Chapter 166 What Do You Want Me To Do
On the one hand, Amelia and Oscar were enjoying themselves, the living room filled with intimacy and tenderness. But, on the other hand, the atmosphere at the hospital was bleak.
Stephanie dragged the sofa over to the bed and plopped down without the slightest hint of self-consciousness. Looking distressingly at Cassie, who was as pale as a sheet on the hospital bed, she lamented, “How did you end up in such a state, Cassie? How did you lose the child all of a sudden? If I hadn’t overheard my mom’s conversation this afternoon, I wouldn’t even have known that you’ve been admitted to the hospital. I’m really anguished to see you like this.”
As Cassie stared at her, her eyes suddenly went red from aggrievement.
Upon seeing this, Stephanie hastily snagged a tissue for her. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying out of the blue?” she questioned.
Feeling all the more aggrieved, Cassie sniffled pitifully, “Steph, I only dare weep in front of you because we’ve known each other since young. I don’t dare grouse at your brother when he’s here, afraid that he’ll get sick of me and not want me anymore. However, there’s just this ball of distress within me. If I continue bottling it up, I’m truly afraid that I’ll go crazy.”
After wiping her tears for her, Stephanie urged, “Just tell me whatever’s troubling you. I’ll help you out. You’re the woman Oscar loves most, so he’ll feel for you if you grouse at him. He’ll never disdain you.”
Surprisingly, Cassie’s tears flowed all the swifter, making her appear extremely pitiful.
Stephanie truly regarded her as a friend and hoped that she would be her sister-in-law, so she grew panicked when she saw Cassie wailing in such devastation.
“Say something, Cassie! Don’t just cry. Just tell me if someone is bullying you, for you’ve still got me to stand up for you if worse comes to worst,” Stephanie prompted.
Dashing off her tears, Cassie murmured while still holding her cards close to her chest, “Steph, I only dare say this to you, so don’t repeat it to your brother. I’m afraid that he’ll blame me for sowing discord before you. Since I betrayed him back when I was young and willful, I’ll only have myself to blame if he doesn’t want me anymore.”
Stephanie had no inkling of what she was trying to say. But still, she replied, “Just let bygones be bygones. People have to look toward the future. Besides, you’re now back, aren’t you? You’re the only woman my brother loves, so he’ll never bear to have you suffer any grievance.”
After hearing that, Cassie heaved a loud sigh.
Then, she lowered her head to conceal the resentment and aggrieve teeming in her eyes. Despite her true emotions, her voice sounded extremely melancholic and pitiful. “I’ll be honest with you, Steph. Your brother seems to have fallen in love with Amelia Winters. He’s increasingly concerned about her now, and conversely, not as concerned about me as he did in the past. I’m afraid that I’ll be caught in an awkward situation after she has given birth, and there’s a child linking him to her.”
Pausing for a moment, she then continued in a choked voice, “Anyhow, I asked for it. I was the one who destroyed our relationship back then. Frankly speaking, I should tactfully remove myself from the equation now that he has fallen in love with another woman. But I love him! I can’t bring myself to just leave like that. However, what does that matter? My child is gone, so I really don’t know how I can win him back. Steph, I’m afraid that I won’t have the privilege to be your sister-in-law anymore.”
At this, an array of expressions flitted across Stephanie’s face. Finally, she countered, “That’s impossible, Cassie. Anyone with eyes can see that Oscar loves you.”
However, Cassie shook her head and rebutted, “You don’t need to console me, Steph. If you’d said this in the past, I might have believed it, but now, I’m afraid that your brother’s heart has been stolen by Amelia Winters.”
For a moment, Stephanie had no retort.
Suddenly, Cassie grabbed her hand and sobbed pitifully, “Steph, I really want to be your sister-in-law. Then, we can shop together and pour our hearts out to each other like sisters. But now…”
In an instant, Stephanie’s gaze turned exceedingly conflicted.
Meanwhile, Cassie’s tears continued flowing like a faucet. Her incessant weeping had Stephanie so flustered that she hurriedly wiped her tears for her while urging, “Don’t cry, Cassie. You haven’t recovered fully, after all. There’ll be long-term sequela if someone who’d suffered a miscarriage were to cry overly much or overthink things.”
Still, tears continued streaming down Cassie’s face.
Stephanie was at an utter loss. Yet, she still insisted, “Calm down, Cassie. I’m here for you. I don’t like Amelia being my sister-in-law either, so I’ll fight for you and ensure that Oscar takes you as his wife. Although the child is gone, both of you are still young, so you can have all the children you want in the future. Listen to me and stop crying. Two heads are better than one, so I don’t believe that we can’t defeat her when we team up.”
At this moment, a glimmer of malice flashed across Cassie’s eyes. Nonetheless, she still put on a show and uttered, “Steph, I hope you don’t offend her because of me. Otherwise, your brother will be angry.”
Contrarily, Stephanie merely waved a dismissive hand while callously declaring, “I’ve long since despised her. She’s merely a Cinderella from a destitute background. Other than her looks, she doesn’t have anything else that makes her worthy of Oscar. “Five years is long enough a reign for her as the daughter-in-law of the Clinton family, and she should be giving you the title now. Otherwise, I’ll be so repulsed when I’ve got to see her every festival that I can’t stomach any food. She’s simply too revolting.”
Wiping her tears, Cassie feigned hesitance as she muttered, “Don’t deliberately insult your sister-in-law just because of me, Steph. I don’t want your pity.”
As Stephanie sat on the sofa with her hands crossed, she retorted, “You know me best, Cassie. If I say I hate someone, that means I truly hate her. The only thing that woman knows is to act pitiful in front of my mom. “Ever since she became the daughter-in-law of our family, my mom has been treating her like a precious gem, afraid that she’ll shatter at the slightest hurt and spoiling her greatly. Even I, her biological daughter, come after that woman. She has long since been a thorn in my flesh, and I even hope that she’ll quickly get divorced with Oscar.”
Hearing this, Cassie dipped her head as a flash of malice flittered across her eyes once more.
“I do want to be your sister-in-law, Steph. But judging from your brother’s demeanor, I don’t think he wants to divorce Amelia.” Cassie’s voice sounded extremely disappointed. In the next moment, she lifted her head and looked at Stephanie helplessly. “Steph, you’re the only one who can help me now. You don’t want Amelia to be your sister-in-law, and I hope I’m the only person your brother loves. So…”
Off her guard, Stephanie asked, “What do you want me to do?”
“Break the link between your brother and her.”
For a moment, Stephanie didn’t quite get her meaning.
“What link?”
“The baby in her stomach.”
Understanding abruptly dawned upon Stephanie that moment. Her eyes instantly went wide, and she gaped at Cassie in disbelief. “Have you lost your mind, Cassie?” she gasped.
“I’m in full possession of my mental faculties, Steph. If the child in Amelia’s stomach sees the light of the day, I don’t think your brother will divorce her anymore,” Cassie surmised.
Stricken with terror, Stephanie jumped up from the sofa and waved her hands wildly. “No, no! That’s my nephew or niece. I’ll never kill my nephew or niece no matter how much I loathe Amelia. Cassie, I’ll consider it a slip of tongue since you’re too anguished after suffering a miscarriage not long ago.”
At this, a flicker of malice again glinted in Cassie’s eyes.
“Steph, there are still plenty of opportunities for your brother’s children to call you aunt in the future. But once Amelia gives birth, the link between her and your brother will deepen. Are you willing to live with her under the same roof, seeing each other every single day?”
Stephanie went silent upon hearing this.
In truth, she truly loathed Amelia. In the beginning, she merely disdained her, but when Olivia’s attention seemingly shifted wholly onto Amelia, her disdain slowly turned into intense hatred. Ever since young, she’d always been the center of attention with everyone eager to pamper her. However, after Amelia had married into the family, her status suffered a one-eighty turn.
Her mother loved Amelia more than her, so it would be a blatant lie if she were to say that she harbored no envy at all.
And at this time, Cassie again added fuel to the fire. “Steph, I heard people saying that Mrs. Clinton loves Amelia Winters very much, more much than she does, you, although you’re her biological daughter. If the baby in her stomach is a boy, her status in the Clinton family will most likely be elevated accordingly. At that time, Mrs. Clinton will probably go along with everything she says. Do you think you’ll still have a place in the Clinton family? “When you get married later, the Clinton family will be all hers. Do you think she’ll help you if you were to encounter any issues with your husband’s family? Don’t pin your hopes on your brother, for men will only listen to their wives. He might not even remember whose sister you are then!”
Upon hearing this, Stephanie’s face darkened time and again.
Indeed, she had considered everything Cassie mentioned, and that was why she envied and detested Amelia. What enables a woman, who has seemingly nothing at all, to easily snatch everything I had from the Clinton family? Stark resentment swamped her at this thought.
Subsequently, Cassie continued fanning the flames. “I’m not scaring you, Steph. Amelia Winters is the kind of woman who has the ability to lead men by the nose. Do you think Mr. Yard’s stance toward her won’t soften when she has given birth to the first grandchild of the Clinton family? With the child as the catalyst, everyone in the family will side with her at that time. And what do you think will become of you when you’ve once offended her?”
At this, Stephanie’s expression turned all the more forbidding.
In reality, if she actually understood Amelia’s character and trusted her family, this picture Cassie painted would never come to pass. Alas, she was clearly blinded by her jealousy. Thus, when someone else sowed the slightest discord, her trust in her family instantly collapsed.
Irrefutably, Cassie was indeed a rather shrewd woman, for she managed to hit Stephanie right where it hurt.
At this moment, a myriad of emotions flashed across Stephanie’s face and eyes.
Knowing that her provocation had already accomplished quite an effect, Cassie then changed her tune.
She pretended as though she was concerned about Stephanie instead. “Steph, I know you don’t have the guts to do it, so just regard all that as my tirade. Anyway, even if I don’t marry your brother, I can marry other rich heirs considering my family background. But as for you… Forget it. You’re a member of the Clinton family, so I shouldn’t be saying anything.”
After hearing all this, the range of expressions flickering across Stephanie’s face became even more unfathomable.
“You’re right, Cassie. My brother will still have other children in the future. I don’t mind having any other woman giving birth to the eldest grandchild of the Clintons, but not Amelia Winters. What are you planning to do about the child?” Stephanie snarled with a malicious expression, seemingly having made up her mind.
A flash of triumph glinted in Cassie’s eyes at once, but she feigned hesitance and murmured, “Steph, I’m afraid that if you get involved in this matter, you won’t be able to withstand your brother’s wrath when he learns about this.”
At this, Stephanie hesitated as well.
“How about you just forget about it? Just regard all that as crazy ramblings.”
Stephanie dithered for a long while. But in the end, she asserted, “No, this child can’t be allowed to see the light of the day. Amelia is already the apple of my mom’s eyes, so my mom will probably love her all the more if she gives birth to a son. At that time, I’ll be caught in a difficult position.”
Cassie was feeling increasingly smug, yet she asked with an utterly innocent expression, “Are you sure, Steph?”
This time, Stephanie nodded resolutely.
“Well, Cassie? What do you want to do? Don’t tell me that you’re dragging me into this because you want to make me your scapegoat?” As she stared at Cassie with a complicated look in her eyes, she also commented, “You’ve changed a lot, Cassie. In the past, you’d never do anything to hurt someone else.” In other words, Stephanie was saying that Cassie had now learned to scheme against someone else.
However, Cassie wasn’t at all bothered. Rather, a glint of malevolence manifested on her pale face. “Steph, I don’t want to hurt anyone either. I just love your brother too much, so I don’t want to have him snatched away by other women. I’m merely defending my relationship. You’ll understand when you fall in love with someone. “Anyway, you have no right to judge me. Isn’t Amelia also hindering your interests? Otherwise, would you have decided to make a move against her at the risk of your brother finding you out?”
Stephanie fell silent, indicating a tacit acquiescence at her words.
