Serena, her voice choked with sobs, struggled to speak. Her tears fell like pearls from a snapped string, rolling down her cheeks one after another.
"I didn’t an to. Seeing Granny hurt like this, I bla myself. I wish I could take on all the pain myself."
The crowd watched her weep, her hair disheveled, and her clothes damp with tears.
"Why did the wheelchair slip?" Rosemary asked.
"The flowers in the garden were in full bloom, and it was so beautiful. I wanted to take Grandma there to see it and pick so flowers to put in her room. But the branch was too high, and I accidentally bumped into the wheelchair when I jumped down."
Perhaps realizing that she was at fault, Serena cried even harder, hugging Louisa tightly.
"Mom, I didn’t an to. Grandma has been so good to for eighteen years. I would never want to hurt her. I was just trying to pick so flowers for her. She loves flowers so much."
Louisa patted her back. "Crying won’t help now. Just be more careful next ti. Your grandma hasn’t recovered yet, and this fall will only make her suffer more."
"I understand, Mom. I won’t act on my own anymore. I’ll ask for your approval before I do anything. I won’t let Grandma get hurt again."
Serena’s crying was heart-wrenching.
A maid, unable to bear the sight, stood up to testify.
"I saw the wheelchair roll away from a distance. Serena tried to save Old Mrs. Griffith right away, but the wheelchair was too heavy, and it was moving too fast. Serena was dragged along and fell even farther than Old Mrs. Griffith."
"Let Serena change her clothes first," Sampson suggested, then turned to the caretaker. "Rose will stay with Old Mrs. Griffith. You go check if Serena is hurt and give her so dication."
"Yes, sir," the maid replied, approaching Serena.
Serena was still weeping. "Uncle Sampson, I’m so sorry. I didn’t an to."
At that mont, Rosemary noticed Old Mrs. Griffith on the bed open her eyes slightly, and heard a weak voice.
"Rose."
"Grandma, I’m here." Rosemary leaned in closer imdiately. "Are you feeling okay? Do you feel unwell anywhere?"
"My stomach. I feel nauseous. I think I’m going to be sick." The expression on Belinda’s face was one of great discomfort.
"Take it easy. I’ll help you up." As Rosemary was about to lift her, a maid brought a trash can, and Belinda vomited violently.
"Snow fungus soup?" Rosemary recognized it imdiately. "Who fed Grandma snow fungus soup?"
The maid glanced nervously at Serena.
Serena looked puzzled and explained, "I did so research online and found that snow fungus soup is good for nourishing the lungs and stomach. So I made so for Grandma since she used to enjoy it. Is there a problem?"
Another maid brought a cup for Belinda to rinse her mouth. Yet another brought a warm towel to wipe her face. A third handed Belinda a cup of warm water to soothe her throat.
Rosemary helped Belinda lie down slowly after turning on the air purifier.
"Grandma has poor digestion. The snow fungus and sticky rice in the soup would burden her stomach and cause bloating."
"I didn’t know." Serena was flustered. It was only a bowl of snow fungus soup—how could it cause bloating?
"Serena, in the future, if you want to feed Grandma anything, ask the caretaker or Rose first." Louisa didn’t expect this to happen, causing her mother to suffer unnecessarily.
"She ant well. She just didn’t know." Kenneth tried to pacify the situation. "Let’s take Serena to change her clothes first."
They’d been sitting there for quite a while now. Serena might catch a chill. People might think they were punishing the child this way.
"Dad, Mom, Uncle Sampson, David, Rosemary. I really didn’t know that the soup would give Grandma bloating."
Serena’s tears fell once again. "All I rembered was that Granny loved it, so I made it for her to please her. I just wanted to get closer to Grandma."
"Go ahead," Sampson said gently. If it had been a servant who was so careless, he would have fired them long ago.
"Rose." Belinda on the bed spoke weakly, "My stomach hurts."
"I’ll give you a little massage." Rosemary had a knack for massaging the stomach area.
Before leaving the bedroom, Serena saw Rosemary carefully sitting by the bedside, looking after Grandma.
All she heard was Rosemary softly asking, "Does that feel a bit better?"
Belinda on the bed replied, "Yes, much better."
Their conversation made Serena’s tears well up once again.
Why? Why did she try her hardest to save Grandma, only to have Rosemary steal the lilight?
She was the one who had fallen and nearly broken her bones.
She just wanted to be closer to Grandma.
Why was it so difficult?
"Do you believe when I say it was an accident?"
After leaving Granny’s bedroom, Serena, full of grievances with no one to confide in, could only ask the caregiver beside her.
The caregiver kindly said, "Serena, it must have been an accident. Don’t worry. Your family doesn’t bla you, and neither does David. Rose only asked about what happened to better care for Granny. You shouldn’t feel too bad."
Serena was even more upset after hearing this and began to cry harder.
After a while, the caregiver returned to attend to Belinda. Sampson asked quietly, "Are Serena’s injuries serious?"
"So are bleeding, so are bruised and swollen. She has quite a few injuries— even more than Old Mrs. Griffith. She cried while we were treating her wounds, out of guilt."
Everyone around felt uneasy.
After Belinda’s fall, Rosemary stayed for an extra day until Clark called to say that Carol couldn’t hold on anymore, and was even coughing up blood.
Only then did Rosemary bid farewell to Belinda.
"Why don’t you stay a few more days?" Belinda was so fond of her. Rose had been so ticulous in her care these past few days that Belinda felt she would miss her.
"Rose has classes to attend and work to take care of," Sampson gently said. "Once you feel better, I’ll bring you to visit her."
Rosemary also softly said, "I’ll co and visit whenever I can."
"Promise you will." Belinda held the girl’s hand and couldn’t let go. "As soon as I can get out of bed, I’ll co and visit you."
"Okay, it’s a deal."
"Take this with you. Open it when you get ho." Belinda handed a finely crafted small wooden box to Rosemary. "This is my gift for you. You must accept it."
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