Chapter 276 Support Each Other

After Anna had exposed her true self, she breathed life into the cold and cheerless ward. It became livelier.

“Stop bothering me and shut up! I want to sleep!”

“But you’ve slept a lot in the day, Mr. Shelby. The doctor said you should go out on a walk.”

“No.”

“Well, I think it’s not up to you.” With those words, Anna went forward and pulled Jacob up from the bed.

“You, you, you… What are you doing? I want to fire you!?” Jacob got angry.

“You want to fire me? How are you going to watch me, then?”

Jacob: “...”

When they returned from the walk, something popped up in Anna’s mind and she turned to Jacob. Looking at him with puppy eyes, she said, “Mr. Shelby, Dumpy kept losing the sprint race, I wonder if you could…”

“Why would a cat need to participate in a sprint race? Let it stay in the room.”

“But if we can’t win the race, then both Dumpy and I will be very sad. Look, Dumpy is crying. Please, Mr. Shelby, just help us once,” Anna pressed on. She even started to wipe the invisible tear off the corner of her eyes.

“I already said this is of no use to me!”

“Is that true?” Anna asked, looking at him with dewy eyes.

One minute… Two minutes… Ten minutes…

Jacob’s lips twitched. “Give it to me.”

“Oh yeah!” Anna exclaimed.

After dinner.

“Ahh! I’m dead again. Why is Tetris so hard to play? Hmph! I hate Tetris the most,” Anna complained exasperatedly as she threw her phone away, causing Jacob to roll his eyes at her once more.

He snatched her phone away. After he made some changes to the phone, he returned it to her. “Here. Try again.”

“Ohhh?” Anna took the phone and tried again with newfound enthusiasm.

In the beginning, the game was no different from before. Just when she was about to lose and give up again, something miraculous happened, and a flare of joy blazed in her eyes. All of the falling pieces happened to be able to match the vacant spots on the field below, and the feeling of eliminating a whole line of messy pieces at once was so great it was as if it were a dream come true.

“Oh my, you’re so awesome, Jacob,” Anna exclaimed. She was so touched she was on the verge of tears.

When all the pieces were eliminated, a new round started. Anna continued to fight on. Every time she was about to lose, the piece that she wanted would fall.

‘Wahaha! This is so awesome! I can’t stop myself now!’

Looking at Anna, Jacob raised his brows. The peace had finally returned.

He turned around and cast his gaze into the dark. Worry flashed across his handsome face.

Considering Julian’s efficiency, the date for Susan’s operation should be around the corner.

When the thought surfaced in his mind, Jacob could not help but clutch at the fold of the sheet tightly.

Truth be told, he could not be certain whether or not Susan could handle the bad news.

Anna played the game all the way to 3,000 points in one sitting. She felt she was unstoppable right now. Just when she stretched her sore shoulders, she saw Jacob’s melancholy eyes that were as dark as the night.

Biting her lower lips, she asked, “Are you worried about Mrs. Shaw, Mr. Shelby?”

Hearing her question, Jacob withdrew his gaze from the window and coldness returned to his eyes. “Just mind your own business.”

Anna put down her phone and sat beside Jacob’s bed. Sighing, she said, “Mrs. Shaw is a good person. I think God will not be so cruel to her.”

Pain flared in Jacob’s eyes.

Susan had always been a kind person since she was young. If God was not blind, then how could he bring himself to torture her so much?

If possible, Jacob was willing to give up everything if it meant Susan could have a joyful and blissful life.

Nevertheless, there were no ifs in this world, and God would not allow that as well.

“You really care a lot for Mrs. Shaw, Mr. Shelby,” Anna said softly, “You guys must be very close right?”

Perhaps Anna’s voice was too gentle or the moonlight was too mesmerizing — Jacob did not know — he fell silent for a moment and then said in an undertone, “When I was a kid, my parents were very busy with their work and they couldn’t take good care of me, so I stayed with my grandmother. When I was six years old, my parents brought back a toddler and said she’d be my sister. Her name was Susan. At that time, Susie was so soft and small. She looked just like a doll.”

As Jacob was talking, a gentle smile crossed his face, “When I held her in my arms the first time, I could not even blink my eye. I was afraid that the moment I closed my eyes, my little sister would disappear. After that, Mom and Dad left Susan to me and grandmother, and then they went out to work again. I used to help my grandmother take care of Susie since she was very old at that time. When I was 13 years old, my grandmother passed away, and I was left alone with Susie. Do you know how sensible Susie was? Once I scalded my hand with boiling water. She was so mad at me that she did not allow me to do anything on the second day. She took care of all the house chores. She was only six at that time. She took a bench and tried to cook for me. Although all of the dishes were burnt, it was the best meal I ever had in my whole life…”

Jacob fell into his own memory.

Their father and mother were not good parents, but they were not bad either. They would give them pocket money every month so that they did not have to starve. However, they were not in the house all year round. Basically, their family could only gather during big festivals.

Therefore, they did not have much memory about their parents. They only had each other to depend on.

“When I was 15 years old, my father finally came back to work in our hometown. That was the happiest year we had for so long, but unfortunately, it didn’t last long. A year later, my father fell sick and he passed away. I told Susie that Mom was too sad so she left together with our father. However, in reality, it was because my mom could not bear the heavy burden, so she left us and killed herself.”

A bitter smile crept onto Jacob’s lips as he continued, “After that, we were orphaned. I had to stop my study and go to work so that I could give Susie a better life. At that time, we lived at our uncle’s house. I was so occupied with my work that I neglected Susie. I didn’t know that they were bullying and mistreating her when I was away. By the time I found out, it was already too late. Consumed by my anger, I took Susie and left my uncle’s house. After that, we supported each other, and then, here we are.

“Susie felt that I had sacrificed too much for her, and she had always felt guilty. Actually, what she did not know was that, during those difficult times, if it were not for her tiny hands that helped wipe off my sweat, how could I have possibly kept it up?”

Jacob’s voice was so soft whenever he talked about Susan. It made Anna so jealous of Susan. She also hoped that she could have someone that loved her so much…

‘Well, Daddy and Mommy are good to me, but… Forget it, I shouldn’t ask too much.’

Anna thought for a moment and she suddenly realized something. “Hold on a second, Mr. Shelby. You and Mrs. Shaw have an uncle. Did he get sick as well? If not, then perhaps this disease is not that scary after all.”

Jacob shook his head. “The older generation wants to have a lot of children and grandchildren. Since my father was my grandparent’s only child, they adopted my uncle from a distant relative. He thought that in the future, my uncle could lend a hand to my father during difficult times, but…”

Jacob scoffed. Even though he did not say anything, Anna could roughly grasp the whole picture.

Judging from the fact that the uncle had abused Susan before, it was very apparent that he did not treat them as his family at all.