Not One, But Two!

Chapter 94

Abigail's brows knitted together as she flipped on her side. Greg's breath hitched as he quickly silenced his phone and tip-toed out of the bedroom.

He wasn't even sure why he cared about Abigail's feelings so much or the quality of her sleep, for that matter.

When he was in the hallway outside the bedroom, he called the person back and asked in hushed tones, "What is it?"

The other person on the line was Troy, and there was an urgency in his tone as he said, "Mr. Buckley, something happened at the company."

"I'll be right over."

Greg was somewhat conflicted after he hung up the call, for he had promised Abigail that he would make her breakfast, but as things stand…

He had no choice but to wake the servants and emphasize that they should not disturb Abigail. Then, he hastily put on a change of clothes and made his way over to the company.

Greg was already long gone by the time Abigail woke up. Even the kids had finished their breakfast and were playing in their room. Groggily, she glanced at the time and saw that it was nearly noon.

She felt rejuvenated after catching up on sleep. She got out of bed and washed up, then went into the living room.

Upon seeing that she had woken up, the butler immediately served her food. "Dr. Kain, Mr. Buckley went to the company to handle an emergency. Here, have some breakfast."

"Thank you," Abigail replied. She didn't actually plan on having breakfast. It was already 10.30AM, and she might as well wait until lunchtime. However, seeing as the butler had served her food, she would feel bad if she refused to eat. More to the point, she was a little hungry.

Presently, she pulled up a seat at the dining table, and she had only taken a few mouthfuls of food when she saw Alissa walking in.

"Mommy, can I have some money, please?"

"What's the money for?" Abigail wasn't one to indulge in her children's whims and demands. She was, by definition, a strict mother.

Alissa said quietly, "I want to get a pair of new boxing gloves."

"How much are they?"

"Three hundred."

Abigail slipped out the banknotes from her pocket, counted three hundred in cash, and handed them to Alissa. "Money doesn't grow on trees, so try to avoid loose spending habits."

"Got it," Alissa said as she giggled and walked away with the money.

As she watched her daughter leave, Abigail couldn't help her relief. She remembered how frightened she had been when she saw Alissa bleeding profusely.

When she was done with breakfast, the butler came over to clear the plates. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

In Greg's absence, Abigail didn't think it was appropriate for her to stay here any longer. Just as she was leaving, she suddenly thought about Anastasia.

She had run Anastasia down with her car not too long ago, and she wondered how the girl was coping at the hospital. It seemed only right to pay her a visit.

With that in mind, Abigail rose and went back to her own place, then threw on casual wear before she drove over to the hospital.

Anastasia had been put up at the VIP ward as per Greg's solemn instructions. Abigail showed up with a bag of fruits and flowers.

Anastasia was reading when Abigail entered her room and greeted, "Are we feeling better today?"

"You're here, Miss Abigail!" Anastasia flashed her a warm smile as she set her book aside.

Abigail glanced at the book and saw that it was a volume on financial management. "You need to rest up. You can always read after you recover from your injuries."

Somewhat embarrassed, Anastasia scratched the back of her head and explained, "It's fine; I have nothing much to do anyway. I figured I could use this chance to go through the subject so that I can better prepare myself when I go job hunting—after I'm released from the hospital, that is."

Abigail surveyed the room cursorily and noticed that there were neither fruits nor flowers around, which meant no one had visited the girl thus far. "Didn't you tell your friends or your classmates about the accident?"

"No. I mean, getting into an accident and being hospitalized isn't exactly an accomplishment. Besides, I didn't want to trouble them; I don't think I'd want to owe them any favors."

This, Abigail thought, was a rather praiseworthy notion on Anastasia's part. "Where's the caretaker I hired for you?"

Anastasia flushed. "I didn't think it was necessary to spend money on hiring a caretaker. I'm perfectly fine on my own. I feel bad enough that you have to pay for all these things even though I was partially at fault for the accident."

As far as Abigail could tell, Anastasia seemed like a good kid. She smiled and prompted, "So, have you thought about which companies you'd like to apply to for work?"

"Not yet. I'm just fresh out of college, so I don't think I'm qualified to be selective in the companies I apply to. I'd be grateful enough if any of them would schedule me for interviews. Regardless of the company I eventually end up working for, I'll try to stick with it and gain three years of working experience before I move on."

Anastasia did not have the wild ambitions that seemed to characterize most of her generation. Instead, she analyzed things and kept a cool head, then took one step at a time to attain her goals. This struck a chord within Abigail.

She was suddenly aware of how much free time she had outside of being a surgeon. She had no friends in Harrion, and all that greeted her return after she disappeared for five years were rancid memories. As things were, she really had nowhere else to go.

Anastasia thought Abigail seemed rather friendly, and she teased a little mischievously, "Where's your boyfriend, Miss Abigail?"

"My what?" Abigail snapped out of her daze and gaped at the girl.

Laughing, Anastasia elaborated, " I meant the hottie who came with you the last time."

"Oh, him. He's not my boyfriend."

"Really? But I can tell from the look in his eyes that he cares deeply for you."

This remark took Abigail by surprise. Greg? Cares deeply for me? As if! "No, you've got it all wrong; he's just a father to my daughters."

"An ex-husband?" Anastasia guessed, looking as if she thought their dynamics were a shame.

The corner of Abigail's mouth twitched. Ex-husband? We were never even married in the first place. Ah, forget it. I don't want to dive into a whole explanation on this.

As such, both women conversed for a while more before Abigail rose to leave.

It was already lunchtime when Abigail left. She wasn't particularly hungry, what with her late breakfast. She was planning to take a nap when she got home, but she never expected to run into Sasha and Emma outside the hospital.

Frowning, she turned to walk away from them, but Emma still saw her anyway.

"Abigail!" After she let out a shrill cry, she lunged toward Abigail like a maniac.

Because Abigail was facing her, she instantly noticed how swollen Emma's face was, not to mention her obvious limping.

"I'm going to kill you!" Emma shrieked hysterically as she extended her arms, aiming her claws at Abigail's face.

Abigail's brows furrowed as she dodged the oncoming attack. But Emma was on a roll, for after she missed the first time, she spun on her heels and lunged at her once more.

This violent badgering was starting to get on Abigail's nerves. She deftly grabbed Emma's wrist before the girl's nails could sink into her face and bit out icily, "What the hell are you doing?"

Emma began to tremble angrily. "What am I doing? How about you? Do you call yourself a human? I'm your sister, whether you like it or not, but you still went ahead and let someone else trample all over me like this!"

"Speak English!" Abigail couldn't make sense of what Emma was saying. I never asked anyone to hurt her.

Thinking that she was only pretending to be clueless, Emma felt angry tears well up in her eyes as she snapped, "What, did you suddenly have a hard time understanding what I'm saying? So I made money off your reputation and website, but I paid you back every penny, and I nearly got arrested, too, didn't I? Why couldn't you have just let things go instead of having your assistant tell Mr. Milburn that I would be taking over the surgery, seeing as I was the one who accepted it? You know I'm not a surgeon, so why would you force me into this? Now, look at my face and my legs! Mr. Milburn said that if I can't make you take his wife's surgery, then he'll have my head! Blood runs thicker than water, Abigail. Why are you doing this to me?"

Upon hearing the girl's wild complaints and accusations, Abigail finally understood what was going on. However, she snorted as she pointed out sardonically, "My, my, it's not every day that I get to hear you use idioms. You've gotten smarter."

"I'm serious right now, Abigail!" Emma seethed. She had a feeling that Abigail was trying to push her to the brink of insanity, and she wondered if this grudge between them wasn't predestined.

Sasha, on the other hand, panicked when she saw that Emma's accusations did not faze Abigail in the slightest. But she also knew that Abigail was well-versed with combat, so she suddenly let loose crocodile tears as she sobbed, "Abigail, I know you don't like me, but Emma has been nice to you while you two were growing up, hasn't she? You're the older sibling, so how could you bear to do something like this to her? Mr. Milburn is someone with influence in the underworld; what if he really were to kill your sister or hurt her? Please just spare her your mercy and get her out of this tight spot. Look at her! She's wounded all over, and if you refuse to accept the surgery, she might be beaten to death."

Abigail merely watched in stony silence as Sasha pleaded tearfully on Emma's behalf. It didn't take long before passers-by started noticing the commotion, and some of them even gathered around to watch the show.

Sasha had always had a knack for playing the victim.

Abigail should have known better than to come out for a stroll, but now that she had run into trouble, she could only grit her teeth and deal with it. She let go of Emma's wrist and eyed Sasha indifferently, then said, "I'm on a break, and my body's not in the right condition for me to take up the surgery. Sorry, but I can't help you." With that, she began to brush past them.

Emma knew better than anyone else how she had treated Abigail five years ago. To show up now pledging kinship was hypocrisy and manipulation at their finest. She never brought up anything about

me being her sister five years ago when she had me knocked up and thrown out of the house. She should have thought about the fact that she wasn't a doctor when she hacked my website and booked Mr. Milburn's surgery.

There was a saying that one reaped what one sowed. Abigail certainly didn't think it was her duty to clean up Emma's mess right now.

When Emma saw that Abigail was leaving, she quickly ran up to her and clutched her arm. "You can't leave! I won't let you leave until you agree to take up Mr. Milburn's surgery!"

A frown etched itself upon Abigail's face. Oh, and now she's trying to pin the blame on me? How unexpected. She turned to glare at Sasha and warned darkly, "Get your daughter out of my sight right now, or I won't hesitate to cut her."

Sasha shuddered at this, but at the thought of Quinn and the wounds he had inflicted on Emma, she was filled with ferocious desperation. At that moment, she hollered at the top of her lungs, "Everyone, come and see the injustice of this! My oldest daughter won't be satisfied until she pushes her sister into the depths of hell!"

Those walking past them had no idea what was going on, but they saw the way Sasha was behaving and the cold look on Abigail's face, and they began to whisper among themselves.

"What a heartless woman! She's not budging even though her stepmother is already crying her heart out."

"Come on, cut her some slack. We can't judge too quickly just by looking at their dynamics."

Abigail was getting angry. She didn't want to stand here and be humiliated by both mother and daughter. Besides, her wound was acting up again now that Emma was tugging on her arm, and the pain only aggravated her. "Let go!" she growled.

"No! I won't let go until you agree to do the surgery!" Emma argued defiantly. She was determined to pressure Abigail into this. They were at the hospital right now, and she refused to believe that Abigail would hurt her here.

Indeed, Abigail could not make a scene by fighting back. She wasn't so much intimidated by Emma as she was worried about her identity as a doctor. They were right outside the hospital entrance, and she was in no position to cause a scene.

Sasha was pleased to see Abigail's hesitation. She dabbed at her tears and broke into an even louder howl. "Abigail, I know you hate us, but I'll get on my knees and beg you if that means you'd do the surgery. Here, I'll get on my knees right now!"

As she said this, she fell to her knees before Abigail, right under everyone's surprised gaze.

Emma froze at this, and rage filled her as she demanded, "Abigail, are you going to let your stepmother beg on her knees for your agreement? You ought to be struck by lightning for this!"

When the crowd around them heard this, they started to chatter among themselves.