Chapter 680: Things Remain but People Change
Timothy squatted in the corner, bits and pieces of his past were coming back to him.
He never thought that he would hear any news about Sylvia again after so many years. He had thought that the two of them would never meet again. Their past would then be like a dream, lost without any trace.
"Time’s up!" The prison guard’s harsh voice rang in Timothy’s ears.
He took a deep breath and held back the tears. Then he stood up and returned to where he belonged.
....
After ending the call, Wendy’s face was filled with joy. She gripped the cellphone, turned to Michael and exclaimed, "He agreed."
"I heard everything," Michael said. He was very excited too.
Wendy tiptoed to put her hands around Michael’s neck. She kissed his forehead joyfully.
Michael was slightly taken aback by her sudden kiss. By the time he snapped out of his shock, Wendy had already let go of him.
Wendy went to Leah and kissed her several times happily. "Leah, you will be cured.
Grandpa has agreed to donate his bone marrow to you."
"But Grandpa is not a good man..." Leah pursed her lips, she did not look very happy at the news.
Leah’s response dampened Wendy’s spirits. Mary should not have said what she did in front of Leah yesterday. If it were Jake, that would still have been all right, because he was mature for his age and could think for himself.
But Leah was different. All she knew was that her grandfather, Timothy Woods, was not a good man.
Wendy held Leah in her arms and said to her gently, "Leah, that is between the adults. Your grandpa did do bad things and was not good to Grandma. But, look here, Leah. You’re sick. You need his help and he agreed without any hesitation."
Wendy felt conflicted as well when it came to Timothy. He might have done wrong, but he was willing to save her daughter. Wendy honestly did not know whether to hate Timothy or to be grateful to him.
Wendy kissed Leah’s face again. "Leah, be good and wait for Grandpa to come, and then go along with the surgery, all right?"
Leah hesitated for a while and then finally nodded.
Wendy stood up and looked at Michael. "He has agreed, so do we go over now to bring him here?"
"Todd said that there are some procedures to go through before we can bring him here. I’ll send Mr. York to follow up on that. We’ll get Timothy here in the shortest time possible," said Michael.
Wendy nodded. Michael then called Mr. York.
"Wendy, you should tell your mother about the successful match. She would be so happy," said Mrs. Lucas.
Wendy thought so too. She nodded and quickly called her mother.
At that time, Mary had arrived at Queens City and was standing outside her family home.
"Mom, I’m sorry..." Mary knelt in front of the house. Staring at the closed door, her eyes were all red.
She came from Lake City the night before, and had taken almost eight hours to reach Queens City by car. Since then, Mary had been in front of the main door.
For many years, Mary had snuck back and watched her family for afar. She did not have any of their contact numbers. Now, they were deliberately avoiding her. She could not think of any other way to get to them.
But at the thought of Leah lying on the hospital bed, Mary gritted her teeth and wait outside the house.
...
"Mom, please open the door. I have something very important to tell you." Mary’s voice had already become hoarse.
The neighbors who were passing saw Mary but did not recognize her. All of them looked at her strangely before walking away.
The door never opened but a middle-aged man’s voice was heard coming from inside, "The Stewarts do not know you. Go away, or else I’m going to call the police."
That man’s voice did not sound familiar to Mary but she knew the voice belonged to her younger brother. Last night, she had seen her brother when she arrived. Mary recognized him because she had visited over the years, but her brother did not recognize her. When he saw Mary loitering outside the house, he had asked out of courtesy if she needed any help.
Mary had stammered and stuttered but managed to tell him who she was. The moment he heard the name "Sylvia Stewart", he immediately slammed the door shut. Thirty years ago, she had left home without a word, had indirectly caused her father’s death, and never once came back home. Anyone would have hated her.
"Tom, I’m back because there is something..." The door opened before Mary could finish her sentence. Her eyes brightened when she saw the door opened suddenly.
Mary stood up immediately and looked at the man who was a head taller than her.
With a glimmer of joy in her eyes, she asked, "Tom, is Mom willing to see me?"
Then Mary noticed the wooden stick in Tom’s hand. The joy in her eyes faded slowly.
Tom waved the wooden stick around and said with menace, "I’m going to say this one more time. The Stewarts do not know you. Go back to where you came from, or else you can’t blame me for using this on you!"
The bodyguards who had been watching from a distance, saw Tom holding the wooden stick and immediately rushed forward.
Before they could say anything, Mary quickly stopped them, "No matter what happens, you are all not allowed to come over here."
Michael had sent some bodyguards to protect Mary. He had also been afraid that Mary would get hurt when she went back to Queens City. However, Mary refused to let the bodyguards interfere. Even if something were to happen to her today and she was beaten to death, she would not let the bodyguards interfere. Therefore right from the start, Mary had instructed them to stay away.
However, when the bodyguards saw how Tom seemed to be serious about beating Mary up, they did not dare to stay away anymore.
When Mary saw that the bodyguards did not budge, she repeated in a firmer voice, "Since Michael sent you with me, you are to listen to what I say. I told you to stay away. No matter what happens, none of you are allowed to come over!"
The bodyguards looked at each other and finally retreated to their original position.
After the bodyguards had left, Mary said to Tom, "Tom, listen to me. I’m here because of something urgent. My granddaughter is sick, and she needs a bone marrow transplant, but we haven’t been able to find a suitable donor. I..."
Before Mary could finish, Tom raised the wooden stick in his hand and hit her hard.
The blunt force of the wooden stick hitting her body was a pain that Mary was able to bear without making any sound.
"Madam Stewart!" The bodyguards were taken by surprise. They had not expected Tom to really use the wooden stick to hit Mary. The two bodyguards ran toward her.
"Go back!" Mary endured the pain as she ordered the bodyguards to stay away.
"Madam Stewart..."
The bodyguards started to say something but Mary gave them a fierce glare, "I repeat. Even if I die here today, you are to stay away!"
...
"Madam Stewart, aren’t you making things difficult for us?" The bodyguards felt like they were being put in a tight spot. "If anything were to happen to you, it would be difficult for us to answer to Mr. Lucas." Before Mary could respond, they heard Tom’s voice.
"You’re still not leaving?" Tom did not hit Mary again but still spoke menacingly. "I’ve already told you, my family does not know you! Don’t force me to beat you to death!"
Mary opened her mouth and was about to say something when her phone rang. She looked at it and saw that the caller was Wendy. Mary answered the call without a second thought. "Hello, Wendy..."
"Mom, the test results are out, and Mr. Woods is a match," said Wendy.
"Really? That’s great," Mary said, feeling so happy that she could not stop nodding her head. Even without seeing her face, Wendy could tell over the phone that Mary sounded as if she has been crying.
"Mom, what’s wrong?" Wendy quickly asked in concern. "Did they make things difficult for you?"
"No, I’m fine. I’m simply very happy," said Mary, wiping away her tears. Wendy could imagine how the rest of Mary’s family would treat her during this trip back.
Wendy let out an almost inaudible sigh. "Mom, come home first. I’ll go with you to visit Grandma after Leah’s illness has been treated."
It was fortunate that Timothy’s bone marrow was a match. If they had to look to the Stewarts for help again, the situation could get out of hand. Of course, she could not blame the Stewarts.
Mary looked back at Tom’s menacingly angry expression and could only nod in agreement. "Alright. I’ll go home now." Hanging up the phone, Mary tried to look inside the house through the main door. She missed her mother and looked at the house longingly. She turned to look at Tom and pleaded, "Tom, could you let me see Mom? A look from afar is enough."
"Do you have to be carried out before you are willing to give up?" Tom threatened her again.
"Madam Stewart, I think we should leave," one of the bodyguards tried to persuade her.
"I think so too. We’ll come back again some other time," the other bodyguard added.
They did not dare to let her linger around any longer. If the situation escalated further and Tom turned violent on Mary again, there would be trouble. That wooden stick might not seem very large but at Mary’s age, she would not be able to endure another whack.
Mary saw how Tom refused to budge and let her into the house. She sighed. She wished she could say more but ended up turning her gaze to the ground and walked away slowly without another word.
After Mary was out of Tom’s sight, the wooden stick in his hand dropped to the ground. In a low voice, he said, "Why did you come back? We’ve already forgotten about you. Why did you still have to come back?" Then, Tom returned inside the house and closed the main door.
While in the car, Mary’s back started to ache in pain. The blow Tom delivered with his wooden stick was quite hard. Mary could still feel her back throbbing in from the pain, but she also knew that Tom had used some restraint. If he hadn’t, one blow would have been enough to knock Mary out and leave her unable to stand up.
Looking out of the car window, memories from thirty years ago replayed in Mary’s mind. At that time, she was the most beautiful girl on the block and all the neighbors liked her very much. She often brought her younger brother, Tom, to play with their neighbor and would receive treats from them.
Later, Mary found out that Tom had married that neighbor’s daughter, his childhood sweetheart. She could almost hear their happy voices as they played as children.
However, although the surroundings had remained unchanged even thirty years later, all the people had changed.
