Chapter 230: Chapter 230

They’re trying to resuscitate her in the emergency room now. Let me take you there,” Michael said courteously.

“No need for that,” I said, then glanced back at Steven. “Stay put with your IV. I’ll be back soon.”

Steven glowered at Michael at that moment. He wanted to get out of bed to keep me company.

“The doctor said you can’t get out of bed, so behave yourself,” I stopped him from following me.

He had quite literally shot himself in the foot with his earlier demands.

Steven clenched his fingers and glared at Michael.

This time, Michael was the one who shot Steven a challenging look.

“Whether she’s Stephanie or Stephany, I’ll take her away from you regardless,” Michael said warningly to Steven.

Then, he walked to the door and continued, “Steven, I could snatch her away from your once, and I can do it again.”

Not long after I left Steven’s ward, I heard a loud crash. I was worried and wanted to turn back to check on Steven. However, Michael merely urged me along and said, “Grandma Rosie’s condition isn’t looking too good. The doctors have already labeled her as being in critical condition.

“You’re her only living relative, so you’ll need to sign some papers.”

Grandma Rosie was still being resuscitated in the emergency room. Halfway through, the doctor came out of the room to mentally prepare us for the bad news. Then, I was asked to sign some papers.

I felt very anxious. I folded my hands together in prayer. I prayed to the higher powers above that Grandma Rosie would be safe.

Even though she wasn’t actually my grandmother, she had raised Stephany. Besides, I had assumed her granddaughter’s identity.

no immediate danger to her life for now. She’ll be transferred to the observation ward, though. Your grandmother is pretty elderly and 90 percent of her cerebral blood vessels are blocked. At her age, we wouldn’t recommend surgery or any stenting procedures.

Take good care of her in recent days. This time, she suffered a sudden heart attack. It was luck that kept her alive this time round,” the doctor said.

1 nodded hastily and thanked the doctor. Then, I sat by Grandma Rosie’s bedside.

“Stephie, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Michael said softly to console me.

I found his presence very annoying. “Michael Ford, this has nothing to do with you. She’s my grandmother. You can leave now.”

“Stephie…” he persisted in calling me that.

“Please, Stephie, can we talk?” he continued in a hoarse voice. It sounded as if he wanted to explain himself.

“I do love you…” Michael said.

I frowned and felt nauseous upon hearing that. My stomach churned as I barked out, “Fuck off.”

“I read your diary. You wrote that I didn’t love you and that I’ve always despised you and never trusted you…” Michael murmured with his head lowered. It looked as if he was speaking to himself, seemingly unaware of who he was even talking to.

He seemed to have convinced himself that I was Stephanie Carlson and felt compelled to make amends with her through me. His behavior was downright despicable.

“I love you, Stephie. I love you more than anyone else. I just couldn’t believe that you could love me back,” Michael said. His voice was hoarse as he grasped my wrist.

He continued, “You were resistant to the marriage alliance. It was clear that you didn’t want to marry me. You were the one who used to love someone else. I knew that you never really paid any attention to me.

“I just couldn’t believe that you had really fallen in love with me. In fact, I didn’t even want to believe it at first. I thought…”

interrupted him with a sneer, “You thought that Stephanie had ulterior motives, didn’t you?”

Then, I shook Michael’s hand off and continued, “Michael Ford, you’re so full of yourself.

Just thinking about how Stephanie might’ve really loved someone like you makes me pity her.

Michael bowed his head low. He had a guilty look on his face, yet he was powerless to do anything about it. “I Just…”

He wanted to explain himself and justify everything. But he couldn’t.

‘Stephy… Annie…” Grandma Rosie kept calling out for Stephany and Ann in her unconscious state.

Stephany and Ann were switched at birth, after all. Perhaps Ann’s parents had intentionally switched them years ago.

However, Ann’s parents both passed away when Stephany was in her teens. The Larsons never investigated the matter further. They had even favored Ann over Stephany because Ann had been the one they raised.

The Larsons regarded Stephany as nothing but an uncultured country bumpkin. They even feared that she would disgrace the family.

Ann was Grandma Rosie’s biological granddaughter, after all. It was only natural for her to miss and think about her all the time.

However, it didn’t matter how much she cared about Ann. Ann was never going to visit her at the hospital.

“Stephie, you were seriously injured and in a coma for seven whole days when you arrived at my house at the age of 18. When you woke up, you seemed to have lost a lot of your memories.

“You asked if I was the one who saved you at the time. At the time, I was very selfish. I lied and said that I was. I’ll admit that I’m at fault for that,” Michael whispered.

He continued to speak about the past, “My mom said that your condition was unstable, after all. But because of the amnesia, the psychological illness you used to have suddenly disappeared. It was a blessing in disguise.

“Even so, I always got the feeling that you were faking it, I thought you were doing it because of your parents‘ deaths. I honestly thought you were faking it on purpose to benefit from the Carlsons.”

Michael kept talking. He didn’t care if I wanted to hear what he had to say or not.

I found him annoying at first, but after hearing him talk about me having had a mental disorder in the past, I tensed up subconsciously.

turned to look at him and asked, “What do you mean by that? Are you saying that Stephanie used to be psychologically ill?”

“So you’ve really forgotten…” Michael murmured and looked up at me.

“When you were a lot younger, you were locked in a dark basement in the orphanage for quite a long time. When Mr. and Mrs. Carlson found you, you were fading in and out of consciousness. After that, you received many years of psychological therapy.”