Chapter 233

S2 63. I’m Scared

The curve of Philip’s lips turned sour. “Your mother is home.”

With limited head movement, Barbara rolled her eyes around.

“Where is this?”

Philip bowed lower. “In the hospital. You just had surgery.”

Suddenly, Barbara’s eyes widened. Her breath shortened. The incident

in the back yard flashed through her mind.

“That knife… I’m bleeding?”

Philip quickly shook his head. His hands cupped Barbara’s face, giving her a sense of security.

“No. You’re not bleeding anymore. See? Your operation went well.”

“I’m still alive?” Barbara sighed with teary eyes.

Philip was intrigued by the innocent comment. Beneath his frown, he

let out a faint laugh. “Yes, you are alive, Baby. You’re safe.”

“Now,” he ran his fingers through Barbara’s hair, “just wait for a moment. I have to let the nurse know that you’re awake.”

Philip straightened up, about to press the intercom button. However, before he had time to move, Barbara grabbed his hand tightly.

“Please… don’t go. I’m scared.”

Philip froze when he saw the helpless look in her eyes. Half of his heart ached, the other half melted.

“I’m not going anywhere. Just need to press that button.”

However, Barbara still shook her head faintly. “I’m scared. Don’t leave

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me.” Her hands started shaking.

Philip smiled sadly. Bending down, he stroked the girl’s hair. “Okay, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t let go of my hand.”

Philip pursed his lips. Barbara’s gaze had captured his mind.

“You are so timid, but why did you dare stop your mother?”

Barbara’s furrowed brows loosened slightly. She whispered, “I don’t want my mother to hurt you.”

Philip let out a faint breath. “You shouldn’t get in your mother’s way. I could withstand her attack. That knife wasn’t a threat to me. In fact….

Philip’s gaze grew more intense. Her head lowered, closer to Barbara’s face.

“Seeing that knife stuck in your body, I weakened.”

Barbara was stunned. With a thin exhale, she asked, “Why?”

“We’re lucky it hit the right side of your body. If your heart had been stabbed,” Philip stroked Barbara’s cheek, “my heart would have

stopped beating too.”

Barbara’s pale lips trembled. Various emotions radiated from her eyes. “That’s not funny,” she breathed hoarsely.

“I don’t mean to be funny. What I said is serious. I don’t know how to continue this life without you by my side.”

Barbara’s tears thickened. She should be happy to hear that

confession. However, her heart was twisted, her chest tight. With difficulty, she swallowed hard.

“I am sleepy.” Barbara turned her face the other way.

Disappointment suddenly hit Philip. However, he could feel Barbara’s grip tightening. He realized that the girl was denying her own feelings.

“Yes, you need to get lots of rest. Get some sleep, Barbara. You need to recover quickly.”

Barbara didn’t answer. As she closed her eyes, tears melted on her

face.

Philip didn’t understand the meaning of those tears. However, he

wiped it without asking. Then, passionately, he kissed Barbara on the forehead.

“Sleep tight. I’ll accompany you.”

When Philip had sat down in the chair, Barbara took a faint breath. In her heart, her cries echoed loudly.

“Mom openly wanted to kill him. The fact that I was the daughter of a criminal was no longer inevitable. But why did he even confess his feelings to me? Shouldn’t he be disgusted by me?”

Tired of bearing the shame, Barbara caught her breath. With the remaining anesthetic in her blood, she slowly fell asleep again.

Meanwhile, Philip was still awake. He kept looking at Barbara. His hand was reluctant to move away from her soft fingers.

“Was my timing not right?”

Thinking that he had made a mistake, he scratched his head.

“I shouldn’t have been so aggressive. She just woke up. She definitely needs time to digest everything.”

Sighing, Philip leaned back in his chair. At the end of his

contemplation, he muttered, “I can’t be careless anymore.”

“Mommy, is Grandma okay?” Emily looked up at Kara. Her tiny legs had to move twice faster to keep up with her mother’s leisurely steps.

“Yes, Grandma will get the best treatment there. She will get better soon.”

Emily’s lips pursed. She still remembered how Melanie struggled when she was put in the car.

“Poor Grandma. She must have been scared. Her eyes bulged out when she struggled earlier.” Emily shuddered.

“Daddy should inject Grandma like Mr. Hall injected Isabela,” Louis said, nodding confidently. “That way, the guards won’t have any trouble taking Grandma to the rehabilitation center.”

Frank smiled sadly. He still couldn’t believe that his mother had the same fate as his ex-fiancee.

“By the way,” Louis shook Frank’s hand, “what should we say to Auntie, Daddy?”

“Yes, Auntie must be looking for Grandma. She’s a spoiled daughter and she’ll be very sad if she finds out that Grandma was put in a rehabilitation center.”

“Little Angel,” Kara interrupted, “You don’t need to worry about that. Just leave it to Daddy. Your job is to entertain Auntie.”

Frank smiled, conveying his thanks to his wife, “Mommy is right. You guys just focus on your mission. You’ve already made your tactics, right?”

The twins’ eyes lit up. Emily even jumped a little to match her enthusiasm.

“Yes, we have made a very good plan. It started with taking Mommy and Daddy to leave as soon as possible. Auntie will be surprised to

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see us so early.”

“Yes, she should know that we are worried about her too, not just Philip,” Louis said, somewhat sarcastically.

Chuckling, Kara stopped in front of a door. “Then are you ready to meet Auntie?” she whispered.

“Yes,” the twins answered in small volume.

When Kara opened the door, they scrambled to peek. Philip was apparently sitting on the side of the bed with his head bowed.

“Is Philip sleeping?” Emily looked back. Frank and Kara shrugged their shoulders in unison.

Louis pushed the door wider. He entered like a spy. When he arrived beside the chair, his eyes widened.

“How could someone fall asleep holding someone else’s hand? He must really love Auntie.”

Louis’s whisper was aimed at Emily. However, Philip gasped and immediately straightened up.

“Young Master?” He rubbed his eyes, thinking Louis was a

hallucination or even a dream.

“Philip must be tired. He looked after Auntie all night until he fell asleep in a chair,” Emily said, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Why don’t you sleep on the couch, Philip?” Kara asked softly.

Philip let out a small sigh. “Sorry, Ma’am. I wasn’t planning on sleeping. I don’t even remember when I was sleepy.”

“That must be because Philip is too worried about Auntie. Look!”

Louis pointed to two hands that were tightly linked. “He still hasn’t let go of Auntie.”

While the others were smiling, Philip let out an embarrassed sigh. Barbara woke up earlier. She was scared and asked me to keep

holding her hand.”

Emily’s lips moved forward again. The arch of her eyebrows lowered. ” Poor Auntie. She must be afraid to be left alone.”

A second later, Emily leaned her chubby cheek against Philip’s body. Her hand patted his stomach.

“Thank you for accompanying Auntie, Philip.”

Louis didn’t want to be left behind. “Yes, thank you for looking out for Auntie. I’m sure she would be very happy to have a friend like you.”

Philip smiled wryly. Barbara’s gentle rejection was still clear in his mind, but the twins must not know his worries.

“Not a problem, Young Master, Young Lady.” He patted their backs with one hand.

Suddenly, Philip felt Barbara’s hand move. When he turned around, Barbara was opening her eyes.