Chapter 184 Deception
"I... I need to go. Denny's dad hasn't eaten yet. I have to go home and cook for him."
Marlee was panicking beyond control now. She ducked her head and tried to escape but Lucas blocked her path.
"Mrs. Elikin, until we get to the truth, you'd better not leave."
Marlee exploded, her emotions went off like fireworks.
"Why can't I leave? I told you that I don't know this woman and I didn't hurt her! You're not the police. You have no right to hold me here!"
She shoved Lucas, trying to get around him. But he stood firm like an iron wall, blocking her escape.
Sweat beaded on Marlee's forehead. No matter how hard she tried, Lucas wouldn't budge.
"If you didn't hurt her, then when she wakes up, you'll be cleared. What's the problem?"
Lucas shot back.
"Denny's dad hasn't eaten! If I don't go back, he'll starve. His health is bad, the doctor said he needs regular meals."
She clung to that excuse, desperate to leave.
Zachary ordered Lucas.
"Place an order for a delivery and have it sent over."
Lucas immediately arranged it.
"Mrs. Elikin, please." Lucas gestured toward the room. Marlee had no way out now.
---
Inside the room, everyone crowded around the bed.
Quinley stayed by Elise's side. Elise was so thin, her hands a network of veins.
Once, Quinley had cursed fate for giving her life without birth parents. But now she was grateful, fate had brought her to her real mother when she needed her most.
"I need to use the restroom."
Marlee started toward the door.
"There's one in here."
Lucas blocked the exit again.
All of Marlee's escape routes crumbled. She had no choice but to return to her spot and wait.
---
Two hours later, Elise slowly opened her eyes.
"You're awake?"
Quinley gripped her frail hand, smiling through tears.
Elise's tired gaze swept over Quinley. She sighed heavily. "How did I get here?"
"You were hurt. Someone brought you to the hospital."
Zachary stood and walked over.
"Do you remember who hurt you?"
Elise shook her head weakly without turning around.
"Was it her?"
Zachary pointed at Marlee.
Marlee tried desperately to make herself invisible, but it didn't work. Elise's eyes landed on her.
"It wasn't me! I don't know you, and I didn't hurt you!"
"But I know you. You're Marlee."
Elise said her name without hesitation.
Twenty-five years had changed them both, but Elise recognized her immediately.
"You... you've got the wrong person. I'm not—"
"I'd know you if you turned to ash. Twenty-five years, and you're still the same, just older."
Elise tried to sit up so Quinley quickly supported her.
"Don't move. Let me raise the bed for you."
She propped pillows behind Elise and adjusted the bed.
"You went there to find her?"
Quinley asked.
Elise exhaled sadly. "Yes."
"Why would you look for me? We haven't had anything to do with each other for over twenty years. You—"
Marlee scrambled to distance herself from Elise.
"We have no connection? Have you really forgotten how you took my daughters from me?"
Old wounds reopened. Tears flooded Elise's eyes.
"I didn't! You asked me to watch them, and then you left! I didn't take your children!"
Marlee kept denying it.
"Do you dare swear to heaven that you didn't steal my daughters?"
Elise's voice rose, emotion overwhelming her.
Marlee went silent. She fidgeted, just wanting to get out of there.
"My boyfriend died. We had to rush back for the funeral. We couldn't take the babies, so we asked you to watch them. But when we came back, you told us they'd both died from high fevers."
At the word 'died', Elise broke down sobbing. Her thin body trembled.
Quinley was stunned.
She never imagined that twenty-five years ago, Marlee and Colin could have done something like this.
"They... they did die from illness!"
Marlee's voice was small, but she kept arguing.
Quinley couldn't take it anymore. Her chest hurt so much she could barely breathe.
She looked at Marlee coldly. "No. They're alive."
"No, they died. I buried them myself. How would I not know?"
Marlee kept lying.
But in that moment, Quinley made an impulsive decision.
"Mom, stop lying. Just tell the truth."
The room fell silent.
Marlee's whole body jolted. She couldn't believe her ears.
"What... what did you just call me?"
Quinley didn't answer.
Marlee muttered to herself, "Are you Quinny? No, you can't be my Quinny. Quinny's dead."
She walked over and grabbed Quinley, looking her up and down.
Even that close, she didn't recognize her.
"Who are you? Tell me—"
"I'm Quinley. I didn't die. I'm alive."
Quinley swept back her bangs.
She'd gained weight, changed her appearance. But if you looked closely, traces of the old her remained.
Marlee's face drained of color.
"You... you didn't die?"
"No. I'm alive. I'm sorry I hid it from you. Mom, I'm grateful you raised me. But now I need to know the truth. Did you trick my mother and take me?"
Quinley needed answers.
Marlee had nowhere left to run.
"Quinny, listen, I didn't have a choice! Your dad and I had been married almost five years without any children. People talked about him behind his back. We desperately wanted a child of our own!"
"So you stole someone else's children?"
Quinley's voice shot up.
Marlee choked. She covered her mouth, tears streaming down.
"Quinny, I'm sorry. I know nothing I say now will help, but I really had no choice back then! I raised you. I always treated you like my own daughter!"
She kept trying to justify her actions.
"What about the other child? What did you do to her?"
Elise couldn't take it anymore. She pounded the bed, shouting.
Marlee stopped talking. She just kept crying.
"I don't know where she is. I really don't know."
She clutched her head, covering her ears.
"She sent that child to an orphanage."
What Marlee wouldn't say, Zachary said on her behalf.
The answer hit Elise like a freight train. She couldn't control her emotions and passed out.
Lucas rushed to get the doctor.
Marlee kept crying. She grabbed Quinley's arm, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Quinny, I'm sorry! I was wrong! Can I apologize? We're family. You won't hold it against me, right? Quinny, come home with me. Come home, okay?"
She pulled at Quinley's arm, trying to drag her away.
Quinley yanked her arm free.
"If you wanted a child so badly, why did you send the other one to an orphanage?"
"Because... because you were both so sick. So sick. We didn't have enough money to treat you both, so... so we left that child at the orphanage..."
Before Marlee could finish, Quinley closed her eyes in agony.