The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 239 One-Track Minded

"It is her again," She thought of the years Autumn had suffered from Wendy's cruelty. Fortunately, things had changed. Autumn got married to a good man; the Zhao family had found her and expressed their intentions of welcoming her to the family. Everything was going well until Wendy had come back. The very thought of Wendy stealing even that tiny bit of happiness from Autumn, made her blood boil in anger. "Emily, today I've come here seeking your advice. I know that Autumn has immense respect for you, would you please speak with her and replace out what it is that she really wants?" Arthur felt helpless after Autumn left his house yesterday. He was in desperate need of Emily's advice on the matter.

"Arthur, you may put your mind at ease. I will talk to Autumn about this." Emily sighed and said to Arthur, "Please don't blame Autumn. She means you no harm. She's just young and innocent."

"Take it easy, I'm not blaming her for anything." Arthur smiled wryly and said, "I'm regretful for what happened with Bowen, and I cannot allow Autumn to suffer the same fate as her father. I understand her reasons for being resentful and defensive. The blame should only fall on us for failing to fix the problem sooner."

"Arthur, please don't talk like that." Emily frowned, "If anyone is to be blamed, it should be Wendy instead of you. As a matter of fact... it's also my fault, I should have persuaded him not to give himself over to blind emotions. None of this would have happened if I had been able to guide him to the right path."

"Well, the past is the past; we cannot change that. Pointing fingers isn't going to help us get through our problems." Arthur frowned slightly, "You... should stop delaying the inevitable and just go see a doctor." "No, that won't be necessary." Emily allowed herself a mirthless smile, "I know myself very well, even now going to the hospital would be useless. I would rather do something to help Autumn while I am still able to speak. My dying wish is to see her go back home to her family."

"Arthur, please ask Autumn to come in here when you leave, "Emily requested Arthur with efforts.

Arthur did not know what else he could do for her. He agreed with her on the fact that going to the hospital now would be of no use. At most... she was more likely to suffer more.

Autumn stood outside the room, with a bowl of porridge in her hands. She waited there because she understood that Emily wanted to speak with Arthur in private. When Arthur came out, she rushed to him and asked, "How is my grandmother?"

Before, she would respectfully address him as "Doctor Zhao", but now... She doesn't even know what to call him.

"She..." Arthur looked at Autumn with regret in his eyes and said, "As I've told you before, she does not have much time left. I insisted her to go see a doctor at the hospital, but she willingly refused." "So... "How much time do you think she has?" Autumn asked with great anticipation, as she gripped the tray carrying Emily's favourite dish, pumpkin porridge, tightly.

"It will not make much difference whether she stays in the hospital or not. At best, we can expect her to live for another month, but... going to the hospital could increase her chances of suffering more pain, so she has decided not to go."

Arthur found it difficult to look at Autumn in the eye. Somehow he managed to open his mouth to utter, "Autumn, your dad..."

"Enough!" Autumn would not listen to another word from Arthur's mouth if he would talk about her father. "You don't deserve to mention my father," she said to him, with a look of strong resentment in her eyes. "Autumn, I..." Arthur tried to explain, but Autumn deliberately ignored him and got in Emily's room with the tray. Once she stepped inside the room, she cast her anger to the wind, and gently asked, "Grandma, how are you feeling? I made your favorite pumpkin porridge. Would you like to have some?"

"Leave it aside for one second." Emily could only see a dark silhouette of Autumn against the dim light. She smiled and waved at her to sit, "Autumn, sit here beside me, I need to talk to you."

"Of course." Autumn bore a heavy heart; she wanted to be with Emily, but God had only given her so little time, "Grandma, I am here to listen and talk to you about anything you want."

"Did you just... have an argument outside with Doctor Zhao?" Autumn realized that she must have been very loud when she spoke to Arthur, for Emily to hear her. Emily added, "Autumn, you are aware of the truth about your family lineage, right?"

"Grandma, what are you trying to say? I don't understand." Autumn pretended to be unaware and said to Emily, "I am just who I am. I am your granddaughter, and apart from that, I don't have any other identity."

"My silly girl." Emily smiled bitterly; feeling helpless, she patted the back of Autumn's hand and said, "You can never hide the truth from the world. You will always be bonded by blood to your family." "My only family is you and Charles. The both of you are all I will ever need in my life. I don't need anybody else."

Autumn said with a cold tone, "Grandma, let's eat breakfast first, I don't want you to be hungry."

"No, Autumn, I don't have much time; I must unburden my heart before something happens to me."

Emily pulled Autumn closer and said, "Can you please tell me why you carry so much hate and resentment for the Zhao family? Did Wendy say something?"

"Grandma, can we stop talking about them?" Autumn's face showed her discontent as she continued, "What is wrong with us just living our own lives?"

"Autumn..." Emily sighed, "Your father left his home for Wendy all those years ago, against the wishes of your grandparents and his sister. Although they disapproved of his marriage to Wendy, your father persisted wilfully and arbitrarily. Guess what happened in the end? She left him for another man and left your father to die of depression. And you're still refusing to accept the Zhao family because of what Wendy had said to you? Do you think Wendy has your best interest at heart?"

"In this whole world, only you and the Lu family will have my best interest at heart, I understand that much," Autumn replied and she continued, "But Wendy was not entirely wrong, either. Even though the Zhao family disliked her, my father was still their son. Why didn't they come to replace him when he was so ill? Why would they watch him die like that? Was their hate for my mother so deep that they sacrificed their own son to fill the void?"

Autumn was disgusted by the fact that the Zhao family did not come to help when her father's life was in danger.

Emily cracked a bitter laugh and said, "You are just as one-track minded as your father was."

She sighed and continued, "Have you ever wondered why your father let you have Wendy's surname, even though he hated her so much?"

"No, "Autumn shook her head slightly. That was something she was also trying to figure out for quite some time now.