“But I can see how sharing our love would make Lila resent us. What should we do next?” Sebastian didn’t say a word for a long time and then he finally said, “Now that things have come to this, what’s your next move? Are you going to side with Lila?”
Johanna turned to look at Natalie and said, “I’m going to ask Lila why she didn’t tell Natalie about the broken string.” Johanna still harbored some hope for Lila.
“We have to investigate this matter,” Natalie said and pursed her lips together tightly. Even though she said it in a gentle tone, she looked very sullen.
“If it was really Lila, I won’t let her get away with this!”
Lila burst into tears and ran out of the hospital after being questioned by Sebastian. She had nowhere else to go. She didn’t dare to head home, nor did she have any friends who would be willing to take her in. She could only stay in a hotel for the time being.
She had no idea what to do next at all.
After eating a meal, she hid in the hotel room and cried sorrowfully for hours on end. She knew that she was left with no other choice now. Even though Sebastian hadn’t gotten any hard evidence to prove that she did it, he would probably still tell Beal and Johanna about it. They would be really disappointed in her. She had no idea if they would kick her out after they learned about this. Lila cried all night long. She was flustered and scared, at a complete loss of what to do next. No one could get her out of this fix now.
At this time, she suddenly thought of Zoe. She proceeded to give Zoe a call. Charis had been waiting for Lila’s call this entire time.
“What’s the matter? How was your day today?”
“Something happened to Natalie’s parachute today. It malfunctioned ans she fell into the forest!” Lila said while weeping at the same time.
“Is she dead? No… I mean, how could such a thing happen? Was she hurt?” Charis was so excited to hear the news.
Fortunately, she was talking to Lila on the phone now and Lila couldn’t see just how excited she was. Lila cried even more bitter tears and filled her in on the whole story.
All of a sudden, there was no response from Charis.
“Zoe? Are you still there? Hello?” Lila called out her name several more times.
“Yes, for a moment there, I was only trying to help you figure this out. You can’t make up lies to defend your actions now. I suggest you admit to it and apologize for the matter. Try acting like you really regret it. I believe your parents still love you. If they saw your regret, at least they wouldn’t kick you out of the family.”
“But I dare not see them right now.” Lila blew her nose into a tissue. Charis heaved out a long sigh and said, “You have to do this. If you don’t say something now, it only means that you don’t regret doing this at all. In this way, your parents will only grow more disappointed in you.”
After hearing this, Lila stopped her tears and asked, “Should I head out and go see them now?”
Charis rolled her eyes to the ceiling and said, “It’s midnight now. Your parents might have already gone to bed. Bring gifts to the hospital to see them tomorrow morning and make sure you act sincere!”
After hanging up, it was hard for Charis not to curse Lila’s stupidity. How stupid was she really? She actually divulged the truth?
To make sure everything happened according to her foolproof plan, Charis never intended to get Lila involved too much. Lila was only the bait to get Natalie out in the field.
Charis had bought off Lila’s coach and had her tamper with Natalie’s parachute. In that case, even if Lila saw that the string was tampered with, she would have nothing to do with it. Charis never expected that Lila would actually be so stupid. “What an idiot!”
Charis rubbed her aching temple with her fingers and cursed out loud. From this point on, the Whites, Natalie, and Brandon would be on guard against Lila. But Charis could do nothing about it now. It had already happened.
The only thing she could do now was try to help Lila stay in the White family. After all, Natalie didn’t perish in the accident. Lila might become useful to her again some other time. Charis hoped in her heart that she could continue using Lila as her pawn.
The next morning, Lila arrived at the hospital with various concoctions with her. She knocked on the door and entered the ward.
Both Natalie and her parents were genuinely taken aback at her appearance. They hadn’t expected her, of all people, to pay a visit.
After hearing everything from Sebastian just the day before, Beal and Johanna just couldn’t bring themselves to be amicable with Lila now.
“What are you doing here?” Beal asked.
Contrary to his characteristic disposition as a loving father, he now pulled a long face to show his disgruntlement. Johanna didn’t even afford Lila a cursory glance and kept her gaze averted from the offending woman.
Lila really didn’t expect the two of them to be so openly cold towards her. According to what Charis had told her, she started to cry bitterly in front of her parents and Natalie.
“Dad, Mom! I am so sorry!”
After saying that, she got down on her knees before them to beg.
Finally, Beal and Johanna were softened. In any event, Lila was raised by them. Over the many years of her life with them, they had always treated her as their own flesh and blood. Regardless of the fact that Lila didn’t achieve good grades at school and also didn’t have any ambitious inclination, they never cared about it in the least bit. For them, as long as she was happy, everything was just swell.
“What are you doing?” Johanna looked at Lila with a frown creased across her forehead. She felt crestfallen. Lila cried with absolute hysteria.
“I clearly saw that there was something wrong with Natalie’s parachute, but I deliberately concealed it from being discovered. I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry.”
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Fearing that Beal and Johanna would abandon her, Lila sobbed her heart out. This time, she wasn’t acting. Her eyes were bloodshot red and swollen from all her bawling. She even cowered in a subservient, apologetic manner before Natalie. Natalie was also frightened by this uncharacteristic behavior. She hadn’t imagined in her wildest dreams that Lila would actually put aside her dignity.
“Don’t do that.” Natalie turned her head away with deliberation. Her heart had also softened when she saw Lila’s genuine display of regretful emotion. Lila wiped her tears away and said, “Before Natalie came into my life, Dad and Mom only loved me. I felt sad and couldn’t accept the sudden change, so I did such a stupid thing.”
Lila looked truly remorseful about her actions and genuinely seemed overcome by guilt. But in actuality, her apology was coming from a place purely of fear and not sincere regret. Why hadn’t Natalie died in the accident? Why did she have to be married to such a powerful, influential man?
If Brandon hadn’t put great pressure on Lila, she wouldn’t have spilled the beans out of sheer nervousness. Lila bowed before Natalie so many times that her head actually suffered an injury. The wound was open and bleeding. The droplets of blood dripped down her forehead into her eyes. Both Beal and Johanna couldn’t help but feel compassion and forgiveness for her. In their eyes, Lila had realized her mistake and regretted it deeply. Lila used to be an arrogant girl. In the past, even if she did something wrong, she would never bow her head and admit her mistake. Johanna closed her eyes for a while.
Now that she had witnessed Lila’s sincerity before her own eyes, her tone became more gentle and she said, “You are not utterly unreasonable.” Beal sighed heavily.
Truth be told, just last night, he had considered breaking off all relations with Lila permanently. He looked at her teary eyes and said in his deep voice, “Lila, you have really done the wrong thing this time. We are very disappointed in you.”
Hearing this, Lila felt as if she had been struck by lightning straight in the heart. She knelt down in front of Beal and begged,
“Dad, I am really sorry. I swear that nothing like this will ever happen again. Don’t abandon me, please!”
Beal looked at her and said, “I have decided to give you one final chance only for the sake of your twenty-year family relationship with the White family. Lila, neither your mother nor I ever asked much for you, but you at least need to know what you should do and what you shouldn’t. Behave yourself and think it over. Don’t let such a thing happen again.”
Lila nodded as tears profusely streamed down her cheeks. Although Beal didn’t say it in a blatant, straightforward manner, his meaning was as clear as day. If something like this ever happened again, he might just kick her out of the White family for good.
“Yes, absolutely! It won’t happen again.” Lila nodded submissively.
Natalie cocked her head to the side. She didn’t have any deep feelings or emotions for Lila as her parents did. Beal’s words seemed to convey that he had forgiven Lila. Wiping her tears, Lila turned to look at Natalie.
“Natalie, are you feeling any better?”
“What do you think?” Natalie snapped coldly.
“I fell from a height of a thousand meters. God, I will never try skydiving again.” The incident had left an indelible scar on Natalie’s heart. She had become afraid of heights now and wouldn’t try any adventure sports that involved flying in the air ever again. This one experience had impacted her for a lifetime.
Natalie looked at Lila’s puffy, bloodshot eyes. There was not even a trace of regret in them. She knew Lila had no regrets, nor did she repent for her mistakes. Lila’s dramatic apology seemed insincere to her. She didn’t mean a word she had said. However, Beal and Johanna felt bad to see their daughter kneel before them and apologize, so they forgave her. Natalie couldn’t say anything either. Johanna subconsciously held Natalie’s hand, her eyes gleaming with pain and guilt. If she hadn’t been careless, Natalie would have been their only precious daughter. She wouldn’t have encountered such problems.