SWNOVELS Chapter 21: Intentionally Seduce Him
When Dolores arrived at the hospital, Sampson was sitting in the corridor outside the patients’ rooms with his hands on his
knees. He leaned forward slightly, deep in his thoughts. He didn’t even notice when Dolores walked up to him.
“What are you thinking about?”
Sampson raised his head and struggled to hold back his concern when he finally noticed Dolores. He looked towards the
patients’ rooms. “Your mother is suffering from a severe anxiety attack and is hallucinating.”
Dolores had mentally prepared herself for the worst. “Thank you for taking care of her. Please go get some rest. I’ll look after
her.”
Sampson glanced at her abdomen. “You also need to rest.”
“Please don’t worry about me, I’ll take good care of myself.” Dolores smiled calmly at him.
Sampson was silent for a moment, then nodded. “Call me if you need anything.”
“I will.”
Sampson stood up to leave. Dolores watched as Sampson walked away and chewed her lip. Although she’d known him for a
rather long time, she knew little about his family. In that way, she felt like she knew nothing about him at all. He had to be worried
about something big to be so deep in his thoughts.
At that moment, Sampson stopped, turned, and looked at Dolores. “I heard something from those women. Someone paid them
to say those things and to splash paint on your door.”
Dolores nodded. “Thank you for telling me. And, Sampson, you can always talk to me if something is troubling you.” Dolores
looked at him.
Sampson smiled, “I’m fine.”
Dolores didn’t pester him. She knew firsthand that everyone had something they didn’t want to share with others.
She didn’t go into her mother’s room immediately after Sampson left. She wondered who would want to pay the neighbors to do
such things? Annabelle? Beulah? They didn’t know she was pregnant. So—
Crash!
The sound of something smashing on the ground echoed from Jessica’s room. Dolores jumped and quickly and pushed the door
open and saw the broken glass at Jessica’s feet.
Dolores went over to pick up the glass shards while speaking to her mom. “Mom, do you want a drink? Go sit down and I’ll pour
you some water after I clean up—”
Before she could finish, Jessica grabbed her wrist and looked like she was in a trance, “Lola.”
Dolores looked up at her mother. “Yes?”
Jessica looked extremely conflicted and grabbed Dolores’ wrist with increasing strength. “Can you just abort it?”
That question was the first of many. What if the baby was born without a father? What would others think of them if the baby just
looked different? Dolores knew Jessica was traumatized, but she didn’t expect her to bring up the past.
“Mom...”
Jessica let go as if her soul had left her body. “You’re reluctant to. I knew you’d be unwilling.”
She sat on the bed and leaned back in a daze, “Jeremy is gone, he’s gone...”
Jessica’s actions stunned Dolores. ‘What happened to her?’ Dolores called for the doctor but Jessica fought the doctor and
threatened to hurt herself. As a result, the doctor gave her a sedative to calm her down.
“For now, I can say the patient is suffering from a mental illness,” the doctor explained after checking Jessica’s vitals.
Dolores swayed and steadied herself on the cupboard behind her. “How did it become so serious?”
“Has your mother recently encountered emotional trauma? This can’t be the first time this has happened. She must’ve
suppressed her stress for too long and it’s exploded, resulting in her current condition.”
Dolores’ lips twitched. Ever since Randolph had sent them away, she never smiled. She was certain Jessica had been suffering
from overwhelming stress the whole time. She’d suffered from postpartum depression after her brother was born and the
depression worsened after Jeremy’s death. Dolores’ pregnancy was also emotionally stressful for her and must have been the
straw that broke the camel’s back. That was Jessica’s limit of her emotional tolerance. The additional stress tipped her over the
edge and caused her to lose control of herself.
“What’s the treatment?” Dolores was incoherent and could only persevere.
The doctor sighed, “It’s not easy to treat a mental illness. You know Dr. Herbert, don’t you? He’s a psychiatrist. He should be able
to help the most.”
Dolores remembered Sampson’s expression and wondered if he knew something but didn’t want to tell her.
“I suggest you transfer your mother to a psychiatric facility.”
Dolores nodded in agreement.
After the doctor left, Dolores squatted next to her mother and looked at the self-inflicted scratches on Jessica’s face. Her heart
ached so much she couldn’t breathe. The image of Jessica losing control and hurting herself replayed in Dolores’ mind.
*****
Jessica was transferred to a psychiatric center that same day. Because the patient was emotionally unstable and had the
potential to cause harm to herself and others, only the next of kin could visit her, and then only during regulated visiting hours. It
was as if part of the treatment was to isolate the patient from the outside world.
Dolores packaged up some of Jessica’s and her belongings and terminated the lease. Because she had to leave some things in
the apartment, the landlord didn’t refund the deposit.
Sampson had paid Jessica’s hospital bills and Dolores felt that she was increasingly indebted to Sampson.
Dolores hailed a cab and tried to figure out what she could do about the situation. As she was fully lost in her thoughts, the car
stopped at the villa. She paid the driver and got out of the car with her bags. She stood for a moment outside the villa and hadn’t
expected she would be staying there for the time being.
As she reached the door to the villa, a car drove up and she recognized it as Matthew’s. She froze in place, not sure what to do.
Matthew got out of the car and saw Dolores standing on one side of the porch.
“Where did you go?” he asked coldly.
He’d gone to the hospital but was told by the nurses that she had completed the discharge procedures. So where had she gone
for the rest of the day?
Dolores didn’t want to explain. Jessica’s matters exhausted her.
“I had some errands,” Dolores replied simply.
Matthew frowned. What kind of attitude was that? He hurried toward her ...
He was tensed and obviously furious, but then he seemed to multiply in Dolores’ vision. She grew extremely dizzy and blacked
out. Matthew was swift and caught her by her waist as she collapsed.
Her waist was still slim and he couldn’t tell that she was pregnant. Her soft body and close contact caused an unfamiliar flutter in
his heart. Matthew frowned at the subtle feeling. It was inexplicable. They’d only met for a short time ago. How could he already
be having such strange feelings?
Before he could savor the emotions, two people walked through the doorway. One was Abbott and the other was Helen. It
stunned both of them to see Matthew hugging Dolores. Especially Helen and, had she not been in front of Matthew, she would
have screamed in rage. She was furious!
“Matthew... she...”
Matthew carried Dolores through the doorway and entered the villa, paying neither of them any mind.
Abbott looked at Helen and said, “Mr. Nelson married Ms. Flores. Even if he doesn’t love her, they are husband and wife. How
could he allow her to faint and collapse onto the ground?”
Helen scoffed. “How could she faint when she seemed fine? Isn’t that intentionally seducing him?”
Before Abbot could reply, Helen continued. “Why did she faint if she wasn’t sick? Isn’t that strange?”
Helen had her reasons to doubt Dolores’ health.
Abbott trusted Helen more than Dolores since he’d known Helen for a longer time and they were partners at work.
Although Dolores had an unfortunate past, she still had a family. Helen, on the other hand, was alone and had been with
Matthew for such a long time. So Abbott naturally sided with Helen.
Matthew carried Dolores into her room and placed her on her bed. Just as he was standing up, Dolores suddenly wrapped her
arms around his neck.