Chapter 12
I felt waves of pain throughout my body. I wanted to drink water but couldn't reach the glass.
The driver must have taken Celestia home by now; otherwise, Jessa's mother might manipulate the child.
I had to protect my child. If they reached into my family and used Celestia to threaten me in the future, I'd be completely helpless.
Nola had been driven away by Levi's anger. I didn't know if she'd come back to stay with me. Levi was heartless, too, just saying someone at home would handle things. But who would take care of me?
I used to be able to take care of myself, but now I'd just had surgery and was still dealing with post-anesthesia effects. To keep my child from worrying, I'd been holding it in, but I'd actually been wanting to throw up for a while.
So weak, so weak. That helpless feeling from childhood came back. I instinctively pulled at the blanket, but still felt cold.
Suddenly, there were small sounds at the door - people whispering.
"Is this the room?"
"I asked at the nurses' station. She's in this one."
I perked up my ears and caught the gist. Could it be Jessa and her mother at the door?
Sure enough, the next second, Jessa and her mother, Arabella Pearl, pushed the door open.
"You little bitch, you got my daughter hurt. Why didn't you die with your mother!" Arabella started right in with the foul language.
After all these years, she looked much older. I'd heard she'd had multiple plastic surgeries to hold onto Chase's heart. Didn't seem too successful now.
"Blair, Levi's been with me the whole time. If I hadn't told him to go home and rest, he wouldn't have left tonight."
They came to bother me right after Levi left.
I didn't want to say a single word to them.
Arabella crossed her arms. "Listen here, you little bitch. Don't mess with us. I could deal with you people back then, and I still can now."
"Blair, are you mute? Say something."
Jessa was always impatient, getting angry when she couldn't get a reaction.
Arabella sneered. "Jessa, don't get worked up. Don't hurt yourself."
"Mom, she's just playing dead."
They went back and forth. I wasn't angry. I almost wanted to laugh.
After all these years, they still had the same talent for making trouble. No matter how bad things were for me now, I wasn't that helpless little girl anymore.
"Blair, if you were a bit fatter, I might not have even scraped my skin last night." Jessa pointed at her arm. "Though it does hurt a little. Compared to you, it probably doesn't count as pain, right?"
I couldn't understand her. Did she have to compete even over getting hurt? If she hadn't been holding onto me so tightly, I wouldn't have been injured this badly.
"Are you really mute?" Arabella was losing it, too.
I closed my eyes, still not wanting to deal with them.
No matter how nasty their words were, I wouldn't fight back. Right now, they had all the power, and I was at their mercy.
Jessa came closer. She actually put her hands on me.
She grabbed my face. "Divorce Levi, and I'll let you off."
I endured the pain and pried her hand away, my eyes searching for my phone. If she hurt me again, I'd call the police.
"Looking for something? Your phone?"
Jessa laughed. "Too bad. I just saw Levi give your bag to the driver to take away."
"See, he didn't even think about what you'd do without your phone."
I went numb. Jessa had really thought this through. She knew I was helpless now, so they could do whatever they wanted.
I used all my strength to try to press the call button in the room. My back hurt terribly. Just as I was about to reach it, Jessa pushed me down.
"Blair, you still want to call for help? Look around - who's going to care about you!"
Jessa held down my arm while Arabella moved in, raising her hand to hit me. They were bullying me without any fear.
Would the grown-up Blair still get bullied?
"You little bitch..."
Arabella's face, twisted with hatred, scared me. When I was little, she'd bullied my mother with that same look. That fear came back...
"Stop!"
The door was pushed open hard. Aiden's men ran over and held Arabella back.
It was like a ray of light before my eyes. That familiar feeling of being saved.
I breathed heavily, my heart racing. I'd almost been hit.
Aiden walked to my side. "I'd like to see who dares bully my granddaughter!"
"Grandpa..."
I wanted to sit up, but Aiden's warm hand comforted me.
"Just lie down. I'm here."
Arabella instantly deflated, quickly making excuses.
"Oh, it's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..."
"I was just about to fix Blair's messy hair..."
Aiden wasn't stupid. He ignored her.
"Grandpa, Mom and I came to visit my sister. I'm in the room next door. I really shouldn't have upset her last night. We were just discussing a small issue, and she got a bit worked up..."
Jessa looked carefully at Aiden. She wanted to get into the Morgan family - she couldn't offend them.
"The security cameras show everything clearly."
Aiden looked at her. "Don't play games. I know exactly what kind of person Blair is. By the time I found out about what happened back then, it was too late. Otherwise, I never would have let you bully her like that!"
"Mr. Aiden Morgan, please calm down. Jessa and Levi are childhood friends. We've always felt our two families were meant to be connected."
"Levi is already married. You need to know your place."
Aiden's tone wasn't heavy, but it carried real authority.
Had Aiden used strong-arm tactics to get rid of Jessa when she was clinging to Levi and trying to stop him from marrying me?
This had made Levi resent him for years.
"You came back to the country, which already broke the agreement. You won't be getting any more money."
"Mr. Aiden Morgan, you said we'd get it every year. You can't go back on your word."
Aiden scolded her. "You were dishonest first."
I quickly pieced together what they meant. Had Aiden been giving them money all along? And the condition was that Jessa would go abroad?
"Grandpa, I really love Levi. We ran into each other by chance. He and Celestia were going to..."
"Blair needs to rest. Don't disturb her again, or I won't be polite." Aiden was done looking at them.
Jessa wanted to argue, but Arabella gave her a look, and she swallowed her words.
"Mr. Aiden Morgan, we meant no harm. We just came to see Blair. She's Greer family blood - that can't be changed."
Arabella smiled and added, "About that money..."
"Not happening!"
Aiden quickly shut down that idea.
I was puzzled. Had Chase stopped giving them money? If Jessa really loved Levi, why would she have accepted Aiden's terms back then? Maybe Aiden had used money to test her true feelings.
I was ten when I left the Greer family. I knew nothing about their lives in the years after. I only knew that when Aiden arranged for me to marry Levi, the Greer family made a scene, but then suddenly went quiet.
If this accident hadn't happened, Aiden might never have let me know about all he'd done.