Resent, Reject, Regret

Chapter 46 It’s All Because of Her
Deirdre’s situation was critical. It took the emergency staff hours of grueling effort and focus to operate on her. Everyone was
working with bated breath, and no one dared to relax. When it was finally over, they breathed a collective sigh of relief.
She was sent back to the mansion after that. Or to be more accurate, she was quarantined. Brendan hired more watchers to
mind her, and now, she was a blind woman who had lost even the privilege to walk outside.
Brendan himself seemed to have vanished from her life.
She asked one of the bodyguards where he was, and all she received was a dismissive, “No idea.”
A few days later, while Deirdre was on her way down the stairs, she overheard the bodyguards chatting among themselves. “No
kidding. This sh*t is still boggling to me -why is Mr. Brighthall keeping Mrs. Quasimodo in his bell tower, man? I almost think he’s
planning to have her replace Miss McKinney as his babe!... If it weren’t for the fact that he’s been on these non-stop vacations
abroad with Miss McKinney, that is.”
“Are you tripping? That’s the most preposterous theory I’ve ever heard! You know Mr. Brighthall loves Miss McKinney the most,
right? How else would you explain him casting his business aside and taking her on
extravagant trips just because the lady said she’s feeling a little bit ‘unwell’?”
So Brendan’s absence was not out of spite or fury for her. It was because Charlene had been sick lately, prompting him to drop
everything just to keep the girl company.
The mystery was solved-and yet Deirdre could not bring herself to smile at all. Still, Charlene must have redirected all the focus
Brendan would have dedicated to making Sterling miserable, right? Not that she could call him to confirm this. Her phone was
gone-Brendan had smashed it in a fit of rage. For a moment, Deirdre stood in the same spot, lost in her stupor.
Footsteps. Then, a voice said, “Miss McKinnon?”
It was the doctor, who was on one of his scheduled visits. Her bandage, the doctor had said, needed to be redressed every three
days so it would not leave a nasty scar on her neck. The injury had not been lethal, but its position on her body was...
unappealing.
Deirdre found the concern amusing. Why would someone whose face was already ruined care about a little scar on her neck?

“Alright. We’ll do it downstairs on the couch this time,” she answered. She could not opt out of it anyway. “I don’t want to do it in
my room.”
She felt for the handrail and descended the stairs before feeling around for the couch. She then took a seat gingerly.
The doctor began the procedure with practiced ease. Halfway through, his phone vibrated, and he looked down and snickered
nonchalantly. “Another one got exposed. It’s like a rite of passage to do something dirty before you become a star entrepreneur
at this age, yeah?” he began. “She even had the identity of her bastard son exposed.” Deirdre’s heart skipped a beat. “What did
you say? Whose bastard son?”
“The founder of some famous fashion brand here. All her nasty deeds got exposed-including her bastard son’s picture. Honestly,
the kid looks pretty alright, but the stink of his mother, who committed manslaughter? Brr. Heard the kid’s a doctor, too, but that
career’s crashed and burned now. No hospital in this area would want such a controversial man in their establishment, I can tell
you that.”
Deirdre’s mind went blank. She grabbed the doctor’s arm, her voice rising. “W-Which family is this? What is the name of the
son?” The doctor jerked. “Uh, the Fuller family? The son is named Sterling or something.” Deirdre felt a force crashing against
her chest, turning her entrails into mincemeat. Her brain went blank, and
her eyes reddened. Trembling, she cried, “This can’t be true! It can’t be-look again! You gotta look again and tell me what his
name really is!”
Her denial was sudden and unnatural. Anxious, the doctor leaped from his seat and tried to pacify her. “Hey, calm down, please!
Your wound has barely closed. You could tear it open if you’re not careful!”
Calm down? Tears began to roll down Deirdre’s face. How was she supposed to calm down? Sterling had been dragged through
the mud and maligned by the public because of her. He had barely gotten out of that hell-and now more things about him had
been exposed?!
His future was ruined! He was a talented doctor, for Christ’s sake! Yet there was nothing he could do because nobody would ever
let him practice again!
And it was all because of her.
Because she had pissed Brendan off.