Derek's POV
"Derek, why do you think I had plastic surgery and ran away?"
The scars on her fair skin were horrific.
Almost instinctively, I rolled up her sleeve only to see her arm covered with scars.
I persistently lifted the sleeve of her other hand, which was also covered in burn marks and twisted scars. It looked really heartbreaking.
"What happened to you?" I asked, my voice trembling with shock and concern.
Elena suddenly pulled her hand away from mine, and an uneasy expression appeared on her face.
"It has nothing to do with you. Like I said, if you don't kill me, I will leave. Whether I live or die in the future has nothing to do with you."
Her words revealed a sense of determination and avoidance.
I stood still with complex emotions.
I wanted to stop her and ask her what she had gone through all these years, but she ran away without even looking back.
I didn't even have time to react.
My heart was beating rapidly.
What had happened behind those scars and the traces of pain?
What on earth had happened to Elena, the carefree girl who grew up with me?
I felt a deep sense of powerlessness and self-blame.
If I could have cared more about her and understood her pain better back then, could I have prevented all of this from happening?
But now, it was already too late.
I stood still, unable to calm down for a long time.
Elena's escape, her wounds, and her determination weighed on my chest like a heavy stone, leaving me breathless.
Tabitha's POV
In the room, I didn't speak. I just stared blankly at my fingers.
My mind was a total mess.
Klein asked softly, "Is it done? You shouldn't stay long here after all. I will escort you out."
His voice interrupted my reverie, and only then did I come back to my senses.
"What's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"Can you please help me rescue Daphne?" I said in an almost pleading voice.
Klein shook his head. "You want to save your mother, don't you? Even if Daphne's blood matches hers, the donation can only happen between normal people. Daphne is now half-living, and her physical functions are not like those of ordinary people. Blood donation would take her life.
"If Holly had more time, we could wait for Daphne to recover, but Holly only has a few dozen hours left to live. The best outcome would be to trade one life for another, and even then, there's no guarantee that Holly could get well," said Klein. His words were cruel yet true. I knew he was right.
I became even more silent, knowing full well that Klein was right.
Yet, when I thought of my mother lying with a pale face in the ICU, I had complicated feelings.
Even though she was always indifferent to me, I didn't want to see her die like this.
"Even you couldn't do anything about this, right?" I still held a glimmer of hope.
"Not for now," Klein replied briefly.
I slowly unfolded my curled hands.
"OK, I got it. Let's go."
I thought to myself, "Madam Rose hates my mother and Mark so much that she has set up this scheme over the years. She wants Mark to make a choice.
"Even if I take Daphne away, a lot of the bones in her entire body have been broken. It's hard to tell whether she can survive.
"How can she donate blood in this state?
"Madam Rose wants him to choose between his lover and his daughter. This is not something that an outsider like me can change."
"Fine," I said with a hint of weakness.
Klein sent me away, and it was dead silent in the carriage on the way back.
"Tabitha, are you OK?" asked Klein, his voice particularly clear in the quiet carriage.