As soon as the door of the ward closed, Sadieâs expression turned cold.
She grabbed Adeleâs ear tightly and sneered, âYouâre such a clever and obedient little girl.
Keep it up, okay? As long as you always listen to me, I wonât throw Melon to the wolves.
â
Adeleâs face turned pale.
She shook her head frantically and pleaded, âNo, Mommy, please.
Iâll be good.
I will do everything you say.
â
When Sadie saw Adele so frightened but obedient, she smiled with satisfaction.
But her eyes remained cold when she said, âYou are Mommyâs good girl.
â
Sadie had been letting Adele watch movies about wolves every day, and the effect was apparent.
Adele had had sleepless nights because she was scared of wolves.
Sadie had leveraged Adeleâs fear.
She had threatened Adele she would feed Melon to the wolves if Adele misbehaved or spent time with Ariana.
The trick had clearly worked.
Looking at Adele, Sadie said, âYouâve been behaving well lately, so you can skip the handstand tonight.
â
Adele sat on the bed, lowered her head, and murmured, âThank you, Mommy .
â
Before leaving the hospital, Ariana had taken Melon to see Mitchel, and then, they headed home.
Their house was covered in dust, as it had been empty for a few days.
Ariana tidied up fast and then gave Melon a bath.
By the time everything was settled, it was late at night.
After putting her son to bed, Ariana sat on the couch with a pillow, still bothered by Adeleâs strange behavior earlier.
Adeleâs abrupt change in behavior was concerning, and Ariana couldnât dismiss the feeling that Sadie might have provoked Adele.
After all, Ariana believed Sadie was capable of doing anything.
Sadie was unpredictable, and Adele had been sobbing heavily earlier, leaving Ariana concerned about her well-being.
Growing increasingly anxious, Ariana picked up her phone to send a text.
But then, she hesitated and set her phone back down.
Just then, a message from Holden appeared.
âIâm staying with Adele tonight.
â
Ariana quickly replied, âIs Adele okay?â
She sent a few more messages.
Then, frustrated with the slow pace of texting, she decided to call Holden directly.
They hadnât been talking long on the phone when Ariana faintly heard Sadieâs voice calling out to Holden in the background.
Taken aback and filled with mixed feelings, Ariana barely heard Holden say, âI need to check on this.
â
Holden ended the call after that.