Chapter 180

Chapter 180

William tried to talk to Amelia, using the gentlest voice possible, patiently comforting her over and over again.

"Amelia, no one's going to hurt you. We're all here."

William kept talking, and Amelia seemed to respond a little.

But when the next jolt came, what little rationality she had completely vanished.

Amelia started frantically pounding on William's back again, and this time she even pulled and scratched him, drawing blood on his back.

"Brian, I hope you rot in hell!"

She screamed, her sharp voice piercing everyone's eardrums.

"Mom, it's me, Emily. Don't be scared, everything's going to be okay."

Emily tried to calm her from the side, forcing down the panic in her own heart.

The next second, a backpack suddenly fell from in front of her.

Emily instinctively leaned back, barely dodging the suddenly falling backpack.

If she hadn't moved, she probably would have been hit and badly hurt.

But before she could recover from the shock, something fell straight down from the overhead compartment.

She couldn't dodge it in time!

But no one expected that a flash of clarity would suddenly appear in Amelia's cloudy eyes, and her movements abruptly stopped.

She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and lunged forward with all her strength, pressing Emily tightly beneath her, arching her back and shielding her daughter with her entire body.

"Don't hurt my daughter! Don't hurt my Emily..."

She muttered, her voice hoarse but filled with an unquestionable protective love.

"Bang!"

Another violent jolt, and the plane tilted sharply.

Amelia's forehead slammed hard into the edge of the metal tray table in front of her with a dull thud that made everyone's ears ring.

Bright red blood immediately gushed out, sliding down her temple and dripping onto Emily's cheek and neck.

"Mom!"

Emily let out a heart-wrenching cry, her whole body trembling.

"Mom, are you okay? Don't scare me!"

She struggled to sit up, looking at the blood continuously seeping from Amelia's forehead, her face deathly pale, yet still holding her tightly and refusing to let go. Her heart felt like it was being stabbed by countless needles, a dense, overwhelming pain.

The emotions she'd been holding in finally collapsed completely at this moment. Tears flooded out, blurring her vision.

So no matter how sick she was, no matter if she recognized people or not, no matter if she was lucid or not, the maternal love carved into her bones would never disappear.

When danger came, her first thought was always—to protect her daughter.

The flight attendant and the onboard doctor took advantage of a calmer moment to rush forward. One person held Amelia's body steady while the other quickly pulled out the first aid kit and rapidly disinfected and bandaged her wound.

Perhaps after the intense pain, Amelia's struggling weakened, and she looked at Emily with a somewhat confused expression.

"Emily... my Emily..."

She reached out her hand. Emily quickly grasped her cold hand and pressed it against her own face, her voice choked with tears.

"Mom, I'm here. I've always been here. Let's not talk about unhappy things anymore. Let's talk about when I was little, okay?"

She gently stroked Amelia's hair, her voice very soft, slowly recalling those warm moments.

"Mom, do you remember? When I was little, I always liked to sleep in your arms. You always said I was like a little cat. And you used to braid my hair, buy me strawberry cake, take me to school..."

"Back then you held my hand and said you'd protect me forever."

At this point, Emily broke down in tears.

Amelia's eyes gradually softened, her breathing slowly steadied, and she murmured in response.

"Yes, protect Emily. I'll protect you forever."

Her hand gripped Emily's tightly, as if holding onto the only support in the whole world.

William stood to the side, the blood on his forehead not yet dry, but he didn't move, watching the mother and daughter with heartache in his eyes.

He didn't interrupt, he simply signaled the flight attendant to dim lights and keep things quiet so Amelia could calm down.
As Emily murmured gently, Amelia felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier.

Finally, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, exhausted.

After examining her, the doctor breathed a sigh of relief and said quietly, "Let her sleep. It's good for her condition right now."



Emily nodded, gently laid Amelia flat, covered her with a thin blanket, and continued holding her hand, unwilling to let go.

But she was lost in memories, unable to pull herself out.

Emily murmured softly, tears still on her face.

"We were so happy back then. I thought it would always be like that... but I was wrong."

At this point, her voice stopped abruptly, her face turning pale.

Panic and pain filled Emily's eyes, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

That part of the past was the darkest nightmare of her life, a wound she dared not touch.

Seeing this, William's heart tightened, and he immediately stepped forward to pull her into his arms.

"Don't be afraid, Emily. I'm here. I'm right here, no one can hurt you."

Hearing William's gentle reassurance, Emily gradually calmed down.

"Emily, can you tell me what happened to you?"

Meeting William's serious, worried gaze, she looked away, biting her lip and shaking her head forcefully.

"I don't want to talk about it. William, please don't ask, okay?"

She didn't want to bring up that past again.

William gently cupped her face, making her look at him. His eyes were firm and serious.

"I want to know everything about you—the happy things, the unhappy things, the painful things, the grievances. I want to know it all."

"If you keep these emotions buried in your heart, they'll be like a thorn constantly pricking you. Sooner or later, these suppressed emotions will become your demons, your nightmares."

"You can trust me, you can tell me. I can bear it with you."

William's gaze was too gentle, too firm, and Emily could no longer refuse.

She leaned into William's embrace, his scent filling her nose, and the tightly wound strings in her heart finally loosened.

After a long while, with a heavy nasal tone, she slowly began to speak, word by word, revealing the past that had been sealed away for years.

"I didn't grow up with my mom... I was switched at birth when I was little."

At this point, Emily's hands unconsciously clenched into fists.

"The year before I met you, I was found and brought back to this family. Back then, I'd suffered a lot out there. Suddenly returning to a wealthy family, I didn't understand anything and was so careful, afraid of doing something wrong. I thought I finally had a mom and dad, had a home. But I never expected..."

Emily paused here, her throat tightening, tears sliding down again.