Chapter 39 Damn It! Tilda!

What Tilda mentioned had just happened not long ago, a raw and merciless experience that came crashing down on Tilda like a tragedy she couldn’t escape.

And right now, Wade felt like nothing but a hypocrite.

Even if he was supposed to be the “main guy” of this story, he couldn’t come up with a single word to defend himself.

What kind of person treats his sister, who was lost for 19 years, only just found again, like this?

“Real family isn’t supposed to be like this… At least… it shouldn’t be like the one I have.”

Wade clawed at his hair, dropping into a crouch on the ground, helpless, broken.

It was such a simple truth.

Yet Wade had never understood it.

Every word Tilda had thrown at him replayed in his mind, hammering against his skull like chains he couldn’t break.

Even Wade himself thought he was disgusting.

Clive came looking and finally spotted him, crouching down and pulling at his hair.

“Wade? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Noticing something was seriously off, Clive rushed to his side.

At his voice, Wade slowly lifted his head, his eyes meeting Clive’s.

And Clive froze.

He had never seen Wade’s eyes so empty and dark, as if someone had ripped half his soul away and left nothing but a hollow shell.

“Clive… do you think I’m cruel? Twisted?

“If it were you—if your sister had been gone for 19 years—would you have treated her the way I treated Tilda?”

Wade’s lips moved weakly, his voice barely there.

“Did Tilda say something to you? Wade, snap out of it!”

Clive grabbed his shoulders and shook him, as if he was trying to drag his soul back into his body.

“Clive, I’ve never hated myself like this. I’ve never felt so filthy inside.

“Tilda wasn’t wrong. Every word I said just now was rotten, so rotten that even I couldn’t stand it—I wanted to puke.

“I actually thought… I actually thought that if Tilda had shown her talent earlier, maybe I would’ve looked at her differently.

“But I forgot–she’s my sister. Our bond should never have been about something so cheap, so selfish, so disgusting as talent.”

The more Wade spoke, the more it felt like his throat was stuffed with hot wax–thick, bitter, and suffocating.

Each word he forced out burned like it would rip his throat apart.

“Wade, what the hell….”

Clive didn’t even finish before Wade’s breathing turned rough, ragged, frantic.

“Wade! Wade, stay with me!”

When Blair got the call, she rushed to Orica University with Russell and Howard, who had just returned from leave.

In the infirmary, they found Wade fast asleep, lying pale as a ghost while hooked to an IV drip.

Clive and Kyla sat worried at his bedside.

“Dad… Mom…”

Kyla’s face was swollen from crying and was drenched in tears. The second she saw Blair and the others, she threw herself into their arms like someone drowning, desperate for something to hold onto.

“Wade… Wade…”

Blair hugged her tight, calming her. “Kyla, breathe. Tell me what happened exactly?”

Sniffling hard, struggling to speak through sobs, Kyla stammered, “W–Wade went to see Tilda, and then he just… he just collapsed.

“And earlier today, Tilda broke Wade’s record. Wade must’ve been too stressed. Wade’s always been so proud… If Tilda said something cruel in her anger, if she cut him down with her words…

“Mom, I’m so scared. What if something happens to Wade?”

Clive frowned hard.

Something about Kyla’s words felt… off.

But then the feeling quickly slipped away.

Because, really, what Kyla said sounded true.

Looking at her now–crying her eyes out, face red and blotchy, eyes swollen with grief, and voice shaking with fear–there was no way it looked fake.

She had even rushed over right after hearing the news, skipping her class.

From every detail, it looked real and straight from the heart. She seemed genuinely worried about Wade.

Russell clenched his jaw, snapping at Clive. “Clive, is this how it really happened? Exactly like Kyla said?!”

“I–it’s mostly true, but…”

“Damn it! Tilda!”

Russell spun on his heel and stormed out of the infirmary.

“Honey, where are you going?”

“Where do you think? I’m gonna make Tilda pay! She actually hurt Wade. It’s unforgivable!”

“Honey!”

Not even Blair could stop him this time.

Because to a father, seeing his most gifted, most treasured son lying helpless on a hospital bed, pale and unconscious, with an IV in his arm, and knowing the one to blame was the daughter he already threw away, the child he hated most, no man could stay calm.

“This is bad… Mom, Dad’s gone after Tilda. And when Dad’s angry, he’s terrifying–he might actually hurt her. Mom, please, you have to stop him! I’ll stay here and watch Wade. He’ll be fine with me.”