Too Much to Bear, My Love novel Chapter 609

Chapter 609 The Ugly Truth

After wandering the streets near the hospital for a while, Eleanor saw Melanie coming out of the hospital.

With a cunning glint in her eyes, she quickly ran up to Melanie and called out to her politely, “Mrs. Winters!”

Melanie stared at her cautiously as she responded in kind, “Oh, hello, Mrs. Hutton! What are you still doing here?”

“May I treat you to a meal, Mrs. Winters? Lia and I have been separated for over twenty years, so I don’t really know much about her. Would you mind telling me about her over lunch?” Eleanor then put on her most sincere expression as she continued with reddened eyes, “I know I was a little rude in the ward earlier, but I was just worried about my daughter being mistreated by her adoptive family. You’re a mother too, so I’m sure you can understand where I’m coming from here. Will you give me a chance to make it up to you?”

For some reason, Melanie found herself moved by Eleanor’s statement and nodded in response.

Eleanor then brought her over to a relatively fancy café and ordered a huge amount of food. “Here, feel free to order anything you like!” she said while handing Melanie the menu.

“The food you’ve ordered is enough for the two of us. Wouldn’t want to end up wasting food by ordering more than we can finish.”

“All right, then.” Eleanor handed the order chit over to the waiter and said softly, “Please serve up the food as soon as possible.”

Melanie tugged nervously at her sleeves after the waiter had left. Eleanor’s grandeur gave her a lot of pressure and made her feel self-conscious about her own appearance. On top of that, she was also feeling a little guilty about her inappropriate behavior in the ward earlier.

“Relax, Mrs. Winters. I’m really grateful to you for being Lia’s adoptive mother, so let us just have a casual conversation about her childhood,” Eleanor said in a gentle yet authoritative voice.

Noticing a hint of awkwardness and guilt in Melanie’s eyes, she continued,

“Could you tell me how Lia made it into your household? I spent a really long time searching for her, but couldn’t find any information on her whatsoever. I got so worried that I kept dreaming about her all the time. In my dreams, she was starving as she wandered the streets all by herself in tattered clothes, completely exposed to the harsh weather. The anxiety got so bad that I ended up in a psychiatric hospital a few times. Thanks to a psychiatrist’s continuous guidance, I was somewhat able to keep my emotions in check…” Eleanor started sobbing uncontrollably as she went on.

It wasn’t until Melanie’s arms began to twitch slightly that Eleanor realized she had lost her composure.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to get so emotional. Being a mother yourself, I’m sure you can understand how I feel!” she said with a forced smile.

Melanie simply shook her head in response.

“Being Lia’s adoptive mother, you provided her with everything she needed and kept her from wandering the streets like a beggar. I may have heard unpleasant rumors about how you two treated her, but now, I realize that can’t be true. After all, she is well educated and even found herself such an amazing husband! I’m really grateful to you for everything you’ve done for her!” Eleanor added.

“P-Please don’t say that!” Melanie replied with a look of shame on her face. Providing Amelia with the basic necessities was all she really did for her. Not only did Melanie not care about Amelia, but she was also extremely cold toward her. In fact, it wouldn’t even be an overstatement to say that they were practically as distant as complete strangers.

“No, I really am grateful to you. Thank you for raising her so well. I can’t imagine how life would’ve been for Lia if you two didn’t adopt her!”

“But… Wasn’t your husband the one who handed her over to us?” Melanie asked in confusion.

Eleanor froze upon hearing that.

“What did you just say?”

“Your husband had someone bring Amelia over to us back then. The person told us that you two didn’t like her, and that you two would offer us a huge amount of money to look after her. We were told that we only needed to provide her with the basic necessities, so we didn’t really care that much about her. Our relationship with Amelia has been rather distant the whole time, and it has been almost ten years since I last saw her,” Melanie replied.

After a brief pause, she continued, “Mrs. Hutton, I don’t know why you two decided to send her over back then, but why are you acting like you don’t know anything about it? Why not just admit that you two didn’t like her? My husband and I have never lied to anyone about how we mistreated her, so how about you stop being so pretentious?”

Eleanor was trembling all over when the waiter served up their food and drinks.

“Please enjoy your meal, ladies.”

With both her hands clutching her glass tightly, Eleanor felt the cold sensation of it seep through her skin and spread through her body.

The veins on her neck bulged, and her lips smacked against each other as she tried to calm herself down by taking deep breaths.

“Are you all right, Mrs. Hutton?” Melanie asked worriedly when she noticed her unusual response.

“D-Did my husband really have someone bring Lia over to you?” Eleanor asked in a shaky voice.