"Oh God, how could I forget about this?"
Kayla stood lost in thought, a smile on her face as she watched Arshaka run through the gate of the house from behind the bars.
"Oh God, please let Sir not have gone too far with Emeli." Kayla watched Arshaka approach with anxious hope.
"Dad! Where are you taking Emeli?!" Arshaka shouted at Mr. Jeremy. He immediately stepped in front of the older man, blocking his path.
Emeli, cradled in Mr. Jeremy's arms, breathed a sigh of relief when she heard her father's voice.
"Dad only wants to take Emeli to the hospital. Right, Bondan?" Mr. Jeremy nudged his subordinate's arm.
"Y-yes, Sir." The man called Bondan answered nervously.
"How can Emeli get better quickly if she stays home all the time, Arshaka? All she'll do is become even more of a burden to you. Isn't the company going through a difficult period?" Mr. Jeremy tried to make an excuse. But Arshaka knew he was lying. Why would his father suddenly care about Emeli?
"Let Emeli stay home. There are still doctors and nurses who monitor her regularly."
"And you're leaving your daughter with that questionable woman? What if she only makes Emeli's condition worse?"
"No, Dad. Emeli's current caregiver is kind, unlike the previous one," Arshaka argued, displeased that Kayla was being slandered.
"Kind, you say?" Mr. Jeremy gave a bitter smile.
"Yes," Arshaka replied flatly.
"You just don't know. Why do you think I took Emeli out of this house? Because I'm sure a hospital is safer for Emeli than having her live with the country girl you hired as her caregiver. You don't know what she just did to your daughter, do you, Arshaka?"
Behind the window, Kayla stood frozen, her eyes widening in disbelief. Her instincts told her that the old man standing outside wanted to frame her. Her earlier suspicion had been right.
"She almost pushed Emeli off the bed. She doesn't actually care about your daughter. All she wants is money, money, and more money. She wants her salary without doing the job of caring for your disabled daughter."
Arshaka's face flushed with anger. He couldn't stand Emeli being called disabled. Seeing the change in his expression, Kayla winced, afraid he might believe his father's lies.
"Stop, Dad! If you call Emeli disabled one more time, Arshaka will walk out of your life forever!"
Kayla could finally breathe a little easier. His anger was directed at Mr. Jeremy, not her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Dad didn't mean to say that. Dad is just furious with the woman you hired to care for this child. She really wants to kill Emeli!"
"No, he's lying! He wanted to take Emeli to an orphanage. He even threatened to kill Emeli if I came closer and took her away from Sir's father's arms!" Kayla shouted from inside. She didn't want Mr. Jeremy to slander her any further.
Arshaka immediately turned toward where Kayla was standing.
"Kayla, why aren't you coming out?"
"The door was locked from the outside, Sir, so I couldn't chase after Miss Emeli!"
"Dad!" Arshaka immediately opened the door, and Kayla ran out.
"Oh, so you want to twist the facts, do you? Wow, this woman is something else. Unfortunately for you, my son will never be easily swayed by any woman. Emeli means more to him than anyone else. So if anyone tries to hurt his daughter, they have two choices: get out of this house or get ready to spend time in prison."
"I'm not lying, Sir. Please believe me. The person who really wants to hurt Emeli is this man himself. He said Emeli is a burden to Sir Arshaka and an obstacle to Sir Arshaka's marriage to Elena. Your father also said Emeli is a jinx who brings bad luck into your life," Kayla explained.
"Don't believe her, Arshaka!" Mr. Jeremy snapped. He glared angrily at Kayla for daring to turn Arshaka against him. Until now, every caregiver who had looked after Emeli had obeyed Mr. Jeremy.
Smack!
His hand struck Kayla across the cheek, leaving it burning.
"Ow." Kayla merely rubbed her cheek with a grimace. A single slap from the man had left it numb.
"That's for being disrespectful to me, and this—"
Mr. Jeremy was about to slap her a second time, but Arshaka caught his hand.
"Stop! I believe her more than I believe you, Dad!"
Mr. Jeremy was startled—not because Arshaka had said he trusted Kayla more than him, but because seeing Kayla's face up close reminded him of a woman from his past.
The man abruptly threw Emeli's body aside, violently enough to tear out her IV. Fortunately, Arshaka and Kayla caught the little girl together.
"Astaghfirullahaladzim." Arshaka and Kayla could only murmur a prayer as they watched Mr. Jeremy behave so atrociously.
Mr. Jeremy immediately walked out through the gate. Once he reached his car, he called someone.
"Emeli's current caregiver—the caregiver, yes. Investigate her!"
"Emeli! Emeli!" Kayla panicked when she saw Emeli close her eyes. She looked at Arshaka, who was just as shocked by what had happened to his daughter. He hadn't expected Jeremy to be so cruel as to throw Emeli aside like a lifeless object.
Arshaka quickly checked Emeli's pulse.
"We need to take Miss Emeli to the hospital right now, Sir!"
Arshaka nodded and took Emeli completely from Kayla's arms. Half running as he carried his beloved daughter, he hurried toward his car parked outside the gate.
Kayla ran ahead of Arshaka and opened the car door for Emeli. Once Arshaka had laid Emeli on the backseat, Kayla climbed in and sat beside her. Arshaka moved to the front seat and drove toward the hospital at high speed.
In the backseat, Kayla looked anxious. She didn't take her eyes off Emeli for even a second, watching the girl's chest with fearful attention in case her heart stopped beating.
"Doctor, please treat my daughter quickly!" Arshaka ran through the hospital corridor carrying Emeli, not caring that he nearly collided with other patients' families.
"What happened to her this time?" As luck would have it, they ran into the doctor who usually treated Emeli.
"She fainted, Doctor. Please!" Arshaka pleaded.
"Bring her to my office!"
Without another word, Arshaka carried Emeli into the doctor's office.
Outside the room, Kayla paced back and forth, silently reciting prayers without stopping, begging for Emeli to be given strength and healing.
"How is she, Doctor?" Arshaka asked when he saw the doctor call for a nurse and give her instructions.
"I'm sorry, but your daughter needs intensive care. Emeli is in critical condition. We have to move her to the ICU."
Several nurses appeared, pushing a gurney and transferring Emeli's body onto it. Arshaka stood frozen, his mind suddenly going blank.
The nurses continued pushing the gurney out of the room where Emeli had been lying. The doctor followed behind them.
"Nurse, what's happening to Emeli?" Kayla still looked frantic.
"Don't block our path. The patient needs immediate treatment," the nurse said, forcing Kayla to step aside and make way for the nurses and doctor. Kayla followed behind them afterward.
But she stopped when she realized Arshaka wasn't there. He should have come out of the doctor's office too. Kayla ran back to look for him.
"Sir!" Kayla's eyes widened. Arshaka was sitting with his back against the half-open door. He had fainted.
"Nurse, please help!" Kayla cried, prompting several other nurses to run over and examine Arshaka.
"Argh! What kind of trial is this?" Kayla raked both hands through her hair, frustrated and unsure what to do.