Chapter 395

Chapter 395

No wonder when I first met Emily, she was so melancholy and lifeless. If it hadn't been for the fact that 'Alice' was still out there somewhere—giving her something to hold onto, forcing her to keep going—she probably would have wasted away long ago.

And the person responsible for all of this? Even now, he showed no remorse. He'd never once considered making amends or paying for what he'd done.

My face remained expressionless. From my demeanor and movements alone, Robert couldn't tell whether I'd truly decided to kill him.

The answer was no.

Death would be too easy for Robert. If he simply died, it wouldn't come close to balancing out the twenty-plus years of pain and torment Emily had endured. He needed to suffer a fate worse than death.

He should live in agony every single day—just like Emily had for the first twenty years of her life. Only that would count as an apology. His body and mind both needed to be subjected to utter devastation. Only that would count as atonement.

I'd lost interest in hearing Robert's so-called 'truth,' but I'd already decided what his ultimate fate should be. What came next was simply the process of making it happen, step by step.

In the brief silence, Robert couldn't help himself. He opened his mouth to make excuses. "What happened back then—I didn't do it on purpose. Emily and I both had excellent genetic test results. I just wanted us to have an even better child, so I... I did some things. I admit it—I secretly arranged for a private doctor to inject her with something. But I was deceived too!"

"That damned private doctor lied to me. He said those injections would help Emily give birth to a high-IQ child. I believed him, and it turned out I was scammed!"

I let out a cold laugh. "And you think that's enough to wash your hands clean? So where is this private doctor? Who is he? Where is he now?"

"I don't know! I can't find him—I just can't find him! I knew this would all come back on me in the end. I had no choice but to kidnap James. That bastard vanished like he'd evaporated into thin air. When Emily gave birth to James and there were problems, do you think I didn't want to track him down and settle the score? I couldn't find him!"

"And then when Emily was pregnant with you, even though she didn't get any injections that time, you still turned out wrong." Robert suddenly started crying. "Believe me, I really regret trusting that private doctor back then. Who would want their own child to have problems, to be disabled?"

"Emily wasn't the only one who got mocked, you know. It's all that doctor's fault. He was too good at pretending. He said the side effects of those drugs were minimal, practically negligible—especially for someone as healthy as Emily. He claimed there'd be virtually no side effects at all. I saw he was a returnee with an advanced degree, with years of experience working at top-tier hospitals abroad. That's why I chose to trust him."

"I never wanted to hurt Emily from the start, Alice. I'm begging you—everything I'm saying is true. Please believe me."

In the end, Robert didn't want to burn bridges with me. He was afraid I'd kill him outright. After all, he valued his life above all else. But in his eyes, I was a cold-blooded daughter—and a crazy one at that. If he pushed me too far, I might 'lose my mind' and take his life without caring what happened to James.

But that phrase he'd used—'vanished like he'd evaporated into thin air'—struck me as oddly familiar.

I asked, "You've been talking all this time and still haven't told me the private doctor's name. What's wrong—haven't finished making it up yet?"

"Of course not!" Robert got so worked up he choked on his own saliva and started coughing. "I'm not making it up! His name was Jerry. Jerry!"

"I'll never forget that name as long as I live! He's the one who ruined me, who deceived me—that's why I ended up hurting Emily..." Robert carefully propped himself up and knelt obediently before me. He even seemed like he wanted to grab onto my legs and beg for mercy, but fear of angering me made him think better of it.

Jerry.

Ha... him again.

My expression darkened.

But Robert misread it as a sign that he'd successfully redirected my hatred toward Jerry.

He still held out hope. "Alice, can you forgive me for my moment of foolishness back then? At the end of the day, we're still family. I didn't want to kidnap Emily either—we're family! Why does it have to come to this? Don't worry, I just had someone hide Emily away. As long as nothing happens to me, no one will do anything to her. I promise you—I just don't want to die!"

"What happened back then... you can't blame it all on me..."

I lowered my gaze to look at Robert. "When did I ever say I was going to kill you?"

Robert stared blankly at me for a few seconds. For once, his mind worked quickly—he didn't take this as forgiveness. "Then you... you want to make me wish I were dead? You want to torture me?"

Since he already knew, why bother asking?

I let out a cold laugh. "What happened back then can't be blamed entirely on you? If you wanted to have a healthy, exceptional child, why didn't you have Jerry inject you? Why did you just take his word for it when he said the drugs had almost no side effects? Because those drugs weren't going to be used on your body—that's why you let Mom become Jerry's experimental sacrifice. Robert, you deserve death a thousand times over."

And after all these years, Robert hadn't felt even a shred of guilt for what he'd done to Emily. He'd even had the nerve to have an affair and look for someone else to give him healthy children. The thought made me take a deep breath, forcing down the urge to snap his neck right then and there.

Robert saw no hope whatsoever of reconciliation. He swallowed hard. "I already said I was foolish back then. Whatever—nothing I say now will make a difference anyway. Alice, I don't care whether I can win against you or not—I've already made my move against James. We've been enemies for a long time now. I don't care if you believe me or not, but whatever harm comes to me will happen to James too. I guarantee it—whether you cripple me or kill me, James won't fare any better. Maybe you don't care about James's safety, but what about Emily?"

Robert suddenly started laughing.

"Robert," I raised my eyes and stared coldly at him, "I'm going to make you understand what happens when you cross me."

"Fine! Great! I'll be waiting!" Robert knelt on the ground, but spoke with surprising defiance.

I turned and left.

Right now, the most important things were finding James and keeping Mom's emotions stable—not standing here trading pointless barbs with Robert.

Behind me, Robert alternated between crying and laughing. "What sins! What sins! What misfortune for this family—to have raised a daughter who wants to kill her own father!"

I ignored him, went downstairs, got back in the car, and called Emily again. When she answered, she was clearly trying to steady herself, but her voice still trembled.