Gloria felt the urge to give up on herself. She thought, 'Why struggle? I might as well wait for him to get tired of me like a puppet. By the time he doesn't even want to look at me and wants to get rid of me for good, I can leave quietly.'
"Gloria, stop cursing Gabrielle. She's dead, and you're still alive. Don't you think it's pathetic to become a bitter woman because of someone long gone? It's not worth it."
Patrick didn't think Gabrielle was worth Gloria making herself hideous.
Gloria was slightly stunned. For a moment, she thought Patrick was concerned about her. How could that be?
The next second, Gloria found herself being lifted. Before she could figure out what was going on, she subconsciously reached out and wrapped her arms around Patrick's neck.
Patrick felt her grip, and the corners of his mouth curled up imperceptibly.
He held her in his arms and strolled out of the ward. He said, "We'll leave now."
Patrick carried Gloria all the way to the elevator.
"I can walk by myself." Gloria struggled to get down.
Patrick said, "Be good."
In his arms, Gloria trembled subconsciously because of these two words he said. A trace of fear appeared in her eyes, and she dared not move anymore.
Patrick placed Gloria in the passenger seat, leaned over, and buckled her seatbelt. "I'll send you back to the dormitory."
Gloria felt tense during the ride. She was afraid of Patrick.
After a few days of rest, Gloria went back to Fittro Club. Nothing seemed to have changed in her life.
One day, at the end of the day, Christine handed Gloria all the checks.
"Christine, thank you." Gloria did not refuse the checks. She made up her mind. She would hide the money. When Patrick got tired of her, she would leave with the money and never come back.
Gloria walked out of Christine's office and carefully stuffed the bag of checks and cash into her cloth bag.
Gloria touched the bag fondly and said in her heart, "Mica, this is the key to both of our dreams. Wait for me, Mica. I will work hard to accomplish what I promised you."
To bring the money back safely, Gloria took a taxi today, which was a large expense for her.
The taxi stopped under Gloria's dormitory building, and she got out of the car while holding the bag in her arms.
After paying the driver, she went upstairs hurriedly.
The corridor was quiet. She was used to the silence of the corridor when she came home every night.
As she walked, she took out her dormitory key, and when she looked up, she saw someone next to the door.
The dim light of the corridor shone on the two figures at the door. Gloria was startled, and the key in her hand fell to the ground.
She looked at them and time froze all of a sudden.
She wanted to call out their names she had not said for so long, but in the end, she just lowered her head and said softly, "Alpha Alger, Luna Camille."
It was her father and mother, but she could no longer call them that.
She lowered her head, not wanting them to see her sorry state.
She tried her best to remain calm, but the suppressed lump in her throat gave her away, showing how flustered she was.
Camille's heart skipped a beat. She quickly said, "Gloria, are you all right?"
Camille was a beautiful woman. Even at her age, she was still charming. After she called out "Gloria", her eyes turned red.
Gloria also felt the urge to shed tears.
It was very quiet in the corridor. Gloria did not respond to Camille's question right away. Instead, she lowered her head further, wishing that she could bury her head in her chest. Her palms on both sides of her body trembled uncontrollably.
Alger looked at Gloria with fierce eyes. They were in the corridor, and he didn't want to alert other residents, since it would make him look bad. Otherwise, he would have slapped her right now!
Gloria said, holding back the lump in her throat, "Luna Camille, I'm fine."
"Gloria, open the door. Your father and I have something to talk to you about," Camille said. Gloria couldn't tell what she was feeling right now. Was it happiness or pain? She had no idea.
She picked up the key from the ground, walked slowly to the door, and opened it with a click.
"Please come in," she said.
Ever since Gloria saw her parents, she had been deliberately lowering her voice, trying to soften it. She didn't want to look embarrassed in front of her parents who gave birth to her and raised her.
Alger and Camille didn't notice anything wrong for a moment. They figured that Gloria had caught a cold, and that was why her voice was a bit muffled and hoarse.
After entering the dormitory, Gloria became a little nervous. She said, while feeling a bit flustered, "Alpha Alger, Luna Camille, I'll get you some water."
In a panic, she put the cloth bag on the table and ran into the kitchen to get some water for Alger and Camille.
She walked to the living room with two cups of water and said, "Alpha Alger, Luna Camille, I don't have any glasses at home, but these coffee mugs are clean."
Camille was sad. She couldn't believe her eyes. She thought, 'Is she really my Gloria? My baby girl?'
Gloria walked to the table and was about to put down the coffee mugs. Just as she raised her head a bit, she froze.
The cloth bag she had placed on the table was open, revealing several stacks of dollars and scattered checks inside.
"Gloria, tell me. Where did the money come from?" Alger's authoritative voice rang out, frightening Gloria.
Her hands shook violently while holding the coffee mugs, and the water was spilling out. However, she didn't notice it at all.
"Alpha Alger..." She tried to calm herself down. She said, "Have some water first..."
Alger angrily pushed Gloria's hand away.
The coffee mug was knocked over, and water splashed on her arms, her face, and her neck.
"Alger, what are you doing?" Camille paled. She hurriedly went to hold Gloria and said, "Gloria, let me see."
"Camille, move aside! You spoiled her! That's why she ended up like this!" Alger pushed Camille rudely. Caught off guard, Camille stumbled and fell to the ground.