Chapter 53

*Lucas, what are you saying? Are you blaming Lydia for wronging Emily?” Emma rounded on him, her glare sharp with fury.

Andrew’s expression was equally stern. “You shouldn’t blame Lydia like that. Apologize to her.”

Lucas stood rooted to the spot, stunned. He’d never seen Emma or Andrew look at him with such disdain, as if he were some kind of villain. But he’d only repeated what he’d heard-the truth.

Confused and flustered, he glanced at Lydia, silently pleading for help.

Lydia seemed to catch his unspoken appeal and quickly interjected, “Mom, Andrew, don’t be angry with Lucas. Seeing Grandpa so unwell must’ve softened his heart, and that’s why he spoke up for Emily.”

Her voice held a hint of hurt, but her tone was earnest, as if she truly wanted to smooth things over. Lucas felt a pang of guilt, and he almost wanted to slap himself.

He thought, ‘Lydia is so kind. And here I am, blaming her just because of Mom and Andrew’s bad attitude. How could I have been so unfair?’

With that in mind, he nodded hastily, echoing Lydia. “Exactly. I just saw Grandpa dealing with all this stress-he even passed out from anger-and for a moment, my heart softened. I wasn’t trying to defend Emily.”

‘It doesn’t matter if Emily faked things with Grandpa. If she hadn’t stirred up all this drama, Grandpa wouldn’t have fainted, I wouldn’t have gotten hit, and Lydia wouldn’t have been scared sick and hospitalized. It all boiled down to Emily’s fault,’ he thought.

Lydia’s smile widened, as if she was pleased with his words. But then she frowned, looking troubled. “Grandpa has lived through so much. How could he collapse so suddenly, right when Emily fainted too?”

She bit her lip, looking genuinely worried. “Do you think he has some hidden health issue? Andrew, should we call the doctor to check?”

Andrew’s eyes deepened. “The hospital sends us monthly reports on Grandpa’s health. There’s no way he has a hidden condition we don’t know about.”

He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his face hardening. Ever since they were kids, Charles had doted on Emily most of all and often teamed up with her to trick the rest of the family.

They’d tricked Gale into coming home for dinner, conned Emma into going to the movies, badgered Andrew into bringing back gifts, and even talked Lucas into buying cakes for her.

Those had been harmless pranks, and the family had gone along with them. But this time? Charles had joined Emily in her ridiculous charade, nearly fooling everyone.

Emma’s face soured as she recalled those old “acting games.” She turned to Lidia, her gaze soft and loving. “Sweetheart, you’re still recovering. Don’t waste energy on useless thoughts. Just rest and focus on graduating.”

Lydia beamed, nodding sweetly. “Okay.”

After convincing Charles over and over that she was okay, Emily finally got the green light to leave the hospital. The moment she stepped outside, she raced straight back to the restaurant where she worked now.

Daniel, the boss, had been angry at Emily for skipping work without a word and being unreachable. But when he saw the

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bright red slap mark on her face, his anger vanished. When the shift ended, he even handed her a pain reliever.