SWNOVELS Chapter Divorce 220
Chapter 220
The bottle contained almost twenty pills, and Helen swallowed them all. White foam bubbled at her lips as a haze enveloped her senses. She didn't know what to do. A sharp, excruciating pain shot through her nerves, her lips bit down hard. Pain, only pain. "It hurts...," she whimpered, her voice trembling and breaking into sobs. Time drifted by, her vision blurred, life unraveling like threads being pulled apart. Blood wouldn't flow back, the agony persisting. For the first time in her life, Helen felt lost, unsure of what to do. She sat on the bed, lingering for a long while, feeling the warmth slowly slip away. As the starlit sky dazzled above, she felt a headache, a discomfort that was beyond words.
When she woke up again, she was in the hospital. As Helen slowly came to, she felt an uncomfortable dryness in her throat and her whole body was drained of energy. Staring at the white ceiling with a pale face, she noticed Selena sitting beside her. "Why did you do such a foolish thing? Do you know how worried your brother and I are about you?" Selena's eyes were slightly red as she raised her hand to tap Helen, but seeing her lifeless face, she stopped.
Helen's breath was weak; it was only after a day and a night of resuscitation that the doctors had managed to pull her back from the brink of death. Her voice was hoarse as she said, "Worried about me? Are you really concerned for me, or are you just afraid there'll be no one left to take the blame for Yvette if I die? Or is it something else?"
"Helen, how can you say that? Even if we ask you to take the fall for Yvette, it's only because of the child she's carrying-it's the bloodline of the Flynn family. How could we let him be born in prison?" Selena glanced at Helen with dissatisfaction and continued, "Besides, even if you were to end up in prison, your brother and I would figure out a way to get you out. We've done it so many times before, and we can surely do it again." Helen scoffed bitterly, "In the end, it's all for Yvette, isn't it? Mom, am I not your child anymore? Was all the love and doting you gave me before just a sham?"
Selena looked distressed, "Helen, how could you say something so heartless? You, of all people, should know how I've treated you."
"Yeah, your so-called care was just making sure the maids and nannies took good care of me. I vividly remember that one time at school I got bullied and came home crying, but all you cared about was playing cards and thought I was annoying." Helen's eyes dimmed. She would always remember that afternoon, the lack of love and respect, the feelings of loss and disappointment that left an indelible mark on her life. Even now, she couldn't forget.
Selena turned her gaze away, her tone growing cold, "Helen, you need to have a conscience. Since you were a kid, have you ever lacked anything others had? When you said you were bullied, I went to school with you the next day and taught that person a lesson."
"Fine, I don't want to talk about the past. You know very well that Yvette is the real culprit. Yet, you still want to protect her because of the child she's carrying, making me take the fall. But why should I? I absolutely won't do it. You saved me once, but I can die a second time." Helen's eyes shone with determination for the first time. She was resolute, "I trust that Shuyan will soon uncover the truth-she's already found Grady, and it's only a matter of time before the truth comes out. What then? How will you still be able to protect Yvette?" Selenas gaze grew colder. "You don't need to worry about anything else. The moment you're discharged, plead guilty. That's what you should be doing." "No! Absolutely not!" Helen's voice was hoarse and weak. After speaking so much in one breath, she barely had the strength to say anything else. Indeed, now she could decide nothing except her own life and death. She never imagined the day would come when Selena would press her so hard, forcing her to plead guilty.
"Helen, this is not your decision to make. Your brother and I have already decided. Even if you are sentenced, we will do whatever it takes to get you out." Selena's expression was unpredictable.
Helen laughed coldly, "Mom, you're determined to protect Yvette, aren't you?"
"Say what you want, but this is final," Selena stated.
Lying in bed, Helen felt dizzy. Yet, hearing her mother's words, an indescribable pain surged within her. They truly intended to disregard her life for Yvette and her unborn child. Clinging to a glimmer of hope, she asked, "What about Grandpa? What does he think?" In her memory, he had always been upright and principled, with a clear sense of right and wrong. He would never let her take the fall just because of Yvette's baby.
Selena looked down at her with a cold, distant gaze that Helen had never seen before-it was chilling. "Helen, you really don't understand your grandfather. When it comes to people he likes, he can be fair and even protective. But don't forget, you're not one of them, nor am I, or Yvette. To him, only the Flynn Group matters; maybe he thinks of your brother. Do you know what he said when he found out Yvette was pregnant?" Helen shook her head, and Selena let out a self-mocking laugh:
"He said, 'After all, it's the Flynn's bloodline; I will take good care of it."
Helen looked at Selena, disillusioned. She understood what her mother meant, and she understood her grandpa's intentions as well. Her gaze shifted past Selena to the door, where a mother was kneeling at the doctor's feet, desperately pleading with a bleeding child in her arms: "Please, doctor, save my daughter. I can sell my kidney, my liver, anything! Please...
She spoke softly, "Mom, all you're saying is just to make me take the blame. You've never been like that mother."
"What?" Selena looked in the direction Helen was gazing, and she too saw the scene. She replied sarcastically, "This life-and-death scene, how do you know I wouldn't?"
Helen withdrew her gaze, looking as if she had seen through life and death. She softly said, "No, you wouldn't. Every time I was in the detention center and you came to see me, I thought you were genuinely worried about me. But that wasn't the case. It wasn't until I saw the look of someone truly concerned for their daughter that I realized you didn't really care about me. You just hated Yasmine, and I was just a tool for you." Selena was surprised by what she said, "Helen, everyone has different ways of expressing love..."