Of course, I couldn't just bail on the whole thing.
And what if my absence let Karina spin her tales unchecked, and the court just handed her the win on a silver platter? That would be a disaster.
"I'll call her now and tell her to drop the lawsuit," Neil said, picking up his phone, ready to make the call right in front of me. But I stopped him.
I had a favor to ask, something about Hiram.
If Karina was shameless enough to play the victim here, I was going to make sure she didn't just lose the case - she'd lose custody of her son as well.
I was crystal clear about one thing - Hiram couldn't be left with a woman like Karina. She'd ruin him.
"Are you serious?" Neil squinted at me, a new emotion flickering in his gaze. "What about your own kids?"
"I have two kids, but that won't stop me from taking care of Hiram. I believe he'd want to stay with me," I said, bolstered by a confidence I didn't know I had, convinced by the hopeful look Hiram gave me last time.
Neil smirked, a hint of mockery in his smile. "Irene, you do realize he's Karina's son, right? Even if I help you get custody, it's going to be messy. Are you ready to keep dealing with Karina over a child?"
I hesitated before, scared to commit to keeping Hiram and dealing with the constant drama.
This time, Karina's blatant shamelessness showed me there's no low she wouldn't stoop to. If she took Hiram away after his surgery, he wouldn't just miss out on proper care and education, he'd be used as her pawn again since she wouldn't give up on Neil that easily.
"Okay, I'm in," Neil surprisingly agreed without much fuss.
"Just like that? No conditions?" I was taken aback. Neil wasn't one to miss an opportunity to negotiate a deal. That's just how he operated.
Neil just smirked, avoiding my question, and instead, he said, "To find evidence of Karina's abuse, we'll need to dig into their past, check where they used to live. We should find something within a month."
That made sense. If Karina had been abusive, it wasn't likely to start only after they returned. To understand what Hiram went through, we needed to revisit their past.
I remembered Dylan, the volunteer from an overseas orphanage. He might have some leads for Neil.
After sharing Dylan's details with Neil, our conversation paused as the waitress brought our food, the peculiarly presented dishes striking me with as much force as the first time I saw them.
"Let's eat," I said, picking up a fork and loading it with food, though Neil looked utterly lost at the sight of the dishes before us.
Growing up in luxury, both Neil and I were accustomed to finer dining than the average diner, not out of snobbery, but habit.
Neil had it worse. While I had tasted a slice of ordinary life due to a past incident, Neil's experiences were limited to upscale settings. The sight of these bland dishes visibly killed his appetite.
"Come on, you wanted to eat here, right?" I urged with feigned consideration.
"Not hungry," Neil mumbled, eyeing his plate with resignation.
He'd been through countless drinks and dinners without getting sick like this. Watching him from the car, I felt a mix of schadenfreude and guilt.
After all, Neil had just agreed to help me with Hiram's custody and to investigate Karina for child abuse.
Feeling somewhat responsible, I handed him a water bottle and some tissues, "Feeling better?"
"Irene, I misspoke earlier," Neil said after rinsing his mouth, his eyes red but less tense, "You weren't trying to kill Russel. You were aiming for me."
"That's an exaggeration. I knew the food was bad, but I didn't expect you to react like this," I quickly defended myself.
Neil shot me a glare but climbed back into the car without another word.
I was driving Neil back to the hospital when, coincidentally, Ryan and Faith were just stepping out, about to make a call at the entrance. Spotting Neil's car returning with me at the wheel, they paused and pocketed the phone.
"Guys, it's bad—Neil might have gotten food poisoning!" I blurted out as soon as I got out of the car, urgently waving for Ryan and Faith to come over and help.
Upon hearing this, Ryan and Faith immediately hurried over. Neil, with his tall frame, was slumped in the passenger seat, clutching his stomach, his complexion pale and beads of cold sweat dotting his forehead.
Guilt surged within me. Neil had a history of gastric issues, and he wasn't one to shy away from a drink or two, which meant his stomach was far from strong. Earlier, I had kept on passing him dishes, effectively triggering his condition.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled