Heaton returned to North City before Cherie did.
Heaton did not seem to have too much of an appetite during dinner. He took a glance at both of his children who were eating at the moment.
Verian placed a piece of rib onto Cherie's plate and said, "You should be eating more meat. Look at you, you're skinnier than when you were little."
Harrison teased, "My sis used to be a glutton. She'd even fight for the last piece of fruit when we were little."
Heaton then placed a piece of shrimp onto Cherie's plate and said, "You love shrimps, have more."
It did not take long for Cherie's plate to be completely covered with food.
Cherie said with a smile, "Mom, dad, what is going on with you guys? I can reach for the food I want to eat on my own. I won't be able to finish all the food you guys gave me."
"Oh, don't worry about not being able to finish your food. Now, hurry up and eat." Verian stared at her daughter with a compassionate gaze.
Harrison exclaimed with an intentional jealous tone, "Look at how unfair mom and dad are, sis. They keep giving you food and look at me, I'm being ignored now. How is this acceptable?"
Verian gave him a piece of rib and said, "Here. This is yours."
Heaton picked up a meatball and placed it onto Harrison's plate as he said, "Here you are, you little rascal."
Since Harrison was a man who was so used to doing things independently on his own ever since he was little, he somehow felt uncomfortable with all of the sudden display of affection by his parents.
"Stop giving me food, you guys. I realized it's making me uncomfortable now and I have goosebumps all over."
Everyone started laughing at Harrison's remark.
Verian followed Heaton into his study after dinner.
Verian asked in his study, "Have you met with Boyle yet?"
"I have. I've even punched him." Heaton replied with a bitterly menacing look.
Verian reached out and grabbed his hand as she stared at him before asking in a concerned tone, "What did he say?"
"He has met up with Jelly Bean for a while now. I wanted him to leave Jelly Bean alone but he wouldn't budge."
Verian trembled as her voice grew colder, "What does he mean by that? Is he going to hurt Jelly Bean again?"
Heaton replied, "Boyle wanted us to give him another chance and he has promised me that he will make sure that he treats Jelly Bean's condition and return her safe and unharmed back to us."
"Can his promises even be trusted though? He's not even a doctor so how is he going to treat her anyway? Jelly Bean's condition was caused by him and him constantly clinging and bothering her will do nothing but trigger her."
Heaton remained silent for a brief moment before holding onto his wife's hand and took a deep breath before saying, "I'm not sure if this is a good solution or not but at the very least, it's a solution nonetheless. Jelly Bean's condition was mainly caused by Boyle and only by addressing the root cause of the problem can she recover. Do you remember when you helped me through my split personality disorder? You helped me through with Wilson's help back then."
Verian gulped and said as she teared up, "But Boyle isn't you. I don't trust him."
"You should trust my judgement since it's never wrong. Boyle isn't as bad as you think and besides, Jelly Bean is the one who loves Boyle. How bad of a man can the person Jelly Bean loves be anyway, right?"
Verian teared up when she recalled the miscarriage incident from seven years ago. She sniffled and said, "I know Boyle is an excellent man but at the end of the day, he was still the one who've hurt Jelly Bean. Heaton, I don't want Jelly Bean to get hurt again. It hurts my heart a lot. You know, the amount of words she spoke in a week is less than how talkative she used to be in a day."
Heaton reached out to hug Verian as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He said, "I know."
Verian sobbed as she said, "Ever since I knew that Jelly Bean had depression, I tend to keep an eye out for her and I found out that Jelly Bean always seemed so lost and was in a daze all the time. I wanted to approach her and talk to her but I don't dare to disturb her."
"Now that Jelly Bean is back with us, I will never allow anyone to hurt her again."
Verian wiped her tears and asked, "What about Boyle then? Are we really going to allow Boyle to approach her as much as he wants? What if Jelly Bean's condition becomes more serious?"
Heaton had already considered that possibility as he said, "We'll give it a try first. If there is any event that Boyle causes Jelly Bean's condition to deteriorate, I'll send her overseas to receive treatment abroad. That way, Boyle won't be able to find her."
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