Chapter 238: Don't Hate Me
"What did you say?" Tristan frowned. "How is that possible?"
Harriet's tears streamed down her face. "Do you think I'm naturally gifted, that I could easily surpass Mr. Jones in medical skills? It's because the person who taught me medicine before him was Dr. Smith!"
"You never told me." Tristan's heart skipped a beat. "You two clearly didn't know each other. She even thought you lacked talent and refused to teach you medicine!"
"I never said anything because I swore an oath never to reveal the relationship between us." Harriet cried. "Because of her extraordinary medical skills, countless people were after her. She was even locked up once, held captive, unable to be free."
"Later she went into hiding under a false identity. When she had nowhere left to hide, she actually used connections to disguise herself as a prisoner and hid in jail. That's where we met—in prison."
"Tristan, before I went to prison, you told me you'd arrange everything, that I wouldn't suffer. But do you know what I went through in there?"
Tristan remembered Lark's dying words, and his fingers trembled involuntarily. "Harriet, please, don't say it..."
"Why not?" Harriet smiled bitterly, tears flowing even harder. "I was beaten every day. I was almost assaulted by the female inmates in my cell. When they couldn't assault me, they wanted to kill me."
"That last time, they tried to assault me again in the bathroom. I fought back with everything I had, so they stabbed me in the stomach with a sharpened toothbrush."
"I bled so much. Just when I thought I'd die from blood loss, Ondine appeared. She saved my life, pulled me back from death's door."
"After I recovered, she used her connections to transfer me to her cell. She had a cell to herself. I lived with her and finally escaped those demons."
Tristan's hands clenched tight, his knuckles turning white. "Then she taught you medicine, and you recognized her as your godmother?"
"Yes. At the time, I didn't know she was the legendary Dr. Smith."
"Her medical skills were amazing, and she held nothing back from me. I wanted to become her student, but she said she didn't take disciples."
"She was an orphan with no family, no husband or children. So I recognized her as my godmother."
"The night before I was released, she made me swear that once I walked out that door, we didn't know each other. I could never tell anyone about our relationship or try to find her. Even if we met again in this lifetime, we had to pretend not to know each other."
"I didn't know why, but I knew she must have her reasons. So I kowtowed to her and agreed."
"Actually, the first time Mr. Jones was amazed by my medical skills and asked if I knew Dr. Smith, I had a vague guess about my godmother's identity."
"Later, when the Romanov family found her and we met at Lark's hotel, we still pretended not to know each other."
"It wasn't until we went to the hot spring villa and confirmed no one was watching that I called her godmother. But she immediately made me kneel as punishment, saying that no matter when or where, whether anyone was around or not, I couldn't call her that."
"She was afraid walls have ears, afraid people would know about our relationship, afraid they'd know Dr. Smith taught me medicine. If that happened, I'd walk her same path—never have peace, not even freedom."
"I cried and said okay, said I'd never do it again. But in my heart, I'd already decided—I'd find an isolated place. After she cured your mother, I'd have her leave Emberfall, go somewhere no one could find her, where she wouldn't have to hide anymore and could live in peace."
"Tristan, I even picked out a place. This trip abroad wasn't just for work—I wanted to buy a private island overseas for my godmother to live on."
"But you..." Harriet grabbed the front of Tristan's shirt. "You killed her. She was one of the people I cared about most in this world, and you killed her with your own hands!"
"Harriet, I didn't know about your relationship!" Tristan explained anxiously. "You should have told me!"
"I wanted to tell you. You're my husband, the person closest to me in this world. I didn't want to hide it from you." Harriet said with regret. "But my godmother wouldn't let me. She said even with the closest people, you can't be completely open."
"I couldn't go against her instructions. I could only hint to you that she was very important to me, asking you to protect her."
"But Tristan, you killed her!" Harriet stared blankly at the Tristan before her. "You say she was your mother's killer. But to me now, you're my mother's killer too."
Tristan closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. "Harriet, listen to me. Last night the medical examiner gave the results—my mother did die of poisoning."
"I called Ondine. On the phone, she didn't admit to poisoning her, but she didn't deny it either. She told me to come to the hot spring villa to talk face to face."
"When I got there, the villa was already on fire. I was about to go in and save people when I saw Xavier run out. Ondine had a gun and was going to shoot Xavier. I didn't have time to think—I shot her."
"Then you arrived. You only saw me shoot her. You didn't see her trying to kill Xavier."
"No!" Harriet shook her head. "She had no grudge against Xavier. Why would she shoot him?"
"I don't know, but in that moment, I didn't have time to think. I could only choose to save Xavier."
Harriet's tears streamed down. "You have your reasons, but you didn't ask about what happened before you acted."
"I'm sorry..." Tristan gripped her shoulders. "Harriet, I really didn't know about your relationship. If I had known..."
"If you'd known, would you have let her go?" Harriet interrupted him. "Even if I had no relationship with her, that's still a human life!"
"If she really did poison your mother, she should have been punished by law!"
"Tristan, she showed me such great kindness, and I never got to repay her, not even for one day!" Harriet's heart felt like it was being cut by knives, tears falling like broken pearls. "I didn't even get to say goodbye to her properly."
"I'm sorry." Tristan held her tight. "Harriet, I'm begging you, please don't hate me."
Harriet closed her eyes, letting the tears fall.
Harriet stayed in the hospital for one day. Early the next morning, hearing that the hot spring villa had been cleared, she immediately checked out and rushed over.
The once luxurious villa had become ruins.
Harriet shook violently!
"Mrs. Lancaster," Ryder stepped forward, handing her a blackened object. "Besides some remains, we only found this at the scene."
Harriet took it and used her clothes to wipe it clean. Under the dirt was a pocket watch.
Harriet opened it. The hands had stopped, frozen at 10:20 last night—exactly when the explosion happened.
Harriet pressed a hidden button on the side. The face switched to reveal a photo.
It was a picture of her and Ondine together.
Harriet's tears instantly poured out. "This watch was a gift from me. I had it specially made with a hidden compartment that others couldn't find. She loved it and said she'd wear it close to her every day."
"Mrs. Lancaster, Dr. Smith was the only person in the villa at the time. The remains can only be hers."
Harriet's face went pale. She laughed uncontrollably. "Dr. Smith saved countless lives, and in the end, she didn't even have a complete body."
"Ryder, don't you think this world has gone crazy?"
"Why? Why!" Harriet knelt toward the villa and kowtowed heavily. "I failed to protect you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
In the distance, Tristan watched her grief-stricken, desperate figure. His heart felt like it had been struck by something heavy—the pain made it hard to breathe.
After a long while, Harriet finally stood up. She wiped away her tears, her pale face full of cold determination.
"Where is Gemma's body?"
Ryder's heart jumped."Mrs. Lancaster, why are you asking about this?"
"You don't think I'm going to do something to her body to vent my anger, do you?" Harriet smiled bitterly. "I'm not that extreme. It's just that you all keep saying Gemma was poisoned by Dr. Smith, so you had to kill her for revenge, leaving her without even bones. Shouldn't I investigate this matter thoroughly and clear her name!"
Ryder spoke with difficulty. "But Mrs. Gemma Lancaster's body has already been cremated. The funeral is scheduled for this afternoon."
Harriet laughed coldly. "Is this a rush to destroy evidence?"
"Harriet, what do you mean by that!"
A familiar voice came from behind.