Chapter 135: Tabloids
Daisy was mostly detached from her parents once she got a grip over their relationship dynamics but Diana was closely connected to them, especially their mother. All those gaslighting, abuses, and manipulation had left an impact on her in the long term.
Daisy had seen her sisters breaking free from the past shackles over time but there were still instances of vulnerability as such.
’’If it is not essential, I would want to keep things from her,’’ Maxim continued speaking.
And Daisy agreed with his suggestion.
’’I cannot fully grasp the situation but I have a feeling that this matter is not as simple as Mrs. Chen having an accident and ending up in the ICU.’’
If Maxim noticed Daisy’s way of addressing her own mother, he did not outrightly point it out.
’’I found something,’’ the man said instead.
Daisy nodded and paused in her tracks when she spotted the butler, ’’Forbid anyone from coming over to the first floor.’’
’’Yes, Elder Miss,’’ The butler bowed unquestioningly and walked away with quick footsteps.
’’Let’s go to my father’s room,’’ Daisy led Maxim to the master bedroom, ’’We can talk there.’’
Once they reached the room, Daisy closed the door and started rummaging through her father’s belongings.
’’What are you doing?"
’’He said that she got spinal damage. You are a doctor. Tell me if it’s possible,’’ Daisy paused and looked at Maxim.
’’Why don’t you believe his words?" Maxim questioned.
’’When I entered the hospital, I caught a glimpse of her. She did not have bandages around her head and that rules out the possibility of any head injuries. If she fell from the stairs, is it feasible for her to not injure her head?" Daisy paused, recollecting the scene back in the hospital, ’’And if her injuries were all internal, rather than being external, then why did Dad have dried blood on his fingers? Even his shirt was stained with blood in patches. A spinal damage won’t cause that, would it?"
’’Spinal damage can cause bleeding but it occurs within the spinal cord itself. And only a huge force can lead to spinal cord trauma but the ground floor is entirely carpeted and the steps are not high,’’ Maxim concluded.
In fact, back in the hospital, he was worried about Diana so he did not get the chance to converse with the doctor nor did he pay attention to both Mr. and Mrs. Chen. Seeing Diana on the verge of having a breakdown, he could not remain calm.
Daisy nodded, ’’Both of them never had a harmonious relationship in the first place,’’ Even though their mother would try to get their father’s attention even though she acted like she hated him but over time, her tricks seemed to have been lessened over time because their father remained indifferent, ’’Then why is dad so reluctant to leave her side?" she mumbled aloud. Nothing was making sense.
’’I saw some trending tabloids,’’ Maxim passed her his phone.
Daisy looked at him.
’’See it for yourself.’’
As Daisy took his phone and scrolled through the screenshots that the man had taken, her expression started changing.
Every article talked about Alice Chen being rushed to the hospital after her suicide attempt.
There were more articles that listed incidents from past events and collated them together and compared them to prove that Alice was mentally unwell.
’’Some old videos of Mrs. Chen losing her temper are also doing rounds on the internet,’’ Maxim whispered.
As Daisy scrolled past the picture, the phone almost fell from her hands by the picture that she saw. That particular screenshot was different from the other news articles that Maxim had saved. It was not some news article but rather an Instagram post.
Daisy tightened her grip on the phone and proceeded to read through the caption that mentioned the date and year of the picture taken before detailing the incident.
As her face paled gradually, the phone in her hand disappeared, ’’Stop reading. It might just be a rumor,’’ Maxim took the phone from her hand as he said.
Daisy heaved a few breaths, ’’That girl in the picture... shared similar features to Mrs. Chen,’’ she whispered.
’’The picture might be forged’’
’’Who will do that?" When Daisy thought about the explicit content of the picture, she felt unsettled, ’’Those are not even recent pictures. It looks like it was taken decades ago.’’
’’It was taken down from everywhere, maybe because of Mr. Chen or because it did not meet the community guidelines. Whatever it is, they are not being circulated anymore,’’ Maxim analyzed calmly, ’’The Chen Family might have many enemies. And even Mrs. Chen comes from a prestigious military family established in the US. It is not an impossible thing for her to be targeted by people.’’
Daisy had come to her father’s room to look for any clues that might explain the current circumstances but she found nothing.
However, the things that Maxim showed her made her realize that she should talk to her father regarding this matter to figure out what he was hiding.
Daisy retreated to the room she used to live in when she was young. Sighing softly, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through her texts.
There were no new texts.
Before she left, she had called Ryle twice but the man did not answer her call so she was informed Aunty Lu that she had to fly to Beijing before she left.
More than 15 hours had passed and there was no response from Ryle.
Daisy thought about how Aunty Lu had mentioned that Ryle had left with his fiancée. And unconsciously, the dots joined in her mind. Was he busy?
Bitterness coursed through her heart for some reason.
...
A/N: If you like this book so far, then show your support with golden tickets, power tickets, comments, and reviews. I can’t believe we have come so far, despite all the ups and downs. Forever grateful for your endless love~<3 Also, when we get in the top 150 in the golden ticket ranking, I am planning to do a mini mass release ;)
