Chapter 16%
Justin sat in the car, motionless, as if frozen.
His cell phone was pressed against his ear and the assistant’s soft but sharp voice came from the other end.
“Mr. Sutherland, I’ve looked into it.“2
“Madam did indeed love cats very much. She had two when she was little, one named ‘Din Din‘ and the other ‘Tiffy.‘ Both were strays she found on the street.”
“She believed cats should be free, so she let them roam. Every evening, she’d crouch on the balcony, waiting for them to come home. Even if the wind was strong, she’d just sit there with a book in her arms and wait. If they didn’t return, she’d sit the whole night.“>
Justin closed his eyes for a moment. His fingers trembled slightly.
There was a pause on the line before the assistant continued.
“Later, after her real identity was exposed and before the Jamesons kicked her out, Din Din died in a car accident. She buried it herself, but Tiffy was locked up at the Jameson residence and she couldn’t take it with her.“}
“She thought Lilian was the Jamesons‘ biological daughter, that everyone liked her, so they would probably be good to the cat. That’s why she didn’t immediately ask for it back.“}
When Justin heard that, his throat moved with a sharp swallow.
“But… Lilian didn’t take care of it.”
The assistant’s voice grew tight. “She didn’t like cats. Said they were annoying, shed too much and scratched up the furniture. She locked it in a storage room and said, ‘Let it adapt on its own.”}
“Tiffy starved to death.”
Justin suddenly opened his eyes, bloodshot in his eyes and his knuckles turned white.}
How could the gentle and considerate Lilian, he thought could do such a thing??
If she hated cats so much, then the girl he thought had buried one with her hands… was that really her?>
Suddenly, he couldn’t bear to face the answer.
His whole body went cold. His throat tightened. A storm of emotions surged inside him, so heavy he couldn’t speak.}
But the assistant didn’t stop and the voice continued to come from the other end of the phone.
“Madam… she actually had a very pitiful life. When she lived with the Jamesons, she was treated as a tool for marriage alliances. They gave her the strictest education, all so she could marry well one day.“}
“The only one who ever cared for her was her grandmother.”}
“But her grandmother passed away when she was eighteen.“}]
“Then her real identity was exposed. The Jamesons kicked her out like a stray dog. That same night, they cut off her bank card and sent her to her birth parents. And those birth parents … ”
The assistant’s voice shook. “They weren’t even human. They locked her in the backyard pigsty and didn’t feed her for three days.“}
The assistant actually said so much on purpose. Those subordinates could all see Justin’s love for Francesca and truly felt it was unfair to her.
Justin’s eyes instantly turned red, as if the scalding liquid was burning its way out.
He felt cold all over, his mind buzzing and it was as if someone was loudly questioning him in his ears.
Why didn’t you investigate properly?”
Why did you always think Francesca was the malicious one?
What right did you have to give Lilian all your trust and tenderness yet leave her with coldness and suspicion?
Justin stiffly moved his fingers, gripping the phone so tightly that his knuckles cracked.
He remembered what I had once told him. “Cats are adorable; they will only get close to people who are truly kind to them.“@
At the time, he had just nodded, not taking it to heart.”
Thinking about it now, that sentence was my cautious attempt to test him.”
Like those two cats, I told him my heart was full of holes, yet I still longed for a place to belong.”
And he had extinguished the only light in my heart, little by little, with his own hands.
Suddenly, Justin covered his eyes and chuckled softly, the sound bordering on a breakdown.
He knew the truth now, but I was dead.”
The person willing to squat all night for a cat, the person who said, “As long as you’re happy,” those eyes so gentle they seemed untouched by the world, would never look at him again.”
He didn’t even have time to say, “I’m sorry.”
