds in the morning,” Gloria said, totally unconcerned. “These days, lots of people do this if they live nearby and their condition isn’t serious.”
“You can’t just leave, Mrs. Kingsley!” Wesley said with a grin as he walked in. “Wesley, is it really that serious?” Gloria asked. Amelia’s heart skipped a beat. Wesley said, “Gastritis isn’t something you want to mess around with. If you don’t take care of it, it’ll just get worse.”
“You’re just trying to scare me,” Gloria said knowingly, flashing a smile. “I can’t stand hospitals. I just want to go home and cuddle my grandson. I’ll come back tomorrow.” “Mrs. Kingsley, you really need to rest. Plus, there are still a few tests we haven’t finished yet, so you can’t be discharged,” Wesley said gently.
“But didn’t you already figure out what’s wrong with me?” Gloria asked. “We did, but we still need to run some tests! Otherwise, how can we tell if you’re actually getting better?” Wesley replied patiently. Gloria had to admit that did make sense. She gave up and flopped back onto the hospital bed, grumbling, “Honestly, you guys just love to make a fuss over nothing.”
“Mrs. Kingsley, it’s all because they care about you! Just look at your daughter-in-law and son-in-law—aren’t they the best?” Wesley said with a grin. Gloria puffed up with pride. “Of course! My daughter-in-law and son-in-law are top-notch—couldn’t find better if you searched the whole city.”
“Exactly! So don’t waste their kindness. Otherwise, next time you get sick, they might just leave you to fend for yourself,” Wesley teased. “Fine!” Gloria finally relented. Wesley’s smooth talking finally got Gloria to stay put.
“Alright, you can go home now. No need to stay here and keep me company,” Gloria said. Amelia and Tuff exchanged a glance. Amelia said, “Okay, I’ll go home to look after the baby. I’ll have Brooke stay here to take care of you.”
“Pfft, what, is someone going to sneak into the hospital and try to assassinate me or something?” Gloria joked. Amelia chuckled too. “Hey, that’s Landon’s idea.” “Alright, Brooke can stay. The rest of you, go on,” Gloria said. “We’ll come back tomorrow then,” Amelia said. “Go on, go on!” Gloria waved them off.
Amelia and Tuff left, and Wesley stayed in the room to keep Gloria company for a while before going off to handle his own business. Little did they know, someone really did come to Gloria’s hospital room to try and kill her!