Chapter 51 Pretending to Have a Relapse
The moment that strange thought popped into my mind, I froze and quickly shook my head to get rid of it.
I was truly losing it. I couldn’t believe that a joke from Natasha had made me start to catch feelings for Eric. We were just friends!
Just as I regained my focus, Mom’s call came in,
Tanswered, and her anxious voice came through immediately. “Something’s wrong, Jae! You need to come to the hospital right now! Else’s depression just flared up, and she tried to hurt herself. She keeps saying it’s all because of her that you can’t come home. If you don’t come, her condition might get worse”
I couldn’t help but laugh coldly inside. If I went, her condition would only worsen. But since she was making such a scene, she wouldn’t let it go if I didn’t go and pretend to care.
I stood up and went back to my room to change. Eric had already washed the dishes when I came downstairs. Seeing the frown on my face, he guessed something was wrong.
“Do you want me to go with you?”
I smiled and shook my head. “No need. It’s just a small thing. I can handle it on my own.”
He didn’t press the issue
Half an hour later, I arrived at the hospital. As soon as I reached the door of the ward, I could hear Elsa crying inside.
“Mom, Dad, Jack, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault! If not for me, Jane wouldn’t be insisting on not coming back! I shouldn’t be your daughter. Someone like me should just die. I shouldn’t be dragging you down!”
Her voice sounded so tragic and woeful.
Mom, Dad, and Jack were all comforting her with sympathy.
Amidst the chaos, I walked in, expressionless. “If you want to die, then go ahead. Why make such a scene and worry the entire family? You don’t actually want to die. You just want to use this as an opportunity to get everyone’s attention and make them think I’m heartless, am I right?”
I immediately exposed Elsa’s intentions, and her face turned deathly pale.
Before she could say anything, Jack quickly stepped in to defend her, furiously pointing at me and shouting, “What’s wrong with you? You know very well how fragile Elsa’s condition is! If it weren’t for you, how could she have developed depression in the first place?
She’s even hurting herself, and you’re standing here, making cold comments? I bet you want her to die! How can you be so cruel?”
Cruel?
Back in college, Elsa spread rumors about me, claiming I was sleeping with an older man. That led to a huge argument with Jeremiah, which almost ended our relationship: When I went to confront her, she faked a suicide attempt and even claimed to have developed depression after that.
But she wasn’t suffering from depression at all. She was just trying to manipulate people into sympathizing with her and making everyone forget how she had framed me
No matter how much I explained, no one believed me. Although my parents thought I had done something wrong, they still treated me as their daughter.
I But Jack slapped me and cursed at me to leave the Brown residence, all because of Elsa
He actually called me cruel now?
“She brought this upon herself. It has nothing to do with me. Besides, I heard the main symptom of depression is isolation. But instead, she runs off with her ex–brother–in–law to cause trouble at someone else’s house. She seems fine to me!”
