After Five Years of Lies, I Left the Family and Made Them Regret It Chapter 02

After Five Years of Lies, I Left the Family and Made Them Regret It Chapter 02

When I was wheeled out of the operating theatre, there was only an empty visitor’s chair beside me.

Once the anaesthetic wore off, the pain kept me awake all night.

A relative of the patient in the next bed couldn’t bear to watch any longer and handed me my cup of water.

She asked, “When’s your husband getting here?”

I kept staring at the door, telling myself the same thing over and over.

“Soon.”

But morning came, and no one showed up.

Back at the hotel, the slideshow kept playing.

Adrian was in every single video.

He changed Noah’s nappies, cradled him in his arms, and fed him.

When Noah had a fever, Adrian stayed beside his bed all night without sleeping.

For four years, every time that child needed him, Adrian had been there.

The video soon moved on to Noah learning to walk for the first time.

Adrian crouched on the carpet and opened his arms to him.

“Come on, Noah. Daddy’s right here. I’ve got you.”

The little boy was still unsteady on his feet and had barely taken two steps before he pitched forwards.

Adrian caught him at once and lifted him high into the air.

Laughter filled the ballroom.

Mum pointed at the screen fondly.

“He was such a timid little thing. He wouldn’t take a step unless he could see his daddy there waiting.”

My eyes stayed locked on the date in the lower-right corner of the video.

That was also the day I tried rehabilitation without crutches for the first time.

My physical therapist at the Hospital for Special Surgery told me to walk the entire rehabilitation corridor on my own.

I fell the moment I took my first step.

I scraped my knee and tore the skin on my palms.

I hauled myself back up by the railing, only to fall again and again.

By the time I reached the halfway point, the pain was so bad I couldn’t keep going, so I called Adrian in tears.

“Could you come and sit with me for a bit? It hurts so much, Adrian. I don’t think I can keep going.”

He was silent for a few seconds before answering, his voice edged with impatience.

“Evelyn, the whole point of physio is to get you walking on your own. I can’t trail after you for the rest of your life, holding you up. You’re not the frightened little girl the Bennetts took in anymore. Stop expecting everyone to look after you.”

Then he hung up.

In the end, I gripped the railing and made my way out of the rehabilitation unit alone.

Every step hurt until my leg went numb.

And at that very same time, Adrian was crouching in front of another child, telling him gently, “Don’t be scared. Daddy’s here. I’ll always catch you.”

The pain in my left leg grew worse.

I couldn’t stay on my feet any longer, so I leaned against the wall of the Plaza Hotel hallway and slowly sank down, still clutching the gift box as the ribbon pressed a deep mark into my palm.

Light spilled through the narrow gap in the ballroom doors and stopped just in front of my shoes.

It came so close, yet never fell on me.

Inside, everyone was still laughing.

By the time the video ended, Serena’s eyes were red.

“Mum, Dad, thank you. If you hadn’t sorted out the house, the doctors and the security in Montreal, I don’t know how I’d have managed with Noah.”

Mum immediately took her hand.

“You’re our own daughter. Of course we were going to protect you.”

Dad sighed.

“You’re the one who’s had the hardest time of it these past five years.”

Serena wiped at her tears, then asked suddenly, “Do you really think Evelyn will come?”

Mum was quiet for a moment.

“She said she wouldn’t last night. But Evelyn knows where she stands in this family. Once she’s had time to think, she’ll turn up.”

Serena immediately tightened her arms around Noah.

“Then what are we going to do about Noah? If she sees him, won’t she hate me all over again?”

Mum hurried to reassure her.

“We’ll have the nanny take Noah out before Evelyn arrives. If she does find out, we’ll say you adopted him in Canada.”

There wasn’t the slightest trace of concern in Dad’s voice.

“What are you so frightened of? She’s only an adopted Bennett. She has no real claim on the family, her leg’s in that state, and she has no family of her own to back her. Without Adrian or the Bennett name, where exactly would she fit in New York society?”