Ch. 1271..1280
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1271
Tanner laughed, and his facial expression stiffened slightly. However, he did not say anything in return.
Helios looked at the horse rider on the racecourse and said, “We've known each other for quite a long time, and I know you1 re someone who wouldn11 give up on a relationship that easily. Although I don't know what is happening between you and her, Mr. Santiago seems to be very worried about his daughter.”
“Helios,” Tanner smiled, “It's better for you to stay out of my business with Pearl.”
“I don’t plan to interfere,” Helios replied as he sipped on his coffee. “But here's some advice for you. stop before it's too late.”
Tanner fell silent.
After a short while, Tanner left. Helios looked at his figure and fell into contemplation.
Meanwhile, at Soul...
“Mr. Santiago asked Helios to persuade Tanner?” Maisie looked at Barbara.
Sitting on the couch, Barbara sipped on her tea and smiled. “Yeah. He came to the mansion the other day and asked my husband to persuade Tanner to leave his daughter alone.”
After she finished speaking, she put the cup on the desk and turned her head around to look at Maisie, “ Honestly, I don't know why Tanner has to torture her like this. It was him who abandoned his fiancee at the wedding and ran away with his lover. Ms. Santiago got the short end of the stick, and now, it's still her.”
Maisie lowered her head, pressed her lips tightly, and did not say anything in return.
She learned from Pearl's assistant the reason for Tanner's "revenge" on her, but was this really about " revenge" only?
After a long while, Maisie said, “Can you get an appointment with Pearl for me? I want to see her.”
Barbara was stunned. “Why? You can just go to her house if you want to see her.”
Maisie sighed. “I'm afraid she may not want to see me if I go to her house directly.”
“Did something happen between you and Pearl?” Barbara asked.
“Yeah. We've had some conflicts in the past, and I was involved in that incident.”
Barbara fell silent for a short while before nodding. “ I' 11 give it a try and see if I can ask her out. ”
Tanner came to the Santiago mansion to pick up Pearl.
As soon as Pearl got into his car, Tanner grabbed her neck and pulled her closer. “Did you know that your father went to look for Helios?”
Pearl was stunned.
He stroked her cheek with his fingers and continued. “ He wants me to let you go.”
He chuckled, but the smile did not stay long on his face. “Do you think it’s possible?”
Pearl raised her head to look at him, but she did not say anything.
Tanner grazed her lips with his finger. Suddenly, he withdrew his hand, and the cold expression returned to his face. "I’ll only let you go if Sandy comes back to life. But that's impossible, so don't even think about it.“ 1
He started the engine.
Setting her jaw tightly, Pearl asked, “Did you cherish her while she was alive?”
“Shut up! ” he shouted. His eyes turned bloodshot as if she had pushed his buttons. Pearl gripped her fist tightly, and her nails stabbed into her finger. “ Actually, her death was your fault."
“I said, shut up!” Tanner pulled her hair and dragged her in front of him. The veins on the back of his hand bulged as he gritted his teeth. “You just won't stop talking about it, right?”
Pearl couldn't feel the pain as she was numb to it. she looked straight into his reddened eyes. The slap he gave her last night had woken her up from her dream. She let out a cold smirk and said, “I was right, wasn't it? Why didn't you pick up her calls when she called you at that time? Didn't you think I was dirty? why did you not think so when you slept with me— ”
Tanner raised his arms high in anger, and she closed her eyes when she saw his hand was coming down at her. However, she waited for a long while, yet she did not feel any pain.
Tanner grabbed her chin and looked at her coldly. “ You're provoking me so that I’ll kill you, right?”
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1272
Pearl did not say anything in return. Tanner let out a scoff, and his face turned even grimmer. “Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”
He tightened his grip on her chin and continued. “I won't let you die so easily. After all, there are many ways to torture you.”
Her face turned pale slightly, and her breathing became heavy. Tanner flung her back into her seat and quickly drove away.
Tanner dragged her into the bathroom when they were back in the apartment. He filled the bathtub with cold water and threw her into it without any hesitation.
The water soaked through her clothes and splashed all over him. The biting cold water wrapped around her, and she was so cold that she shivered. Before she could do anything, Tanner grabbed her hair and hissed. “Why must you force me to do this? Do you really want to die so much?”
He pushed her head into the water, causing her to struggle with all her might, she gasped heavily for air when he scooped her out of the water. However, he pushed her into the water before she could recover.
Seeing that she did not struggle this time, he picked her up and looked at her. She was panting and shivering, while her face was bloodless due to the coldness. He clamped his hand on his cheek to force her to look into his eyes and snarled, "Do you still want to do that again?”
Pearl was cold, and her teeth were chattering. Her eyes were bloodshot from the water, and they were filled with intense hatred, "why not?"
At that moment, Tanner felt a surge of powerlessness filling him whole. The dull pain in his chest spread deep into his stomach pit. He was equally soaked, and he couldn't feel the sting from the cold anymore.
Covering his face with his palm, he gradually calmed himself down.
He rose to his feet and went out of the bathroom.
Pearl hugged herself tightly in the bathtub. Perhaps she was already accustomed to the coldness, so the water felt warm to her. she lowered her head and cried silently.
Tanner did not come back in the next three days, while Pearl fell sick and coughed nonstop after the incident in the bathroom that day. When the doorbell rang, she went to the kitchen to get herself a cup of warm water.
She put the cup down and went to open the door.
When she saw the woman outside of the door, she was stunned. “You are?”
Barbara raised her head and smiled. “I’m Helios’ wife. My name is Barbara chase. Pleasure to meet you.”
Pearl supported herself by grabbing the door and craning her neck to look outside. “How did you get up here? where are the bodyguards?”
“Bodyguards? I didn’t see anybodyguards,” Barbara said with a slightly confused voice. After that, she smiled at Pearl and said, “I know that Mr. Hannigan lives here. I guessed you would be here, so I came to look for you.”
She looked at Pearl and realized that her countenance was ashen-pale. It seemed to her that Pearl was sick, so she asked, “Are you alright, Ms. Santiago?”
“Yes, I’m alright,” Pearl replied as she stifled a cough. “I just caught a cold. Anyway, what do you want from me?”
Barbara lowered her head and licked her lips. “I wonder if you're free to go out for a meal or something.”
Pearl looked at her and said, “If you want something from me, then just say it. I... I can't leave here.”
“Is Mr. Hannigan holding you captive?” Barbara noticed something and frowned. “Ms. Santiago, your father came to my husband the other day. I know what’s going on, so if you need my help— ”
“I don’t need your help. I’m sorry.”
Just when Pearl wanted to close the door, Barbara stopped her. “Wait!”
She paused for a few seconds before continuing. “ Alright, I’ll be honest with you. Someone wants to see you.”
“Who wants to see me?” Pearl asked.
Barbara pressed her lips and answered, “Maisie.”
• • •
Maisie was waiting for Barbara in the coffee shop.
After a short while, Barbara appeared, and when she did not see Pearl, she knew she had rejected Barbara.
“I tried my best, but she refused to come with me.” Barbara took off her jacket and took her seat. “So, I told her that you wanted to see her.”
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1273
Maisie nodded. “Well, I expected this.”
Barbara summoned the waiter and continued. “She’s living in Mr. Hannigan’s apartment now, but I think he’s holding her captive. ”
She ordered a cup of Blue Mountain coffee, and after the waiter had gone away, she asked, “Aren11 you curious about what she said when I told her that you wanted to see her?”
Maisie was holding a cup of coffee, and she was stunned for a moment. After a short while, she took a sip from the coffee and asked, “what did she say?”
“She said she doesn’t want to see you.”
Seeing the crack on Maisie’s face, Barbara giggled and added, “Alright, alright. I’ll stop messing with you.”
Maisie crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at Barbara.
Barbara leaned forward and said with a smile on her face, “It's true that she didn't say she doesn't want to see you, but she didn't say when either.”
Maisie nodded. “That means she doesn’t want to see me. It’s just that she doesn’t want to say it out explicitly.”
Barbara lifted her eyebrows. “So, why do you want to see her? Do you want to resolve the feud between you and her?”
“Feud? I’ve long gotten over it. We don’t have any feud anymore.” Maisie placed her hand on her forehead, she picked up the spoon and stirred her coffee. “It’s just that I feel a little sad for her.”
Barbara seemed to have seen through Maisie’s mind.
“You just can't bear seeing her in her current situation, right? Although it wasn't your fault in the first place, if she hadn't thought of setting you up, she wouldn't have ended up in that situation. However, if she refused to change and continued to harm you, things would've developed differently, and you wouldn't want to help her today.
“You now feel that you went too far when you took revenge on her, but if you think from another angle, if you didn't do that, the one who would have lost her reputation wouldn't be her but you. If she hadn't gone so far when doing that thing, it wouldn't have backfired on her. People in this world are unpredictable. Someone would hate you for no reason, while other people would let go of their hatred after some time.”
In the past, she hated Katrina even though she was her older sister. However, she let go of her hatred in the end. As for Pearl, she used to hate Maisie, but did she still hate her now?
Maisie picked up her coffee and said, “It seems like you've become even wiser after marrying Helios.”
Barbara chuckled. “Well, I learned it from you.”
At that moment, Maisie’s phone rang. It was Louis. After Louis said something to her, she ended the call and picked up her purse. “Ryleigh is giving birth today. Let's go to the hospital.”
Both of them rushed to the hospital.
Outside of the delivery room...
Louis was sitting on the bench, his body leaning forward and his legs wide spread. He clasped his hands tightly. The longer he waited, the more tormented he was.
Larissa was pacing in the corridor, when she saw Maisie, she called out to her, “Maisie.”
“Louis, Aunt Larrisa.” She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. “Ryleigh hasn’t come out yet?”
“Not yet. It has been three hours.” Larrisa was both anxious and worried.
At that moment, they heard a baby's cries in the delivery room.
Louis stood up and walked up to the delivery room. The nurse opened the door and came out with a smile on her face as she said, “Mrs. Lucas has given birth to a boy. Congratulations, Mr. Lucas.”
Louis was stunned. “It’s a boy?”
‘But I want a daughter! ’
While the nurse was dumbfounded, Larrisa came over and pushed him. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a son or a daughter. You should hurry up and go check on your wife.”
It was only then Louis came around to his senses. He rushed into the delivery room to check on his wife. “ Ryleigh!”
Ryleigh's face was pale, and she was extremely weak because she had just given birth, when Louis knelt beside the bed and grabbed her hand, she couldn't help but cry out, ''I'll never give birth again.'1
“Alright, alright. We're not having any more babies.” Louis wiped the tears off her face and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “You’ve done a great job, Ryleigh.”
After that, Ryleigh was pushed back into her ward.
Maisie and Barbara were happy for her since she had finally given birth to her baby.
The nurse and Larrisa brought the baby over and said. “Come, take a look at your baby.”
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1274
Ryleigh carefully carried the baby in her arms, she was stunned when the baby grabbed her thumb with his little fingers. “So, all babies are so tiny when they are born?’
“That’s right. Louis was this tiny as well when I gave birth to him. His skin was all wrinkled up, and he was ugly,” Larrisa chimed in.
Louis was rendered speechless, and Ryleigh chuckled.
Louis sat at the side of the bed and took the baby over from Ryleigh. The baby started crying as soon as he was in Louis' arms. He panicked and asked, "why is he crying?"
Maisie walked over. “Come, let me carry him.”
She took over the baby from Louis and held him in her arms, she patted the baby gently with practiced ease. After a minute, the baby stopped crying.
Larrisa came over and laughed. "It seems like he likes you very much, Maisie.”
The nurse brought the baby back to the nursery.
Maisie and Barbara did not stay back since they knew Ryleigh needed to rest, so both of them left the hospital.
Late at night, Tanner stood at the bedroom door and hesitated to go in. His cheeks puffed up, and he frowned deeply upon hearing the continuous coughing inside. In the end, he turned the door handle and entered the room.
Pearl was lying on the bed. An ashen hue overspread her face, and she looked sick.
Tanner walked over to the bed and put his hand on her forehead. It seemed to him that she had a fever again.
He pulled the drawer open and took out the antipyretic medicine she didn't finish last time. He got a cup of warm water and sat by the bed. He lifted her up in his arms and fed her the medicine.
Pearl’s eyes rolled around in her socket as she slowly opened her eyes. The bedside lamp was bright and stung her eyes. As she slowly came around to her senses, she looked up from below, and Tanner's silhouette became clear in the light.
She lifted her hand slowly and smacked the cup away.
The cup fell to the floor and shattered just like her heart at that time. The sudden noise shattered the silence, and the atmosphere in the room became more depressing.
She thought he would punish her again, but after a long while, Tanner just held her shoulders and helped her lie back down on the bed.
Pearl looked at him and asked, “Aren't you angry?”
Tanner was stunned and lifted his head to look at her. There was a sarcastic smile in her eyes as if she was laughing at his actions.
“You should be angry that I don't accept your kindness.”
She got up from the bed and went closer to him. “Just throw whatever tricks you have at me. If I can make it through, you can keep torturing me. If I can't make it through, then I'll die. It's not a big deal.”
Tanner’s face turned grim, “stop it. You have gone too far. I don’t want to fight with you today.” “Is it me or you that has gone too far?”
Pearl looked at him intently, her gaze so sharp and cold that Tanner couldn’t bear looking at her. He pushed her away and shouted, “stop it, Pearl! ”
Pearl let out a cold smile after she was pushed away by Tanner, she lifted the covers and got out of bed. “ You keep showing me affection again and again, and you refuse to let me die. Could it be that you've fallen in love with me?”
His chest was heaving up and down vigorously, and his expression changed.
“What the h*ll are you talking about?” His steps faltered, but he forced himself to calm down. “Do you think I would fall in love with a despicable and indecent woman like you?”
‘Despicable? Indecent? So this is how he thinks about me?
She should have known that long ago, so why bother to ask for anything else?
Tanner's heart clenched, and a pang shot through him upon capturing the disappointment in Pearl's eyes.
Had he fallen in love with Pearl?
How could he fall in love with Pearl?
Sandy wouldn’t have lost all her hopes and killed herself if it weren't for her. Therefore, he would never fall in love with Pearl. Yes, never!
He grabbed her shoulders tightly and said through gritted teeth, “Pearl Santiago, I warn you. stop saying nonsense like this in front of me. I won't let you die because I want to torture you. I want you to live to pay for everything you did to her. I’ll never, ever fall in love with you!”
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1275
4'11 never, ever fall in love with you! ’
Pearl was stunned. She felt as if someone had stabbed her in her heart. Her shoulders trembled, and tears began to roll down from her eyes.
“I didn’t—” Tanner clasped his hands on her cheeks and pulled her closer.
Pearl bit into his shoulder so hard that he pushed her away reflexively in pain, causing her to fall on the glass shards on the floor.
“Pearl!” Tanner hurriedly ran over and scooped her up from the floor. His whole body trembled when he saw the scene in front of him.
The glass shards had stabbed into Pearl's cheek.
Tanner carried her in his arms and rushed her to the hospital.
At the hospital...
Tanner sat against the wall of the emergency exit. The floor was littered with cigarette butts, and his palm and collar were dyed with her blood.
When he thought about the wounds on Pearl's cheek, Tanner covered his face with his palms in pain as a tear slid down in the darkness.
He returned to the ward despondently and sat down on the chair next to the bed. Pearl was lying on the bed with her right cheek covered in gauze. He held her cold hand tremblingly against his forehead. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
He did not mean it. He did not want to hurt her at all.
His brain was blank, and he did not know what he should do right now.
Tanner placed her hand against his cheek and tightened his grip as he watched Pearl, who was still sleeping.
The next morning...
Tanner opened his eyes and woke up. when he couldn’t feel Pearl’s hand, he jerked up from the chair. However, the bed was empty, and Pearl was nowhere to be seen.
“Pearl! ” Tanner shouted. He ran to the corridor and stopped a nurse. “Where is the patient in this ward?” The nurse was stunned. “Is the patient not in the room?”
A bad feeling rose up from Tanner’s stomach pit, and he shouted, “Quickly! I want to see the surveillance footage!”
“But unauthorized personnel aren’t allowed to watch the surveillance footage— ”
Before the nurse could finish her sentence, Tanner interrupted her forcefully and shouted, “Ask your director to come and see me if anything happens.
Hurry up and get me the surveillance footage now. If something happens to her, I’ll bring this hospital down!”
• • •
Pearl walked barefoot on the street in her hospital gown, and a jacket draped over her shoulder. The wind was cold as it blew through her long hair and bit through her skin, but her heart was already dead.
Everyone on the street was looking at her, and an old woman selling potatoes on the street stopped her. " Girl, why did you run out of the hospital and wear so little? Aren’t you cold?"
Her eyes rolled around in the sockets as she parted her chapped lips open. “No... I’m not cold.”
The old woman handed a hot potato to her and said, “ Here, take this and eat it to warm up yourself. You're still young, and you still have a long way to go. You shouldn't think too much. Hurry up and go back to the hospital.”
Pearl looked at her, and her eyes turned red around the rims. She lowered her head to eat the potato.
Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she laughed in despair.
Meanwhile, Tanner was looking for her on the street in his car. He had made several calls in a row, and in the end, he called Helios.
Helios picked up his call and said, “Tanner?”
Tanner calmed himself down and said, “Helios, help me to find Pearl. She has run away from the hospital. I’m worried that she might...”
Helios fell silent for a moment before saying, “okay. I’ll get someone to look for her, and I’ll get back to you when we find her.”
Helios took a deep breath, and he gripped the steering wheel even tighter. He couldn't imagine if she really left him...
He stamped on the accelerator.
The seawater beat against the rocks and the snow- white waves covered the moss in the cracks of the rocks. Pearl stood under the ivory-colored lighthouse. Her feet were frozen and filled with wounds after coming all the way here.
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1276
Tanner drove to the beach and saw a person standing under the lighthouse not far away. He braked the car abruptly, got out of the car, and dashed straight toward the lighthouse, not even bothering to answer the ringing phone.
“Pearl!” Tanner ran towards the figure. “Don’t—”
Pearl plunged into the ocean without hesitation, and the turbulent sea engulfed her whole.
The icy seawater blocked all sounds the moment she jumped into the sea, wrapping her sinking body. An arm held onto her, and Tanner carried her upstream.
On the shore, he placed his hands one over the other, pressed them against her chest, and performed CPR. The bone-piercing chill stiffened his entire body, but he did not dare to stop, not even for a moment.
“Pearl, please—” Tanner’s arm muscles contracted and relaxed over and over again as he continued performing CPR. “Please wake up! ”
Several cars parked behind Tanner’s car, and Helios led his men out of the car.
One of the bodyguards pointed to the lighthouse. “ Over there!”
Everyone rushed straight to the lighthouse. Helios saw what happened and got someone to call for an ambulance immediately.
“Mr. Hannigan, leave it to US.” A bodyguard was about to take over, but Tanner evaded. “Get away! ”
The bodyguard stood in place and looked at Helios in embarrassment, so Helios waved at him, motioning him to step back.
After a while, Pearl coughed and spat out water.
Tanner immediately picked her up, pushed the wet hair that was stuck to her cheeks with his palms, and exclaimed with a delighted expression on his face, “ Pearl!”
Pearl’s body trembled due to the sheer coldness, and her lips turned paler by the second. Seeing that she was shivering, the bodyguard took off his coat and handed it to Tanner. And Tanner wrapped her body in the coat and held her in his arms so that his body temperature could warm her up.
When the ambulance arrived at the scene, the medics brought a stretcher down from the ambulance and carried Pearl onto the vehicle.
Tanner wanted to follow them into the ambulance, and Helios handed him his jacket before he could do so. “Hurry up and put it on.”
Tanner took the coat from him. “Thank you.”
Antonio and Mrs. Santiago hurried to the hospital after learning about their daughter’s condition. Seeing that Tanner was standing in the corridor, Mrs. Santiago could no longer keep herself in check, so she rushed up to him and slapped him. “Are you even a human!?”
Helios and Antonio held her back, but she was so emotional that she could not calm down at all. she pointed at Tanner furiously. “Tanner Hannigan, you’re the one who left my daughter behind at the wedding ceremony! You’re the one who deceived her and played with her feelings first! What did she do to offend you? Must you force her to the extent of taking her own life!?”
Tanner did not even utter a single word. He only stood there and let Mrs. Santiago vent her emotions.
Mrs. Santiago covered her face and cried out loud, “ She doesn’t want anything, she doesn’t even want to see us anymore!”
Antonio hugged Mrs. Santiago, who was crying bitterly. Deep down, he felt extremely aggrieved and looked at Tanner with a dimmed expression. “Pearl has already fallen to this extent, so if you still have any conscience left in you, please don’t get anywhere near her anymore. In order to get your revenge, you forced her so harshly that she’d rather die, but what can you change by killing her?”
Tanner’s expression looked gloomy as he could no longer feel his feet, and the piercing coldness that he felt on his body was not something that a coat could warm up.
Antonio took Mrs. Santiago to a bench, sat down, and tried to soothe her emotions.
Helios stared at the couple whose daughter was suffering from a heartbreak, and his gaze landed on Tanner again. He approached and patted Tanner on the shoulder. “Go back home, take a warm shower, and change into some clean clothes.”
Tanner’s cheeks bulged. “No, I’ll wait here for her to wake up.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Santiago are herewith her.” Helios looked at the hospital bed. “Just let her family stay by her side for now.”
Tanner remained silent. In the end, he passed by Helios and left without saying a word.
Three days later, Pearl still had not woken up after such a long time.
Mrs. Santiago stayed by her bed day and night just to take care of her, and she looked so much more haggard and older than before.
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1277
Antonio came to the nurse station and asked one of the nurses who were on duty, “Excuse me, why hasn’t my daughter woken up after so many days?”
The nurse skimmed through Pearl’s diagnosis and case and then explained slowly, “when a patient exhibits such a condition, it can only be concluded that it’s due to certain psychological factors. This usually happens to patients who have mood swings or wish to escape from reality through extreme means. That’s why they’ll remain in self-isolation even after being cured.
“If the patient is conscious but unwilling to wake up, family members should stay here, accompany her more frequently, and communicate with her to stimulate her cranial nerves. That might help her regain consciousness prematurely.”
Antonio nodded.
He walked back to the ward with a heavy heart and saw Mrs. Santiago standing by the bed, watching over her daughter and sobbing silently. He took a deep breath, grabbed his coat, walked up to her, and draped it on her. “You should go and rest for now.”
Mrs. Santiago wiped her tears. “I don’t want to go. You should go first.”
Antonio tried to persuade her. “Pearl is still alive, and you’re exhausted. If you were to collapse because of exhaustion, would Pearl feel good when she wakes up, knowing that her mother’s health is not doing too well during this period?”
Mrs. Santiago paused for a bit. After thinking about what her husband had just said, which made sense, she stopped talking back.
A week later...
The city was drizzling, and the sky was overcast and looked gray, standing in front of the tombstone with an umbrella, Tanner stared at Sandy’s photo with a dimmed expression and dull eyes.
The rain drenched the bouquet of yellow roses that he had in his hand, and the crystal clear water droplets condensed on the delicate petals and slid down.
“Sandy,” Tanner murmured her name as if he was talking to her, “You must blame me, right? In fact, the person who deserves to die the most should be me.”
The only thing that responded to him was the cold wind that was whistling in his ears, and he lowered his eyelids. “Maybe you’re right. You’re not the one who’s changed, it’s me. I’m the one who’s caused our relationship to arrive at where it is today. So yes, I’m the one who f*cked up, but I didn’t have the balls to admit it or face the truth.
“I didn’t expect that it would cause you so much harm. I never even thought that you would choose to end yourself in such a way. And... And because I couldn’t let it go, I could only push all the blame onto her in order to make me feel better.”
Tanner’s eyes turned bloodshot, and he laughed at himself. “You think I’m ridiculous too, don’t you? I didn’t want to owe you anything when it came to this matter, but I didn’t want her to leave either. In the end, it hurt both you and her.”
He squatted down slowly, placed the bouquet on the tomb, and waited for a while longer before he left the cemetery. The rain dripped on the cold tombstone, everything in the whole scenery was gray in color, and the bouquet of bright yellow roses was the only colored item in sight.
And that only colored item looked just like the most beautiful past that they once had—it was just a memory that existed.
When Tanner came to the hospital, he arrived outside of the ward and looked at the person lying on the bed. Pearl was still there, sleeping peacefully.
He sat in the chair next to the bed, holding her warm palm with his chilly hands. The warmth was the only sensation that could make him feel more at ease.
“Pearl, I know you hate me.” Tanner brought the back of her hand to his lips. “I’ll take any punishment you throw at me no matter what you wish to do to retaliate against me. I only want you to wake up. You can hit, scold, or even stab me when you wake up. I’ll take a knife without fighting back.”
He pressed his cheek against her palm. He could no longer hold his emotions back at this moment and burst into tears. Warm tears flowed through her fingertips, and her fingers trembled. The person lying on the hospital bed slowly opened her eyes.
Tanner noticed something and lifted his head abruptly. He was ecstatic when he saw that Pearl had regained consciousness, and his hand trembled when he held her. “Pearl, you’ve finally woken up...”
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1278
Tanner quickly got up and ran outside to summon the doctor. 1
The doctor rushed into the ward to run a thorough check-up on her. Not long after the incident, Mrs. Santiago and Antonio hurried over.
“Pearl! ” Seeing her daughter sitting on the bed, Mrs. Santiago completely ignored Tanner’s existence, reached out, and caressed her cheeks excitedly, she could not help but cry. “My precious daughter, you’re finally awake.”
“It’s great that you’ve finally woken up. This is great.” Antonio seemed to be relieved, and a huge stone seemed to have been lifted from his heart at this moment.
Pearl looked expressionless. Even though she had regained consciousness, she had not uttered a single word.
Mrs. Santiago stared at her suspiciously and stroked the long hair that was hanging over Pearl’s cheeks to reveal her entire face. “Pearl?”
At that moment, Pearl moved her dry lips, and her hoarse voice sounded, “who are you?”
Mrs. Santiago and Antonio were immediately stunned.
The two looked at Tanner at once, who was also astounded.
He stared at Pearl, who lowered her head and was fiddling with her fingers. From time to time, she would look up at Antonio, Mrs. Santiago, as well as himself.
Not even a trace of hatred could be found in her eyes. To be precise, all the emotions in her eyes had disappeared, and she had forgotten everything.
Mrs. Santiago grasped the doctor’s arms with bloodshot eyes. “Doctor, what happened to my daughter? why doesn’t she remember any of US?”
The doctor reassured her and then explained, “From what we see, she should be suffering from transient amnesia. However, she hasn’t suffered from any head injuries, so strictly speaking, it might be a memory disorder that’s caused by psychological trauma.”
Mrs. Santiago asked immediately, “Then when will she recover?”
“If it’s transient amnesia, the time required for a full recovery depends solely on the patient’s condition.”
The doctor left the ward after explaining everything.
Mrs. Santiago’s footsteps swayed, and Antonio quickly supported her. She could not help but blame herself, covering her mouth and crying hysterically.
Tanner pursed his lips tightly, the hands that were hanging by his sides clenched into fists, and he suddenly felt powerless.
A few days later, Pearl still could not remember anything. However, Antonio and Mrs. Santiago no longer haggled over her amnesia. After all, forgetting something that happened in the past might actually do her more good.
Pearl sat on a garden bench and basked in the sun. She looked warm and pretty when the warm sunlight shone on her languid figure.
A shadow blocked her side vision, she froze, lifted her head, and stared at Tanner. With his back facing the light source, the contours of his face became even clearer.
He took off his coat and draped it over her.
Pearl looked at him curiously. “Why are you here again? My mother doesn’t seem to like you very much. You’ll be scolded again if she sees US together.”
She might not be able to recall anything, but she realized her mother’s not-very-friendly attitude toward this man. Her mother would drive this man away as soon as he appeared.
“She has all the right to not like me.” Tanner sat down beside her, turned to look at her, and raised his hand to stroke her hair. “I’m sorry.”
Her eyes twitched. “Why are you always apologizing?”
Tanner’s eyes dimmed. “Because I’ve done something terribly wrong.”
“What have you done?” she wondered.
“I fell in love with a woman.” He stared into her eyes and replied as he caressed the gauze on her cheek gently, “But I’ve hurt her.”
Pearl was slightly dumbfounded. “Then shouldn’t you apologize to that woman? Why would you apologize to me then?”
Tanner took a deep breath to suppress the emotions in his heart, but a hint of guilt still surged in his eyes. He wanted to tell her, but he was afraid of irritating her.
‘She doesn’t remember anything, and she’s forgotten about me. I really don’t know whether I should feel happy for her or sad for myself.’
After a long while, he opened his mouth and said slowly, “Do you want to hear about that woman and me?”
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1279
Pearl nodded, and she seemed very curious.
Tanner gazed into the distance. “It all started with my marriage to her. At that time, I only agreed to the marriage at the request of my family, but I didn’t like her...”
‘I first met Pearl at the dinner between the Hannigans and the Santiagos. It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen Ms. Santiago from the La Perla Group, and it wasn’t that I didn’t know her. Pearl Santiago has always been rumored to be an arrogant and domineering b*tch, and the scandal that took place at the socialite party a few years ago was the event that turned her into the target of public criticism.
‘Because Maizie’s actions had implicated the Hannigans, in order to consolidate the Hannigans’ status in Bassburgh, father asked me to marry such an unbearable and disgraced woman. And I couldn’t help but find this whole facade ironic.
‘I met Pearl at that dinner, and that was the first time I really got to her.’
‘She did not look arrogant at all. she looked just like any other dignified and elegant woman. I knew Pearl had disappeared from the public’s eyes for three years since the incident happened. If that were to happen to any other woman, the incident would most probably become a nightmare that not even time could disperse, and some women would never be able to step out of that shadow for the rest of their lives.
‘But she was different. She seemed to have stepped out of it, and she seemed to have been reborn. The pride in her was still noticeable, but it had become less offensive and aggressive.
‘At that time, I wondered how could a woman with a disgraced reputation still put up such an arrogant front. Even if I were to really marry her, I would never recognize her as my wife, at most a woman who had gotten herself married into the Hannigans.
‘She did not talk much that night, and we did not get to interact with each other that much either. The only interaction that we had was when my father asked me to send Pearl back.
‘She said something to me in the car, “You can reject it if you want.”
‘I was a little surprised but replied to her, “I have no reason to reject it. Isn’t that a mutual thing between you and me, Ms. Santiago?”
‘She was just a disgraced and filthy lady, what reason could she put forward to reject this marriage arrangement? If it weren’t for the resources that the Santiagos had up their sleeves, which my father took a fancy to, why would I want to marry a woman who no other men in Bassburgh would want to marry?
‘After that, due to the close relationship between the two families, I had a few more chances to get in touch with Pearl, although I did not go to meet her voluntarily.
‘Pearl was a very tactful woman. The word suited her perfectly. Faced with any problem, she had never once refuted a thing that I said. She would understand whenever I came up with excuses to leave early when we were on a date.
‘Both families wanted us to cultivate our feelings for each other. Thus, I pretended to care for her when we were in front of the elders.
‘And perhaps she understood how I felt about our relationship too. But all I thought was that her understanding were only byproducts of her inferiority.
‘If I refused to marry her, would anyone else want her? And even if there were a man that would take her in, it would only be her marrying someone of inferior family background. But the Santiagos wouldn ’t want her to marry a man from such a family.
‘All she had done was because she feared that I wouldn’t marry her, so she would be very satisfied whenever I treated her kindly. Recalling all those details now, even if such a woman were to get married to another family, she would be the best facade for her husband because she would never go against his will.
‘But since when did I start to pay more attention to her? Maybe ever since Sandy came back to me?
‘I had always thought that Pearl would only be submissive and that she wouldn’t object to anything that I said. But I was wrong.’
“‘We don’t have to get married.”
“‘Tanner, you can dissolve the marriage anytime you want.”
“‘You don’t have to tell me about your affairs with her. I won’t stop you, but I won’t be the third party between you.’”
The Three Little Guardian Angels Chapter 1280 ‘I was thinking at that time, didn’t she want me to marry her? Her cautions, her understanding, and all her grievances were all fake?
‘It was not that I didn’t sympathize with her, but whenever I sympathized with this woman and wanted to make up for her, she gave me a feeling that she didn’t need me to sympathize with her.
‘Was she heartless? I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to know. Even though I had a fling with Sandy, and she actually knew about it, she had never stopped me. Was she so self-abased?
‘Actually, no, she was not self-abased. She was just colder and more heartless than any ordinary woman.
‘I started to feel like I could never see through her. She would be happy whenever I treated her better.
However, I had never seen her be happy, and I had seldom seen her smile ever since. Even if I offered to accompany her to dinner, she would always come up with any kind of excuse to avoid me.
‘Yes, she started avoiding me.
‘Perhaps it was because I had already gotten used to her being obedient and doing things my way all the time. I could not get used to it when she suddenly stopped behaving in that way.
‘And Sandy had already returned to me. Wouldn’t it be best to terminate the engagement?
‘But I didn’t want to terminate the engagement. I didn’t know what went wrong, let alone why I wouldn’t want to terminate the engagement. Was it because I had fallen for her?
‘But how could that be possible? How could I fall for such a filthy woman? Sandy was perfect, she was the ex I couldn’t get my mind off and the woman I loved. So how could Pearl even compete with her? she didn’t even deserve a chance to compete with Sandy.
‘But it was not until the other day when she ran into the indescribable scene between Sandy and me. A trace of surprise could be seen on her face at that time, and the disappointment that flashed across her eyes seemed to vanish in an instant. I clearly saw the loneliness that surged from the bottom of her eyes, but it was soon replaced with indifference.
“‘Sorry for disturbing you.” she stood still at the door for a second or two, then turned away and left.
‘“ Pearl! ” I panicked at that time. I put on my clothes and chased after her. I stepped forward and pulled her back, but instead of apologizing to her as I intended to, I let it slip out of his mouth. “Since you ’vé seen it, I won’t explain anything to you, but I don’t want anyone to know about this.”
‘I was shocked by my own words after they escaped my mouth, why wouldn’t I want her to talk out about it? I would be able to get the engagement terminated if she were to speak up about my relationship with Sandy.
‘The moment Pearl looked at me expressionlessly, I panicked. I was afraid that she might misunderstand or realize something, so I explained, “I don’t want to see anyone humiliating Sandy in public.”
‘She lowered her gaze and pursed her lips. “Got it.”
‘Looking at her silhouette leaving the scene, I covered my face with my palm. A strange feeling began to spread deep down, and I didn’t like how it felt, and I still firmly believed that Sandy was the one that I loved.
‘Except for that one time, I had never touched Sandy again. And when Sandy asked me if I didn’t love her anymore, I affirmed that I still loved her, but the reason that I gave her was that Pearl and I still had a marriage agreement. Thus, to protect the two families ' reputation, I could no longer get it on with her until the agreement was officially canceled.
‘I thought this explanation was reasonable too, but when I saw Sandy’s hesitation and melancholy, I began to ask myself if it was truly like that.
‘But I didn’t expect that Sandy would get pregnant after that one time.
‘When Sandy appeared at our wedding and told me she was pregnant with my child, my mind went blank. I stared at Pearl, but there was no expression on her face. She was calmer than anyone else present.
‘I didn’t want to leave her and take Sandy away. I would have stayed if she were to ask me to complete the ceremony at that time.’