Chapter 93
Tyler stopped bothering Olivia. After looking at her for a long time, he
got up and left. The door clicked shut behind him.
As soon as he left, Olivia slumped, her thoughts weighed down by
Julia's words and the memory of
the slap.
The following day, she visited the hospital and stood outside Naomi's
room. Tyler and Julia were present as well.
Olivia didnât make eye contact with anyone as she walked in. She
immediately offered her apologies, " I'm sorry, Naomi.â
Everyone, including Tyler, who sat by the bedside, turned their attention
toward her.
Naomi responded gently, âWhat are you apologizing for, Olivia? This is
my fault. How can I blame you for this?"
Naturally, Naomi had learned about the situation. She turned to Julia
and questioned, âMom, why did you hit Olivia? It might not have been
caused by animal hair.â She felt guilty about the incident.
Julia did feel regret for her actions the other day. However, her
emotions had gotten the best of her, and she couldn't control herself.
She awkwardly admitted, âI acted impulsively, Naomi.â
Naomi then turned to Tyler. âWhy didnât you stop her, Tyler? Olivia
suffered so much.â
Tyler's voice remained flat and calm as he explained, âI was in the
emergency room.â
Only then did Naomi remember that Tyler had been with her in the
emergency room. She sighed and said, âRight, I forgot about that. I
thought you would've protected her,â she continued, âMy mom went too
far. How could she hit Olivia?â
Tyler had little reaction to her comments. He comforted her, âShe didnât
do it on purpose.â
In truth, Naomi had been observing Tyler's expressions throughout the
conversation. She noticed that not only did he not seem to care, but he
even seemned to side with Julia. This put her at ease.
Naomi then pressured Julia into apologizing, âApologize to Olivia,
Mom.â
Julia, reluctant to upset Naomi and affect her health further,
approached Olivia. âOlivia, I was too impulsive the other day. Donât be
mad at me.â
Indeed, the doctors had not definitively attributed the allergy to animal
hair. Given her current frail state, they couldn't rule out animal hair as
the cause, but there were many other potential factors they couldn't
confirm yet.
âIt's my fault, Aunt,â Olivia responded to her apology.
Julia was unsure what else to say. She was not one to easily apologize
to anyone and had only done so
for Naomi's sake.
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Just then, Naomi asked, âDid you keep a cat, Olivia?"
Olivia looked up, quickly explaining, âIt was a rescue, not something I
bought.â
However, Naomi found Olivia's explanation lacking. Tyler, who typically
didn't like animals, had surprisingly agreed to have a cat in the house.
He chimed in, âMm-hmm, it was a kitten that had just been born. We
were planning to take it to a pet
store later.â
âOlivia adores animals. But I heard that you got rid of it after what
happened to me?â
Olivia cast her eyes downward in response.
Tyler looked at Naomi and stated, âIt's better not to keep pets at
home.â
Naomi felt relieved and responded half-heartedly, âIt was just a cat.
Why blame it? Olivia would be
sad.â