Christopher warned bluntly, "Wendy, I know you’ve had a difficult life these past years, but that doesn’t give you the right to vent your anger on others, to envy others, or worse, to hurt others. Listen to —go ho and get proper rest. Stop quarreling with Mom. She’s worried sick about you all these years. You shouldn’t make her sad."
His words were earnest and full of concern, yet in Wendy Hart’s ears, they rang with an entirely different tone.
She smirked, cold and detached, "Brother... you rember to care about now? Is it because you know I’m about to die?"
Christopher: "You’re my sister. I’ve always cared about you."
"Really?" Wendy continued to laugh with self-mockery and sarcasm. "I may be sick, but my mind and eyes work perfectly fine. I can perceive, I can see..."
"These past years, you didn’t care about at all. It was as if I didn’t exist. But when we were kids, you weren’t like this. Ever since you beca childhood sweethearts with Alia, your eyes and heart no longer had room for your sister..."
"Back then, everyone thought she was dead. I knew... you were heartbroken, you were grieving, and deep down, you even hated , didn’t you? Thought I tore you two apart, made her suffer so miserably..."
"That’s why what you showed was surface-level concern, polite but distant—nothing like the genuine love and protection a brother should show his sister. You probably resent for burdening you, for using morality to force you and Lily together. You’ve been delaying the marriage all this ti as a silent protest against , against the whole situation."
At first, her laugh was scornful and self-deprecating, but gradually, it was tinged with choking sobs, her cries coming in fragnted gasps: "Twenty-sothing years of living... that’s really enough. Finally, I can be freed. I won’t make Mom and Dad worry anymore, won’t burden you anymore... Once I’m gone, you can be with Alia properly. You five as a family—it’s so enviable..."
Christopher listened to his sister’s complaints—or perhaps accusations—and for a mont, didn’t know how to respond.
Because most of what she said was true.
But still, she was his blood sister, and gravely ill. As her elder brother, he couldn’t replace or truly help her. If he were to harbor resentnt or bla toward her—he would be no better than a beast.
So these thoughts, he had never confided to anyone—not even Benny Palr.
But now, it seed evident that even without his saying anything, many people had already noticed.
Wendy surely knew, and undoubtedly, their parents knew as well.
So the dissatisfaction their parents felt toward him wasn’t rely about their resistance to Alia but also stemd from blaming him as a brother for favoring an outsider over the life and death of his own sister.
This tangled ss of grievances had long since beco impossible to untangle.
Perhaps, as Wendy said, only her departure could bring an end to it all.
But while her death might free her, what of their parents’ grief? Would they be able to let go, to co to terms?
If they couldn’t, then Alia would still never be fully embraced by the Hart family, and the barriers in their relationship would persist.
Would he have to wait until his parents were no longer around before they could truly be together?
Christopher held his phone, allowing his sister’s accusations to evoke a myriad of thoughts. His heart was overwheld with helplessness.
"Wendy..." His heart stirred with guilt and pain. He unconsciously called her by her nickna and urged softly, "No matter what, your health is the most important. Listen to ; go ho."
Wendy seed to have wiped her tears away. Her voice sounded a bit more composed, "My body is already like this. I don’t have many days left anyway. Instead of lying in bed at ho waiting to die, I’d rather see more of the world."
"Then who’s with you? I’ll send soone over to look after you."
"No need. A friend is with ; I’m fine..." Her voice had beco much more docile.
Christopher suddenly felt at a loss for words.
A mont later, she spoke again, "Brother, since all these grievances stem from , why not let be the one to end them? Find a ti and bring Alia and the kids out. Let’s et. Before I go, I want to clear the air about everything."
Christopher’s face showed doubt. "You an... you want to apologize to Alia?"
"Sothing like that..."
Christopher hesitated.
Without eting her face-to-face, he couldn’t imdiately judge the sincerity of her intentions.
They say that a dying person speaks kind words.
He wanted so badly for Alia to receive goodwill, for his family and his love to coexist harmoniously, and he wanted... to fulfill his sister’s last wish.
So, after a brief hesitation, he agreed, "Alright, just pick a ti and co to Imperial Garden."
"Alright."
Christopher thought, in his territory, under his watch, nothing should go wrong...
————
Right as she was about to finish work, Alia received a WhatsApp ssage from Snow Fitch.
It was a financial news article.
She found it odd—why send this? Upon closer inspection, she saw that it ntioned Seal-Cloud Corporation, instantly catching her attention.
Snow sent a voice ssage next: "What’s going on with Seal-Cloud Corporation? And what’s this Summit Industries all about? Why are they suddenly buying a large amount of Seal-Cloud’s stock? I just overheard colleagues saying it sounds serious. Does your Mr. Hart know anything about this?"
Alia asked her for the news link, and Snow promptly sent it.
After reading it, Alia’s face unconsciously turned serious. "I only just found out about this. I haven’t heard Christopher ntion it before. I’ll ask him tonight."
"Hmm, let’s hope it’s just a false alarm. After all, with Seal-Cloud’s size, generally speaking, no company could swallow it whole."
Venus hadn’t gone public yet, so Alia still wasn’t well-versed in listed companies’ stock market maneuvers. She did so online searches but found mixed opinions.
She had originally planned not to bother with him today nor go to Imperial Garden. But now... she couldn’t let it go.
She picked up her phone and called him, but for a long ti, no one picked up.
What’s going on? Still busy at the office?
With his health, could he handle such intense work every day?
She worried for barely a second before thinking about how this jerk could work all night for his sches—so what was one regular workday?
Hmph, not bothering anymore.
She contacted Fuller and Aunt Harper, instructing them to pick up the kids and bring them to her place to try on new clothes, planning to spend the night there.
By the ti her three little ones should have arrived ho, she, too, got off work.
On her way ho, Christopher returned her call.
"You called ?" The man’s voice was heavy with panting, his tone sowhat breathless.
Alia frowned while listening. "What are you doing? Why are you panting like that?"
"Just finished exercising. My phone was in my outer coat pocket—I didn’t hear it ring."
"Exercising? And you even took off your coat?" On her end, she sounded even more incredulous—clearly, her thoughts had veered into the wrong direction.
Christopher understood her implication, deliberately chuckling mischievously. "What are you thinking? This ti, I didn’t lead you on—don’t bla again."
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