Night fell, and the unmistakable scent of disinfectant lingered in the air, both pungent and unpleasant. Around 8:30, Derek guided Serena through the entrance of the hospital room.
"Mr. Scott, could you excuse us for a moment?" Serena turned to him, her gaze unwavering. "It's best not to have a third party present during psychotherapy, so please cooperate."
Gimson glanced at Emily, silently inquiring if she wanted him to stay. The concern for Emily reflected in his eyes caused Serena a twinge of heartache. She lowered her head to conceal the subtle sadness in her eyes.
Emily then looked up and instructed, "Derek, step outside and return when your treatment is finished."
Gimson rose from his seat, his thin lips tensed, and he said, "Emily, just call out if anything happens." He turned and exited the room, slowly pulling the door shut behind him.
Inside the hospital room, only two women remained. Serena pulled a chair close to the hospital bed and spoke softly, "Ms. Hopeskin, describe your condition to me."
"Serena, you love someone dearly too, don't you?" Emily, however, evaded the question and looked at Serena with a significant gaze.
Serena frowned and responded, "I don't think that has anything to do with today's treatment, Ms. Hopeskin."
"Oh? I beg to differ; I believe it's crucial to today's treatment," Emily remarked slowly. "I recall at the bar earlier, you mentioned envying me for having a happy family and being with the one I love. Didn't you, Serena?"
Serena gazed at Emily, then unexpectedly smiled, saying, "You don't have a mental illness, do you, Ms. Hopeskin?"
Emily nodded, openly admitting to feigning her illness. "You're right. However, I think you might need some counseling."
"I don't understand what you mean." Serena frowned, stood up, and declared, "Since you don't require psychotherapy, Ms. Hopeskin, I'll leave you to it."
"Serena," Emily said abruptly, her tone cold, as she observed Serena rising to leave. "Don't keep company with the devil, or beware of setting yourself on fire."
Serena furrowed her brow and turned her head to give Emily a cold stare.
"That person..." Emily glanced at Serena, her hand clenched in darkness, and slowly uttered, "He's Gimson, not Derek, right?"
Serena's eyes snapped open, and she gazed at Emily in disbelief.
"Serena, I really don't understand. You love that man, so how can you accept him being with me as Derek and being the father of my four children?" Emily asked, feigning confusion.
Serena just looked at Emily coldly and remained silent.
Emily continued, "I don't care if you're in love with him because you love him enough to do anything for Gimson. It's just..." Emily suddenly moderated her tone. "At this point, Serena, all I want to know is where Derek is."
"He's dead," Serena said suddenly, after a moment of silence.
Emily's breathing stopped for a beat, then she inquired, "Are you sure he's dead, and do you know how he died?"
Serena's eyes changed suddenly.
"Derek is dead..." Serena replied. "He was sent out of the country by Gimson a month ago and died in a hail of bullets."
"No way!"
Emily let out a low growl as she lost control, then pushed down the anger and grief within her.
How could Derek be dead? He couldn’t be dead. How could a man like him, a man of the highest caliber, die for no apparent reason?
Against all odds, she pressed Serena's shoulder and asked uncontrollably, "Where did you send him? Tell me which country Derek was sent to by you."
The door to the hospital room was suddenly pushed open.
Gimson stood at the entrance of the ward, his gaze coldly fixed on Emily.
Emily coldly raised her eyes to look at Gimson.
With things having come to this point, there was no need to continue the disguise.
She had plotted for so long to find out where the real Derek was, but Serena said that Derek was already dead.
"Emily, it's fun to fool me around, isn't it?" Gimson stared at her, gritting his teeth, each word carrying a great deal of anger.
Emily stared at him, she hooked her lips into a sneer: "Gimson, you think it's fun to live under someone else's identity?"
Her words dripped with sarcasm and provocation.
Gimson was completely enraged. He raised his hand and gripped Emily's neck.
His eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light as his five fingers slowly tightened.
When he tried to start paying and living a normal life, this woman dealt him a heavy blow. It turned out that her docile and amicable behavior of the past few days was all a facade. Even her illness was a disguise she put on for him. She used him to lure Serena...
"Gimson, she's on the verge of being strangled by you," Serena warned with a panicked face as she closed the door to the hospital room.
She didn't want any more blood on the hands of the person she loved.
Gimson summoned a shred of sanity and released his grip.
"Take her back and keep her under guard!" Gimson dropped the words coldly and left.
Emily sat helplessly on the floor for a moment before grief swept over her. She buried her face in her knees and cried out in pain.
After completing the discharge procedures, Emily was taken directly back to the Scott family by several bodyguards.
Emma returned from the drinking party and stood in the foyer to change her shoes when she saw Emily suddenly approaching her.
"Emily, aren't you in the hospital? Why are you suddenly back?" The bright light in the living room illuminated Emily's face, revealing the coldness in her eyes, the blood under her eyes, and the cold smile at the corner of her mouth.
Emma finally sensed something was wrong. She put her handbag down and took a deep breath. "Emily, what's going on here?"
"You already knew, didn't you?" Emily's statement made Emma blush.
Her fingers tightened as she braced herself for composure. "Emily, what do you mean by that? What do you mean I already knew?"
A strange sneer hung on Emily's face. "Emma, Derek called you mom for over twenty years. How could you stand by and watch him get killed?"
"No, that's not true!" Emma shook her head violently. Tears fluttered down from her eyes as she lost control and covered her lips. "Emily, it's not like that. How could I have killed Derek? He's my son, my own son. How could I have watched him die? I really had no choice."
Emma's body went limp, and she collapsed on the couch, whimpering. Emily's heart plummeted off a cliff. Despite always holding onto the last glimmer of hope, she remained convinced that Derek hadn't died.
However, Emma's look already spoke volumes. Emily didn't even realize when her tears began to fall, and by the time she did, her face was drenched with them.
"Emily, Gimson was taken away from me at birth, and I never even got to hold him properly. It's us, the Scott family, who owe him. It's only right that he harbors a grudge. I've been trying to make it up to Gimson for all these years. He's suffered for over twenty years, living in the shadows like a sewer rat, and now he's finally experiencing a normal life. Emily, please don't expose him. Let him live like a normal person, okay? I've already lost one son; I can't lose another."
Emma grabbed Emily's sleeve, but she was shrugged off forcefully.
"What about Derek? Who's going to help him?"
Emma burst into tears, saying, "Derek is dead. He's gone."
Emily's eyes filled with disappointment. Just because one son was dead, did that mean Emma could tolerate anything the other son did?
Emily wasn't that kind. Gimson had killed her new husband, and she needed to seek justice.
Emily said firmly, "I'm not going to pretend nothing happened for the sake of my own happiness. If the children knew about this, they would never allow someone who killed their father to protect them. Emma, Gimson is your son, but he's not related to me in any way, and I won't let him go."