Chapter 361
The solemn appearance of Joyce’s parents, Xzavier and Brylee, made Tuff’s heart race with anxiety.
“Mr. Lambert, Mrs. Lambert…” said Tuff.
“Joyce is in her room. Go and check on her,” Xzavier said.
A sense of dread crept over Tuff, who thought, ‘Did I do something to Joyce last night? That can’t be right. I managed to escape when the drug was kicking in. If I had done something to Joyce, I wouldn’t be suffering from the effects.’
When Tuff got to Joyce’s room, he found her sitting on the floor in her camisole, crying her eyes out. Her neck, collarbone–every bit of exposed skin–was covered in love bites and marks from last night.
Tuff went numb all over. “You… You…”
“I’m fine,” Joyce said, trying to hide her face with her hands, but only ended up exposing her breasts even more.
Tuff quickly turned away, his voice trembling with worry and confusion as he said, “What happened to you?”
“Tuff, don’t worry about it. I know you didn’t mean to,” Joyce said, her voice choked with sobs.
“What do you mean? I never laid a finger on you!” Tuff snapped, his voice rising in anger. He knew better than anyone what he’d done last night. There was no way he could’ve touched her. Joyce was trying to frame him with the stunt.
‘Damn it! If Kayla saw the scene, I couldn’t talk my way out of it if I tried,’ Tuff thought, panic surging through him.
“Yeah, you did nothing. Tuff, I won’t get in your way anymore. I’ll go abroad for good tomorrow…” Joyce said, wiping away her tears. She was heartbroken and desperate, but still going along with whatever Tuff said, even though she was falling apart inside. It was just so unfair to her. The more she acted like that, the crazier it drove Tuff. He knew he was innocent, but there was no way to prove it.
“You’re insane! Seriously! We’re going to the hospital right now to get you tested,” Tuff barked, his voice shaking with anger.
Xzavier stepped forward and said, “That’s enough.”
“Tuff, you’ve hurt Joyce so much, and now you want to take her to the hospital and embarrass her even more?” Brylee sobbed, her voice shaking with emotion. “Is this how you treated Dominick, too?”
Dominick Lambert was Joyce’s brother. The pain of losing him was a scar Tuff would carry for the rest of his life. It was also a debt the Prescott family could never repay to the Lambert family.
Hearing Dominick’s name made all of Tuff’s anger drain away. He couldn’t even muster any outrage anymore.
“Mom, please don’t bring up my brother…” Joyce pleaded, her voice shaking with emotion.
“You silly girl…” Brylee choked out.
Brylee clung to Joyce, both of them sobbing uncontrollably. Xzavier, the only one still keeping his composure, was also overcome with sorrow.
Tuff felt completely drained, like all the fight had been knocked out of him. He turned and walked away, his steps heavy with defeat.
‘I owe Dominick my life. Today… We’re finally even,’ Tuff thought.
It was five days later when Kayla was finally discharged from the hospital after her surgery. Tuff was moping around the house like a loser for those five days.
“Tuff, I’ve brought your wife back,” Giovanna said, personally escorting Kayla home. “The surgery was a success, and her initial recovery is going well. Once the bandages come off, she’ll be fine.”
“Honey…” Tuff called softly. Tuff looked at Kayla, his eyes swirling with complicated emotions. For him, she endured the agony of having her face rebuilt once again. However, it was as if he’d betrayed her and made her look like a fool. Tuff still couldn’t wrap his head around how Joyce wound up in that state that night. He was sure he hadn’t touched her at all. The more he dwelled on it, the more he started second-guessing himself. ‘Did I do something and forget it, like that time at the hotel when everything was a blur?’ he wondered.
Kayla couldn’t talk. Any movement tugged at her wound and made it hurt. So, she just gave Tuff a soft, reassuring smile.
“Don’t touch her face or let it get wet during this time. I’ll come by every other day to change the bandages. She was supposed to stay in the hospital until the bandages came off, but she insisted on coming home because she missed you very much. You two are so in love that you can’t even stand to be apart for a second…” Giovanna teased.
Giovanna’s teasing made Tuff feel worse. Kayla cared about him so much, and yet he’d gone and messed up behind her back.
‘Should I tell her everything?’ Tuff thought, anxiety gnawing at him. He’d gone back and forth in his head a hundred times those past few days, but still couldn’t bring himself to say a word. Her injuries and missing the chance to come home… All of that could be made up for. Kayla had come to terms with it. However, what happened to Joyce… How could Kayla be okay with that?
‘Forget it, better not say anything for now. Joyce has left the country. She won’t be showing up in our lives again,’ thought Tuff.
After giving himself another pep talk, Tuff finally managed to calm down a bit. He kept pestering with questions, but since Kayla wasn’t up for talking much, Giovanna had to step in and answer Tuff for her.
Finally, Giovanna couldn’t take it anymore. “You’ve got way too many questions. I’m outta here.”
“Honey, you’re way too worked up,” Kayla said, laughing softly. It was just a minor surgery to get rid of some scars. Nothing to worry about.
“Honey, honey…” Tuff whispered, pulling her into a gentle hug, his voice tender and loving.
Kayla closed her eyes, savoring the moment. With him by her side, every hardship in her life was worth it.
Later that evening, Amelia and Landon stopped by to check in and dropped Landen off on their way. Landon noticed Tuff didn’t look right and asked, “Hey, are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” Tuff replied, trying to act casually.
Landon gave him a scrutinizing look. “Good. Let me know if you run into any trouble.”
“Of course,” Tuff replied, nodding quickly.
‘Yeah, right. Like I’d ever tell you about Joyce! You’d probably skin me alive,’ Tuff thought.
To throw him off, Tuff quickly changed the subject. “So, you’re taking over the research department?”
“For now,” Landon replied, idly fiddling with a cigarette. The way Landon was messing with his cigarette made it obvious to Tuff that he was stressed out. Tuff tried to reassure him, “Hey, at least working in the research department means you’re not out there risking your neck anymore. Amelia won’t have to lose sleep over you.”
“I’ll toss this job sooner or later,” Landon said with a sigh. However, he had to do what was expected of him since he was in charge. Honestly, he didn’t want to deal with the Flying Tiger Sect at all these days. Every time it crossed his mind, it drove him up the wall.
Tuff gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “So, when are you heading back?”
“What about you guys?” Landon shot back.
“We’ll figure it out once your sister’s face is healed,” Tuff replied.
“I’ll wait, too,” Landon said.
Tuff was speechless.
‘Honestly, I wish Landon would hurry up and get out of here,’ he thought. With the whole family hanging around, Tuff felt like he was under constant surveillance. The pressure was suffocating.
Days went by smoothly, and for once, Maggie didn’t pick on Kayla at all. Kayla loved the rare peace, chilling at home and letting her face recover. Whenever she got bored, she’d have Amelia and Edith come over to hang out.
Her face finally healed half a month later. Her beauty was back. Those nasty scars were gone, replaced by soft, fair skin that looked almost perfect. There were still some faint traces around the edges, the kind one’d expect with fresh new skin. Honestly, nobody would notice unless they were looking for it.
“It’s finally healed! Kayla, you’re gorgeous!” Amelia cried, her eyes brimming with happy tears.
“Of course! The genes of the Kingsley family are unbeatable!” Kayla grinned, admiring herself in the mirror. After so long with those ugly scars, she almost didn’t recognize the stunning woman staring back at her. ‘This is the real me. So beautiful,’ Kayla thought, her heart swelling with joy.
“Kayla, now that your face is healed, we can finally head home without worrying,” Landon said, holding up his phone to snap a picture to send to their mom.
Amelia rolled her eyes and snatched the phone out of his hands. “I’ll take it. Your photography skills are terrible.”
“Well, guys only care if the person’s in the frame. You can’t expect too much from them,” Kayla teased, joining in on the fun at Landon’s expense.
“Landen went to buy you some flowers. He’ll be so happy when he gets back,” Tuff said, grinning like a fool. Time has finally cast the shadow of the Joyce incident out of his mind.
Kayla ran her hand over her newly healed face, feeling deeply content. ‘When Landen has a parent-teacher meeting again, I’ll be able to show up myself,’ Kayla thought, a sense of anticipation bubbling up inside her.
“Ma’am, something’s wrong… Mr. Kimsey is missing!” The butler rushed in, his panicked voice breaking the calm in the room.