Chapter 192 Becoming a Laughingstock
Phillip took a deep breath and stared at Melinda. His face hardened and his voice was deep and cold, with his usual calmness.
However, if one listened carefully, one would find the quiver in his voice.
"Mother, what are you talking about?"
Melinda's expression was sorrowful as she rushed over to grab Phillip's hand, her eyes turning red.
"Phillip, I have let you down. I didn't expect that you would ... This is my fault."
Phillip's hand clenched into a fist. He looked at the gloomy face of the graceful and dignified woman. His eyes were filled with intense hatred.
No wonder Ann suddenly insisted on breaking up with him and pressed him with her life.
Phillip lowered his head slightly.
Half of his face was hidden in the shadow, so was his facial expression.
Only his jaw was set firmly.
"Why wait until now to tell me?"
His voice was low, cold, and emotionless.
Melinda looked up and saw the utter coldness in Phillip's eyes. Her heart lurched. There was a trace of guilt and panic in her eyes, but it disappeared quickly.
"I was being selfish. At first, I wanted you two to be siblings. You have been apart for so many years. I didn't expect that you would..."
"Ever since I found out that you two were in love, I've tried to find a way to protect you two from getting hurt. I don't want any of you to get hurt. When you said Ann was Carson and Jackson's mother, I realized how wrong I was!"
Her throat felt tight. "Phillip, it has come to this. We have to take it. No matter how much you hate me, I'm okay with it. But you and Ann cannot be together. I'm begging you. Just let go of her." Phillip stood up straight. Under the light, he was like a sword, flashing with a cold and sharp light.
He compressed his lips so tightly that they went white.
In the face of Melinda's crying, he remained unmoved.
He looked at the woman whose face was covered with tears. Tears had smudged her makeup. A faint smile touched the corners of his mouth.
He let out a sneer.
It was also like a sneer of self-mockery.
He shook off Melinda's hand and strode out of the dressing room.
Melinda sat on the ground, watching Phillip leave.
She stopped crying, stood up, and sat in front of the dressing table, wiping away the tears on her face.
A moment later, a beautiful face appeared in the mirror. The sinister plum blossom mark around her eyes was shining brightly.
Melinda put down the eyebrow pencil and lowered her eyelids.
The fact that Ann was Carson and Jackson's mother had really startled her.
She thought, 'Hilda had spent so much effort to play the long game.'
'It can't just be that she just wants them to become a laughingstock or to make them give away their power.'
Melinda did not believe that Hilda was truly dead.
Because Hilda was a calculating woman and couldn't let herself die in vain.
Melinda thought, 'She hates me so much. She must be somewhere and plotting something.'
Phillip walked out of the TV station. The sky was full of dark masses of clouds.
Not long after he got in the car, rain spattered on the windowpanes, making an annoying noise.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly and recalled what Melinda had just said.
[Ann is my daughter. ]
[The reason why I disagree with you being together with Ann is that if you are together, you will become a laughingstock.]
Melinda's words were still ringing in his ears. Phillip tightened his grip on the steering wheel. The veins throbbed on the back of his hand and his knuckles turned white.
He had thought of thousands of reasons Ann might give him, but he had never thought of this cause.
He recalled the times when Ann pushed him away with attachment in her eyes.
He recalled the day when they were on the rooftop of the hospital, she held a glass shard to her neck and asked him to let her go.
The sadness and despair in her eyes distressed him, but he could do nothing to help her.
Phillip thought, 'If all of this is true, my love for her will become a laughingstock.'
And the three children...
Phillip was in a state of anxiety and confusion.
A silver supercar was speeding through the traffic in the rain.
In a moment, honks and sounds of scolding went up from the traffic.
The day after Phillip came to Melinda, Ann went to Dylan Villa with Fred.
However, she did not see Phillip, so she could not know what Phillip had wanted to tell her about Nikkii.
Ann did not think much about it.
She thought maybe Phillip was busy for the moment, or maybe he had changed his mind.
Although she was curious about what he wanted to tell her, she did not think she had to know it.
Now, she just wanted to bring Nikkii up.
When they got back to the car, Ann turned around and saw Nikki lying prone on the backrest, looking up at the villa.
Her big eyes were full of disappointment and reluctance.
It wasn't until the car drove out of the neighborhood that she turned around. She lowered her head and her long eyelashes fluttered. Her lips twitched, and she began to cry. Ann panicked and took Nikki into her arms. She wiped away the tears on her face with a tissue.
"Nikki, don't cry. Mommy is here." She coaxed Nikki.
Nikki reached out her small hand to grab Ann's clothes. Her lips turned down at the corners, and her pink face was puckered.
"I don't want to leave daddy and brothers."
When Ann heard this, her face went rigid. She looked at Nikki's face and recalled the depressions on Carson and Jackson's faces. She felt her heart empty.
She wanted to be their mother, but fate had decided otherwise. The outcome has been decided long before.
Recovering from her thoughts, Ann patted Nikki, looked at her, and hardened her face.
"Nikki, Phillip is not your daddy. Don't call him daddy."
Nikki heard this, her little face became even more aggrieved. "Where is my daddy?" Ann was at a loss for words.
Nikki looked at her mother in wide-eyed determination, her eyelashes wet with tears. "Phillip is my daddy, my favorite daddy!" Her voice was tender but firm.00000000000