Geneva said, “After he became the boss, his colleagues took pride in him and worked harder. They each went on to achieve success. This incident inspired me. You guys are such trash, if you don’t start working harder, you won’t even be able to afford to raise your kids in the future. So, I’ve decided to sacrifice my small self for the greater good. I’m leaving the company to start something big, to inspire all of you.”
With those noble words, she left.
Her colleagues were speechless, but they felt strange that they actually saw a kind of regal aura coming from Geneva.
A male colleague muttered, “Why do I feel like she’s serious? She wouldn’t really quit just for us, would she?”
Everyone else shrugged. ‘Who the hell knows!‘
But none of them took Geneva’s grand ambitions seriously.
They sneered secretly, ‘Geneva, just an ordinary middle–aged woman, what could she possibly achieve? She must be crazy. Let’s see what kind of job she can find.’
After leaving the company, Geneva went straight to the hospital.
Today was Melanie’s discharge day, and Geneva had come to pick her up.
Today was also the day Adele’s son was laid to rest. Adele fainted again at the funeral and was taken to the hospital.
As soon as she woke up, she ran out of the ward, shouting to see her son.
That was when she saw Melanie say something to Geneva, and Geneva started laughing, then Melanie laughed too.
The mother and daughter looked so happy together.
Adele’s eyes nearly burned with rage. ‘She killed my son, how could she still be laughing?‘
She lost all reason and rushed over. “You murderer!”
Cliff came out to calm Adele down. She cried out painfully. “Cliff, she’s a murderer. She killed Clive. She was closest to Clive but refused to save him, just
watched him drown.”
“I know, I know,” Cliff said patiently, his gaze toward Geneva icy
Adele continued to cry and confront Geneva. “Ms. Motley, my son was killed
at all?”
Have you had nightmares about it? Does your conscience bother you
Geneva replied, “Of course I’m upset. He meant as much to me as my own child, a young life lost too soon.”
Adele immediately asked, “Then why didn’t you save him? Do you know that your inaction destroyed a family? Destroyed me?”
Cliff added, “Ms. Motley, you owe us an apology.”Ms. Motley
The original Geneva used to be brainwashed by Cliff and Adele’s self–righteous attitude, thinking it was indeed her fault, so she apologized.
But Geneva was different. ‘Apologize? Sorry, but there’s no way in hell I’d apologize.‘
By now, a crowd had gathered in the hallway, some even filming on their phones.
Geneva stood her ground, looking at the two before her. “Mrs. Nichols, as a mother myself, I understand your pain. I don’t want to argue with you while you’re in such grief. But I hope you understand something: Taking care of children is the responsibility of parents, not others.
1/3
Chapter 41
When danger struck, saving my own child, protecting my own flesh and blood, that’s only natural. You blame me for not saving you. his death, but where were you when your child was in danger? Love your own child; if you don’t, why should 17 What responsibility do that him?
Adele nodded. “Yes, I love Clive. How could I not love my own child? I wasn’t there at the time. You could have saved him. He was so little his lac do fragile, and you ignored that precious life…”
“I could have saved him, but at the cost of losing my own daughter. Then it would have been me who broke down, and my family destroyed. I’m just an ordinary person, not a saint. Mrs. Nichols, since you know how fragile life is, how your child was still just a child, why didn’t you take better care of him? Your hegligence led to this tragedy. Why should I, someone unrelated, pay the price for your mistakes? Always pushing the blame onto others. Why don’t you reflect on your own failures as a mother?”
Adele’s face was a mask of agony. ‘Yeah, Clive died, and I bore some responsibility too…
“It’s all my fault, all on me for not keeping a better eye on Clive…” said she.
Cliff couldn’t bear to see his wife drowning in guilt and self–reproach. He turned to Geneva with a cold voice. “Ms. Motley, my wife is already devastated. Why do you have to rub salt in the wound?”
Geneva raised her voice too, speaking just as coldly. “Mr. Nichols, she’s your wife, not mine. It’s your responsibility to be there for her, not mine. We were strangers before; why should I shoulder her blame and anger?”
They had suffered the pain of losing a child, so it was somewhat understandable that they lashed out, trying to pin the fault on someone else.
But what Geneva couldn’t comprehend was their later relentless revenge against the original Geneva.
She murmured in her heart, ‘To put it bluntly, what business is your kid, your grief, and your pain to me? It wasn’t me who caused it, so what gives you the right to take revenge on me?
‘You guys are just too full of yourselves, always blaming others instead of looking for problems in yourselves.‘
Seeing her showing no remorse, Cliff narrowed his eyes, pure murder in them. ‘This wretched woman! She dares to be so unbridled in my presence, and with such a sense of righteousness.‘
He said to her in a chilling tone, “You don’t even deserve to be a mother.”
Geneva let out a humorous laugh. “And why exactly don’t I deserve to be a mother? When my daughter needed me, I never left her side. When danger approached, I was the first to protect her. How can you say I don’t deserve to be a mother just because I didn’t save your child? Whether I’m qualified or not, only my child has the say.”
She wasn’t budging an inch. She knew that if she backed down today, Cliff and Adele would use it as leverage to accuse her even more fiercely, making her question her own righteousness.
Adele, teeth clenched, her tear–reddened eyes fixed intensely on Geneva.
She said, “But your daughter is older, the water was shallow, she wouldn’t have died. My son was only six, you didn’t save him, he couldn’t survive!”
After the incident, Cliff dug into Geneva’s background, found out Melanie had some issues with her mind, while Clive was so bright.
He thought, ‘If Clive could have grown up safely, he would certainly have contributed a lot. But he was snuffed out by her cold indifference.
Adele’s pitiful appearance was a surefire way to stir the sympathy of passersby, while Geneva came off as unnecessarily aggressive.
Some onlookers couldn’t help but start blaming Geneva, too.
