Ch. 1606..1610
Chapter 1606
When John arrived at the hospital with Caprice, the nurses were just changing out Madam Stockton’s saline IV drip. Queenie stood guard by the bed. There were dark and heavy circles under her eyes.
Emerence was there as well.
They rose to greet John and Caprice when they entered.
John held Caprice tightly in his arms with Julie trailing behind them.
He turned to Queenie. “Thanks for the hard work, go home and get some rest.”
Queenie did not protest this time. “Alright.”
“Queenie, Aunt Emerence, | brought you two some breakfast, eat before you leave.” Julie set down a container filled with food on a table set on the other side of the room.
Queenie nodded weakly and walked to the table with Emerence.
Meanwhile, John took Carrie with her to the hospital bed to look at Madam Stockton. The old madam’s eyes were closed and it seemed like she was sleeping peacefully.
Caprice asked out of genuine curiosity, “Dad, why is Grandma still sleeping? The sun is already up.”
She was very innocent and did not realize the gravity of the situation.
John frowned.
On the other edge of the room, Queenie who was just about to take a bite suddenly stopped, her eyes watered. Emerence lost her appetite as well and put away the cutlery.
Julie noticed how upset they had become. Before John could come up with a proper response, Julie told the child, “Caprice, your grandma is very sick and since she’s older, she needs more time to rest before she gets better.”
“Oh, | see.”
Caprice’s curiosity was appeased, she did not pester them with more questions.
Julie suddenly suggested, “Caprice, do you want me to take you somewhere to play?” Caprice shook her head, then sank back against John’s shoulder.
She was not going to go anywhere, she wanted to be with her father.
Julie was slightly saddened by this.
John turned to her and told her, “Caprice will be sticking with me, don’t worry about us.”
“Alright.” Julie obliged and went to sit with Queenie.
She noticed how depressed Queenie looked and did her best to console her and persuade her to eat something at least. For a moment, her voice was the only sound echoing in the ward.
Soon, it was nighttime.
Glanchester Hospital.
John left around the afternoon to head back to his office. As soon as he finished
work, he returned to the hospital with Caprice.
Queenie was getting some shuteye.
John gently woke her and told her to go home to rest.
Queenie was adamant at first, but eventually gave in when she noticed the stern, commanding look in John’s eyes. Silence descended upon the ward again.
Caprice had fallen asleep shortly after arriving. John let her sleep on the couch and covered her with a thick blanket while he sat on a chair next to the hospital bed.
He looked at his mother who was trapped in what was a perpetually eternal slumber. A dark gloom surfaced in his eyes. He realized had been frowning since he stepped
into the ward.
Then, he heard footsteps approaching.
He turned around to inspect.
It was Julie approaching him with a container filled with food.
“Hey John, | brought you and Caprice some food,” she spoke softly.
John nodded and thanked her, “Put it here for now. She’ll eat when she wakes up.”
“Got it.” Julie set the container on the table and sat on the couch herself as she discreetly watched John. Again, a long silence lingered over the room until the ringtone of a phone tore
through the silence.
John answered the call and put the phone to his ear.
Chapter 1607
The head bodyguard was calling to report on what Sherry had been up to at the house all day. After he finished relaying the report, he asked in a slightly concerned voice, “Master Stockton, she seems to be starving. Would you like us to give her something to eat?”
“Hasn't she been drinking water?” The bodyguard stated cautiously, “Yes, but surely water isn’t as filling as food.”
John darted a glance at the slumbering Madam Stockton, a harsh glare appeared in his eyes as he remarked, “She’s not going to starve to death just because she hasn't eaten for a day.”
The head bodyguard knew better than to debate the matter so he brought up another concern of his. “One more thing, sir. She has a burn on her arm which | think is quite serious. Should we have someone dress her wound?”
“It's alright, it’s not going to kill her,” he said without a tint of affection. The head bodyguard had nothing to say to this. With that, John hung up.
On the other side of the ward, Julie, who was seated on the couch the entire time, heard what John had said on the phone and was very pleased with what she heard, though she did not let it show.
Something suddenly came to her. She rose and approached John and asked in an unassuming manner, “I haven't seen Sherry since she left the hospital yesterday. Did you have her locked up somewhere?”
John scowled and answered crossly, “Yeah.”
Julie kept her head down and remarked in a low voice so as to not upset him, “John, can’t even though Mom ended up in this state because of what Sherry has done, you deny that she’s Caprice’s mother at the end of the day. Caprice can’t be without a mother, why don’t you forgive her?”
Forgive her?
John was not receptive to this suggestion at all and declared sharply, “She might have been Caprice’s mother at one point, but after all that’s happened, she no longer has the right to call herself Caprice’s mother.”
His patience was at its end. He no longer had any room for affection for Sherry in his
heart.
From now on, he held nothing but hatred for her. This was the end of their relations as far as he was concerned!
Unless her mother were to miraculously wake up at one point, otherwise, Sherry should not even hope to get out of the house!
Julie observed how furious John had become at the sheer mention of Sherry’s name. He was trembling with rage at this point. Likewise, she was trembling as well, but not for the same reason as John. She was trembling with joy and celebration.
Could this be it? Was he going to drive Sherry to her death?
What she said was a complete contrast to what she was feeling deep inside. “John, | think I’m to blame for what happened to Mom as well. | shouldn’t have gone to her in such a hurry and told her what | saw back then. If | hadn’t told her, she wouldn’t be so nervous and frantic in trying to rescue Caprice. | feel like I’m just as responsible.”
She choked on her tears as she expressed her remorse.
John’s expression softened, and he quickly assured her. “I promise you that this has nothing to do with you. You don’t have to blame yourself.”
“But I’m responsible! | should've chased after Sherry myself. | shouldn’t have let Mom go!” Julie cried out, her emotions spilled over and she burst out crying.
Tears fell endlessly.
John frowned. He tried to hide the irritation in his voice. “That's enough, | don’t blame you nor have | ever blamed you. I’m fully aware that you're not the one who put my mother in this bed. If you keep blaming yourself for this, I’m going to get upset.”
Julie hurriedly wiped away her tears and whimpered. “I’m sorry, | didn’t want to feel this way either, but every time | see her lying on this bed | just get consumed with guilt and...”
John took a deep breath, a warm glow appeared in his eyes. “Don’t cry, come on, you've been here all day, you should get some rest.”
Julie did as she was told and quietly slipped away back to the couch. The ward fell silent again. John turned back to face Madam Stockton with a pensive look in his eyes.
Julie stared at him silently.
The reason she cried back there was that she wanted to gauge how he felt about her.
He did seem to care about her, but the nature of his affection did not stem from love. It was merely out of obligation of his role as a family member.
It seemed to her that if she was going to plot to bridge the distance between the two of them, she would have to bide her time until the old hag withered away.
Besides, the issue with Sherry was already solved. At this point, she knew that John felt nothing but unfiltered contempt for the wretched woman. It was only a matter of time until she sank her claws into John.
With this in mind, she was able to ease her trepidation. She smirked coyly as she stared at the man.
They continued watching over Madam Stockton in complete silence, it was going to be a long night. At one point John’s head slumped over and quickly raised again immediately after as he startled himself awake. After that, he propped his arm against his chin and got some shuteye.
She noticed this and sprung to action. She grabbed a blanket and approached John.
She carefully covered him with the blanket.
She paid close attention to his eyes and upon ensuring that he was not awakened, she tried her luck and inched closer. The closer she got, the more distinctly she was able to smell John’s scent. It was a unique, masculine scent.
Suddenly, John’s eyebrows moved ever so slightly.
She quickly jumped away and stood up straight.
Chapter 1608
Julie warily watched John from a safe distance. After a while, his eyes remained closed and it did not seem like he had woken up. She heaved a sigh of relief and retreated to the couch with a faint smile hung on her lips.
She threw on a blanket and planned to nap for a while. When she lay down on the couch and kicked her legs out to the other edge of the couch, her feet brushed against something. It was Caprice.
Caprice was sprawled out over the other edge of the couch, sleeping soundly and comfortably.
Julie scowled at the mere sight of the child as she deliberately kicked her legs out again and jabbed at Caprice with the soles of her feet.
She made sure to temper her strength at just the right amount so Caprice would not wake up. She was not going to hurt the child, she was merely doing it for her satisfaction.
Caprice only groaned and mumbled in her sleep but did not wake up.
Julie chuckled.
‘You little brat, just wait! I'll make your life miserable once you grow up!"
With that, she shut her eyes and got some sleep.
The night was tranquil and peaceful. After some time passed, a figure who had been spying on the room the entire time withdrew from the door and carefully shut the door close.
It was Emerence. She had been standing outside for several hours, keeping an eye on what had been going on inside. After she shut the door, she let out a long and deep sigh and tapped against her chest to calm her restlessness.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Sherry remained jailed inside the house in the middle of the forest.
It was morning. She woke up on the couch just like she had done the past few days.
The bodyguards had breakfast inside their cars before returning to their post.
Sherry had not had even a bite of food. The only thing that passed her stomach was.
water.
After she drank more water, she went back to lie on the couch.
The living room was clean and cozy, but no matter how much she tossed and turned around on the couch, she still felt terrible. She was hungry.
Terribly hungry.
She would eat anything, even if it was bread with mold on it!
Her arms were beginning to irritate her as well.
Scabs began to form on the burned region which made her feel unbearably itchy.
Soon, noon rolled around.
Acar drove into the yard outside, someone was delivering food to the bodyguards again. Sherry gathered what strength she had left and dragged her feet outside.
She had to get her hands on some food!
Her hands had only barely grazed the container when the bodyguards showed up behind her out of nowhere and seized her. She had no strength to fight them off and was thrown back into the house like a lifeless mannequin.
Bang! The door was slammed shut. They proceeded to eat outside.
She banged against the door and pleaded stubbornly, “Hey, could you guys please give me some food? Just split one tray with
me. She was completely ignored.
Her hunger was draining her willpower at this point, she whimpered and begged,” Please, just a bite, anything at all...”
They still ignored her.
She was completely drained by this point and slumped with her back against the door while continuously chanting, “Give me some food... some food... a bite... just a bite... food...”
Her repeated chanting sounded like an ominous occult prayer, it was to a point
where it was making the bodyguards uncomfortable. They soon lost their appetite to
eat.
They exchanged looks with each other.
They were thinking the same thing: Should we spare her some food?
One of them stated, “Better not, Master Stockton had stated very clearly that we’re not supposed to give her anything to eat at all, not even a bite.”
They sighed weakly, there was not much they could do. They quickly finished their food.
After they were finished, they put the plastic containers aside and went to unlock the door.
As soon as they had unlocked the door, it was flung open and a figure dashed out of it like a bolt of lightning. They were immediately alerted by this and went to grab her.
Moments before their hands could seize Sherry, she threw herself brazenly on the ground.
She crawled desperately to where they had discarded the food containers and pried them open to find if there were any crumbs of rice left for her to stave off her hunger.
The bodyguards were speechless.
They were stunned by what they were seeing and barely had the heart to pull the miserable girl away.
Chapter 1609
It was only after she had wolfed down whatever leftover there was that one of the bodyguards approached her. “Stop eating, please go back inside.”
Sherry grabbed several more crumbs of rice before reluctantly shuffling back into the house.
She licked every single crumb of rice off of her finger, making sure not even a single one of them went to waste. She chewed them thoroughly and savored their taste.
At least she finally had something to fill her stomach with. She drank two more cups of hot, boiling water before she slumped on the couch again, this time with a book to read. She found the book in the study upstairs, this was her only way to pass time.
Now that she had taken care of her hunger, there was still the wound on her arm to worry about. It was itching badly and distracting her, she eventually threw the book aside, feeling greatly irritated.
She rolled around the couch, unable to find anything to alleviate her condition.
Her physical discomfort was the least of her concern as she could not stop thinking about Caprice. Furthermore, her mind replayed montages of her pulling Madam Stockton out of the burning car as well as when John had tried to strangle her that night.
She continued letting these thoughts hound her until at one point, she fell asleep. Around this point, one of the bodyguard’s phones rang.
It was John calling.
The bodyguard promptly answered the call and greeted John cordially, “Yes, Master Stockton.” The man’s voice was sharp and brutal. “How is she now? Has she starved to death yet?”
The bodyguard stammered, “No- not yet.”
John asked sharply, “Is there something you’re hiding from me?”
The bodyguard was frightened by the tone of his voice and immediately confessed,” No- no sir. | was going to call you tonight to report something.”
“What's going on?”
The bodyguard did not try to conceal any details. “Well, we were having lunch just now and right after we finished our meal, Mrs. Sherry suddenly rushed out of the gate when we were distracted. She wasn’t trying to run away, she just went for our leftovers and ate what she could.”
There was a deathly silence on the phone. After a while, John spoke, “And you guys let her eat?”
“Sir, we didn’t expect her to go for our leftovers, there wasn’t even much food left. We were just stunned and didn’t know how to react and by the time we came to, she had already had several bites.”
“And you call yourself a security force? If this happens again, all of you will be fired.”
The bodyguard sounded like a reprimanded child. “Yes sir. Understood.”
John hung up.
The bodyguard sighed and proceeded to relay what John had told him to his fellow bodyguards. Most of them expressed the same sentiment.
“Is Master Stockton seriously trying to starve Mrs. Sherry to death?”
“| don’t think so, she’s Miss Caprice’s mother at the end of the day, isn’t she?”
“Well, regardless of what we think, we better keep a close eye on her from now on,
don’t let her steal our leftovers.”
The rest of them were speechless.
Glanchester Hospital.
Aray of sunlight spilled through the window into the ward and beat against the face of Caprice who was sleeping on the couch.
John stood next to the couch and watched her.
He stared transfixed at her sleeping face, his mind was filled with deep thoughts. He was feeling rather troubled. Sherry was so desperate for food that she scrambled for leftovers.
It had only been two days, was she that hungry already?
While he was deep in thought, the nurses and a doctor entered the ward.
They were only here to perform a routine check on Madam Stockton.
After they were done, the doctor turned to him and shook his head, that was all John needed to know.
Madam Stockton was not going to wake up anytime soon.
The doctor approached John and informed, “Master Stockton, I’m very sorry to say this but we have truly tried our best. The good news is that Madam Stockton is in relatively stable condition, we could arrange for her discharge as soon as tomorrow. | recommend you bring her home where she would be more comfortable. Perhaps a miracle could happen and she could wake up. at one point.”
John only grunted and did not have much input.
With that, the doctor excused himself.
John leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. At this moment, a terrible gloom washed over his face.
Unbelievable, he thought. To think that moments before the doctor came into the ward, he was considering sending some food for Sherry to eat! To think that he had taken pity on her for having to scramble for leftovers!
Screw her! She deserved everything that came to her!
Chapter 1610
Chapter 1610 Two more days passed in the blink of an eye. Inside the house nestled deep within the rural area.
Sherry was so hungry that she felt like she was a walking skeleton by this point. She collapsed onto the couch and could barely move her limbs.
For two whole days, she had not ingested anything except for water.
John must have ordered the bodyguards to starve her to death, she was sure of it. Ever since the incident two days ago, they had taken special attention to properly discarding all the leftovers after they ate so there was no chance she could steal anything to eat.
Aglimpse of sunlight spilled into the living room from between the cracks of the curtain.
Sherry opened her eyes, feeble and weak.
Hungry.
So hungry.
At this rate, even if she did not starve to death, she was going to lose her sanity.
No, she could not let herself waste away like this.
She had to pull herself together, she had to find a way out of here!
A determined glow shone in her eyes. She rose and walked out of the living room, into the courtyard.
It looked like spring was approaching. Even though there was still a chill in the air, she spotted tiny sprouts of grass beginning to grow on the lawn.
She squatted on the grass and observed the tiny sprouts, then she touched them with her fingers.
With an abrupt pluck, she unearthed them, roots and all, then she tossed them into her mouth without hesitation. It tasted bitter and slightly gross since it was mixed with the soil.
It was most definitely not tasty, but she had to eat something to survive.
She made herself swallow the substance that could barely pass as food, then she
w
plucked another sprout and ate it again.
While she was trying to fight her way through this excruciating experience, she suddenly felt a movement in the air, someone was approaching. A large shadow loomed over her without her noticing.
She was seized with panic and quickly turned around.
Aman stood over her, his figure was domineering. She could not make out this person's face from this angle but she could recognize those gold—framed glasses.
The man hung a morose smile on the corner of his lips, there was not a trace of warmth in his eyes despite the smile he hung on his lips.
He was fair and handsome, but also exuded a threatening and repulsive aura. Sherry shivered all over and immediately jumped away from the man. “Sherry, | have truly underestimated you.” John stepped forward and approached her.
Her legs gave away and she fell and sat on the ground, planted in the soil. She continued nudging herself backward with her feet.
There was no way she could get away in time.
John pressed forward and seized her in no time. He held her by her chin.
He made her look him square in the eye.
He sniggered. “A woman like you, | doubt you'd starve to death even if | tossed you on an uninhabited island.”
To think that she would resort to eating grass, her will for survival certainly deserved to be applauded.
There were still pieces of grass on Sherry’s lips when she muttered weakly, “How ... how is Madam Stockton doing now?” The amused smile on John’s lips disappeared in an instant upon hearing of his mother’s name, and the cold and severe look returned.
Sherry was intimidated, she wanted nothing more than to free herself from him.
John immediately sensed her intention and gripped her chin tighter than before, he was not going to let her slip away, not now. “She would be fine.” He added after a dramatic pause. “If she could wake up.”
Sherry frowned.
She did not know what to say in such a situation. She knew that anything she said
would be met with aggression, even if she was genuinely trying to express concern for the old lady.
She felt him gripping her chin as if he wanted to crush her like a melon, his voice was cross. “What’s with that look on your face? You're not disappointed to hear that my mother is still alive, are you?”
Sherry cried weakly, “No, it’s not like that.”
“Then what's with that look on your face?”
What was this man expecting of her? She was confused and blurted out, “I didn’t mean anything by it. |... I’m sorry.” Hmmph. The man scoffed and released her.
She pulled herself to her feet and scrambled away until she reached a wall.
She leaned her weight against the wall, she was exhausted. She looked at John with fear in her eyes.
That was when one of the bodyguards showed up with a clean chair which he
promptly set next to the garden.
John nonchalantly sat on the chair.