Chapter 208: A Slip Up
Waverly’s face shifted between shades of pale and flushed as she was lectured. “I didn’t read my daily horoscope today!” she exclaimed, despite being the victim. “I’m being reprimanded by these so-called family members of mine, one after the other! I threatened to take my own life to escalate the situation so that the whole Goodridge family would hold Raylee accountable. Well, that worked out nicely, didn’t it? Raylee has escaped deserved punishment and lucked out, ending up with significant shares!”
Extreme inner turmoil and envy distorted Waverly’s facial expression. However, she made a concerted effort to keep her emotions in check, feigning docility. “You’re right, Samuel. I must strengthen my resolve in the future, so you won’t have to worry about me. However, now that the stupid old hag has given all her shares to Raylee, will you be at a disadvantage, Samuel?”
Both Harriet and Samuel were greatly startled by those words. For the first time, Harriet showed a serious expression. “Wavy, how could you call your grandma a stupid old hag?”
“Exactly! Even if Grandma was biased, you shouldn’t have said that about her! She’s our elder!” Samuel said, annoyed. It was only then that Waverly realized what she had done, inadvertently voicing her internal term of endearment for Vera. She immediately blurted out in panic, “No… Mom, Samuel, I have a lot of respect for Grandma… I just… Well…”
In her desperation, she offered an excuse: “I had a grandma back at my adoptive parents’ house. She used to hit me a lot when I was little, so I would vent my frustration by calling her a stupid old hag.”
“Oh, I see.” Harriet’s heart softened when she saw Waverly’s tears welling up. She quickly comforted her, “Wavy, you’ve had it tough. Forgive me for not finding you sooner.”
Samuel, however, fell into deep thought. He had previously investigated Waverly’s adoptive parents; her adoptive father was an orphan without a mother… How could she have had a grandma then? Could he have remembered it wrong?
Waverly glanced at Samuel, quickly changing the subject. “Samuel, I should thank you and Casimir for risking your lives to protect me tonight. Otherwise, the outcome would be unthinkable. I might have ended up like Raylee, locked away in prison, or even worse, lost my life.”
Upon hearing those words, Samuel again fell into deep thought. Would the consequences have been so dire if he hadn’t saved Waverly? Would it have been imprisonment or death? The look of despair and helplessness Waverly wore at the party… Raylee had the same look back then, didn’t she? What had he done then? He protected Waverly, leaving Raylee as the sacrificial pawn, bearing all responsibilities alone. He blatantly ignored her pleas for help and disregarded the hope she had vested in him. He watched her as she was thrown into prison, yet he chose to turn a blind eye. He protected Waverly tonight, but he was a bastard four years ago! Why couldn’t he have been brave enough to step forward back then? Had he risked his life to protect Raylee back then, would she have been spared those terrifying misfortunes?
Over at Goodridge Manor, Raylee once again expressed her gratitude toward Vera. With those shares in hand, she could legitimately become part of Goodridge Group’s board of directors. Perhaps her influence was even greater than Samuel’s. Suddenly, she had the power to deal with the Goodridge family. There and then, Raylee found herself filled with confidence about the future. However, her inability to use Tiffany’s hand to bring down Waverly left her somewhat dissatisfied. It didn’t matter, though. Waverly’s reckless actions at the banquet had successfully caught Tiffany’s attention. Hence, Tiffany would be watching Waverly like a hawk afterward. The days for Waverly would only become increasingly difficult. After all, the Goodridge family couldn’t possibly protect her twenty-four hours a day for the rest of her life.
In the middle of the night, a sudden jolt of pain abruptly roused Raylee from her sleep. She sat up, only then realizing that she was already drenched in sweat, having soaked both the sheets and the pillow. The pain surged through her like an electric current, reaching every nerve in her body. It was so intense that it felt as if a swarm of ants were gnawing at her bones. The discomfort was so unbearable that she wanted to scream.
Fearing that Vera would notice, she forced herself to hold back, biting her tongue hard until the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. “What on earth is happening? Am I suffering from some illness?”
After she endured the pain for roughly ten minutes, the intensity finally began to subside a bit. Raylee collapsed weakly onto the bed, her face devoid of any color. She was so pale, it was as if she had been dead for three days and three nights. She was gasping for air, on the verge of losing consciousness, even close to succumbing to the overwhelming pain. She reminisced about her days in District Nine Prison. There, she had endured inhuman abuse and punishment. She had spent countless nights enduring intense agony. She thought she had become immune to pain. Yet, the pain she experienced moments before was a hundred times more intense than what she felt back then.