Chapter 468: Chapter 468: Who is the Most Shameless?
Julian Caldwell tried to placate Susan Caldwell. "How could I not trust you? Itâs precisely because I trust you that I want to get to the bottom of this. Our Susan is so exceptional; how could she possibly do something like that? Thatâs why you arenât afraid of your mother investigating, right?"
Julianâs words, however, only backed Susan into a corner. She had no choice but to brace herself and say, "I have a clear conscience, so Iâm not afraid of an investigation. Itâs just... for Mom to do this clearly shows she doesnât trust me. Iâm so hurt."
After a momentâs thought, Julian said, "Your mom is just angry right now. Iâll talk to her for you later. Just promise me you wonât get upset with her over this."
Susan nodded.
Father and daughter spoke for a while longer before Julian left Susanâs room.
The moment he left, Susanâs expression turned ugly. She had to find a way to stop Winter Sullivan from investigating her activities at Trellis; otherwise, many other things would be dragged out into the open.
But she was torn. âHow can I stop Winter from investigating me?â
After a moment of deliberation, Susan had a plan.
She pulled open a drawer and took out a box of pills. A ruthless glint flashed in her eyes as she took out two and swallowed them.
An hour later, she began to run a fever, her body shivering uncontrollably.
When the housekeeper came upstairs to call her to dinner, she noticed something was wrong and immediately called for Julian Caldwell and Winter Sullivan. The pair tried to take her to the hospital, but she seemed delirious, constantly muttering, "I didnât do those things... Why doesnât Mom trust me? Iâm so miserable! I donât want to go to the hospital! Just let me die!"
"All my life, youâve only ever had your research! You never paid any attention to me! I wanted to be close to you, but I never dared!"
"I worked so hard to be better... All I ever wanted was to make Mom proud."
She repeated these three sentiments over and over, her words jumbled and incoherent. With her face flushed from the high fever, she looked absolutely pitiful.
As a mother, Winter Sullivan was not made of stone. She let out a soft sigh upon hearing those words.
She didnât know why, but she had never been able to feel close to Susan, her own biological daughter. It was as if... as if Susan wasnât a child she had given birth to. The feeling was strange, but undeniably real.
Julian looked at her and said, "Winter, you scared Susan today."
"I didnât scare her." Winter Sullivan sighed. "I just wanted to be sure."
"Susan is our child. How could we not know what kind of person she is?" Julianâs heart ached as he looked at Susan in such a state. He turned to Winter and said, "I trust Susan. Drop the investigation into Trellis!"
Winter Sullivanâs brow furrowed slightly. Susan was the only granddaughter in the sprawling Caldwell family, so all the elders spoiled her rotten. And Julian had always doted on his daughter; how could he possibly bear to see her in such a state?
She glanced at Susan. Even though they had never been close, Susan was still her daughter. She couldnât just stand by and watch her suffer like this.
So, she gave a slight nod.
At her nod, Julian let out a huge sigh of relief. Being caught between his daughter and his wife was awful; he was afraid of angering his wife and just as afraid of wronging his daughter. Thankfully, his wife had finally relented.
When Susan saw that Winter had agreed to drop the investigation into Trellis, a wave of relief washed over her, and she stopped resisting the trip to the hospital.
Winter watched Susanâs reaction from the sidelines, her brow twitching slightly. She had always known this daughter of hers was a schemer. Todayâs incident was likely just one of Susanâs little ploys. She may have promised Julian, but she was still going to investigate what needed to be investigated.