Rylee widened her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. She was trembling all over. “You can scold me
as much as you like. How can you insult my mother? I just knocked down Andrea. How can you insult
my mother? Why are you doing this to me? Do you regret it? You shouldn’t have deceived my mother
or let me be born. Do you think I’m willing to be your daughter? Have you asked me if I was willing to
be born in this world?”
“Smack!”
Brook slapped Rylee in her face furiously.
Rylee’s face tilted. Her cheek went red and swollen instantly.
“Swoosh!”
The herb bag in her hand flew out.
Brook felt his palm was numb. It wasn’t until then did he realize that he had used too much strength.
Rylee shed tears and sneered. “I don’t want to be the daughter of the Carroll family anymore. I’m so fed
up with it!”
As soon a fishing her words, she turned away. Brook grabbed her shoulder and asked anxiously,
“Answer me. Have you become Kenneth Keith’s mistress?”
Rylee took a deep breath, turned around, and glared at him in hatred. “If I had, I would be knocked over
by a car when I go out.”
Brook was taken aback.
Rylee picked up the herb bag, pulled the study door open, and walked out.
As soon as she stepped out, she almost bumped into Deborah, who was eavesdropping at the door.
Deborah pretended nothing had happened and looked at the paint on the wall.
Rylee didn’t look at anyone. Clenching her hands, she strode to the door.
She felt a burning pain on her cheek.
She even heard a buzz in her ears.
Manfred walked up to her. “Rylee, what happened to your cheek?”
Rylee glanced at him in a trance, putting on a wry smile sadly. Meanwhile, tears dropped from her
eyes.
“Leave me alone.”
“Manfred, come over!” Deborah yelled.
Manfred held Rylee in his arms, feeling that she was trembling all over.
He felt so frustrated.
Right then, the study door was opened. Brook gaped at his own hand while walking out.
Manfred yelled at him. “Brook, you’ve gone too far! How could you hit Rylee for no reason? She’s
already so humble in this home. You mistreat her. Her mother will hate you in the tomb.”
Brook trembled drastically, feeling so regretful. His eyes reddened, tears welling up in them. He said,
“Rylee, I...”
Deborah exclaimed, “Manfred, how dare you! How can you talk to your brother-in-law like this? Can’t a
father scold his daughter?”
Manfred smiled bitterly. “Deborah, you’ve got married and have a family now. I’m quite happy. I didn’t
want to stay here in the beginning. I will move out. If you don’t want Rylee, I will take care of her. I’ll
give her a loving home.”
As he spoke, he walked out while holding Rylee in his arms.
Deborah gaped in disbelief. She hurriedly followed them and kept yelling, “Manfred! How dare you!
How dare you do this to your sister? Stop! You can’t do it. Come back. Come back!”
When she reached the gate, Manfred had already driven his car away with Rylee.
Deborah stomped in anger. Patting her thighs, she yelled, “Manfred, come back! Rylee Carroll, you
bitch! You’ve stolen my brother! I won’t let go of you. Bitch! Bitch!”
Brook walked to the gate while trembling. He stared at Manfred’s car disappearing into the distance.
Wiping off his tears, he turned around and blew up on Deborah. “Bitch? She’s my daughter. She’s my
biological daughter. How dare you say that! If I heard you call her bitch again, I would slap you.”
Deborah bit her bottom lip, having no guts to utter any beep.
Brook ignored her, feeling so upset. He sniffed and walked back to the house. He muttered to himself,
“I hit her too violently... I should have known it... She’s quite stubborn and proud. There's no way she
would do those things? I’m so stupid. Rylee... I made a mistake... Rylee... Evangeline, I’m sorry. I’m
sorry for mistreating our daughter...”
Deborah collapsed on the steps, covered her face, and cried.
Her brother moved out.
Her husband scolded her. It was the first time that Brook blew up on her.
Manfred was driving. He turned to look at Rylee, who was sitting in the passenger seat in a daze. Her
cheek was so red.
She never made a fuss. In silence, she lowered her head and sat in a daze.
There were tears in her eyes.
The more she was like this, the sorrier Manfred felt for her.
Manfred reached out to stroke her hair gently. Rylee trembled in fear, looking over at him stiffly.
Then she finally realized that Manfred was next to her.
She forced a grin on him and said hoarsely, “I’m fine...”
Manfred almost shed tears. Patting her on the shoulder, he said in a gentle tone, “Don’t be afraid. In the
future, I’ll always be there with you and protect you.”
Rylee smiled bitterly, turning away to look into a dark corner.
Tears dropped.
Of course, she was so upset.
Her biological father had even suspected that she was a kind of cheap woman who could lay with any
man.
She wondered if she were just a whore in Brook’s mind.
It was more heartbreaking than his blame and hit.
“If you want to cry, please go ahead,” said Manfred softly, giving her a few pieces of tissues.
Rylee took them over, lowered her face, and wiped off the tears.
However, when she wiped off some, more tears were shed. It seemed that her tears were from an
endless fountain.
It was getting dark outside.
Manfred’s cell phone was ringing. He picked up and checked the caller. Then he said, “Rylee, it's your
father.”
Rylee didn’t answer, looking out of the window.
“Yes, Brook?” Manfred swiped to answer the phone while driving.
“Manfred, please come back. Your sister has been crying since you left,” Brook said with a sigh.
“No, thanks, Brook. In fact, even without what happened tonight, I would move out sooner or later. I’m
glad my sister has a home. I’ve been hoping to move out since quite a long time ago.”
“Wait, Manfred. Can I speak to Rylee, please? I want to tell her it’s my bad. I should have trusted her. I
shouldn’t have hit her. Boohoo...” Brook cried while holding the cell phone.
Manfred cast Rylee a glance and heaved a sigh. “Brook, you’ve been too reckless. Rylee is still in a
bad mood now. I will take her to my apartment for a night. After she has calmed down, I’ll send her
back home. No worries. I’ll take good care of her.”
Brook paused a bit and said in frustration, “I don’t know why I’ve done that. How could I speak those
words to Rylee? I should be damned! Manfred, please help me comfort her. Please ask her to forgive
me.”
“Okay. I will.”
Manfred hung up the phone. Looking at Rylee, he said, “Your father has regretted it. I can tell from his
voice he feels so guilty now. Rylee, no matter what, he’s your father. He cares about you.”
Rylee didn’t speak any words.
Manfred heaved a sigh, stepped on the accelerator, and sped up the car.
His apartment was located in a high-end neighborhood downtown.
When he parked the car in the parking lot, Manfred pulled the door of the vehicle open and dragged
Rylee to get down. Rylee suddenly became panicked. She blinked quickly. “I... I can’t go to your
apartment... Please excuse me.”
Manfred stopped her with a frown. “Where can you go? We are family.”
“I’m going to find Joseph. I have my room in his house.”
“It’s too late. If you go there at this time, he’ll be worried about you. Please make do with it in my
apartment. No worries. You’ll stay in the guestroom. I won’t do anything to you. Can you trust me,
Rylee?”
Rylee took a look at Manfred in silence. Manfred put his arm on her shoulders, and they walked into the
elevator together.
Manfred’s home was quite big, over two thousand square feet. The apartment was clean. When the
floor lamp was turned on, the living room looked quite homey.
“Come on in. I seldom come over. You are my first guest. What would you like to drink?”
Manfred took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and walked to the kitchen to boil some water.
Rylee was in a bad mood. She shook her head. “Nothing. Thank you.”
Manfred turned to look at her and suggested, “Why don’t you take a hot bath. It will wash away your
bad mood. Then I’ll make you a chocolate milkshake before you go to bed. What do you say?”
Rylee nodded.
She soaked herself in the warm water and cried out aloud.
After the bath, she dried her hair while looking into the mirror. She gradually felt better.
In Manfred’s pajamas, she walked out. The living room was dim. Manfred was sitting on the sofa,
waving at her.
“Come over, Rylee. Please have some dessert and the hot tea with milk.”
Rylee walked to Manfred, who looked so soothing. She sat on the carpet with her legs crossed. Holding
the warm tea with milk and looking at the desserts on the tea table, she said sincerely, “Thank you so
much, Manfred. You always remind me of my mother. Thank you for caring about me.”
Manfred smiled faintly. “Silly girl, please don’t mention it. Hurry up and eat. I ordered some takeout just
now. If I had called them later, they would have closed already.”
Rylee nodded, picked up a spoon, and got some, munching carefully.
“How do you like it?”
“So sweet.” Rylee smiled.
Manfred opened his mouth. “I also want to have a try.”
Rylee was taken aback.
Under Manfred’s gaze, she got some with the spoon and put it next to his lips. Manfred ate it happily.
Looking at Rylee with a smile, he said, “Wow, it’s so sweet that I even feel dizzy. Rylee, we shall always
be with each other like this until we get old. What do you say?”
Rylee was taken aback.
Under Manfred’s gaze, she got some with the spoon and put it next to his lips. Manfred ate it happily.
Looking at Rylee with a smile, he said, “Wow, it’s so sweet that | even feel dizzy. Rylee, we shall always
be with each other like this until we get old. What do you say?”
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