Chapter 3: Why Did the Child Seem More of an Adult than the Actual Adult

The Gorshkova couple sat on either side of their daughter, both rubbing her back soothingly.

At some point, Irene even started humming the lullaby she used to sing to her when she had bad dreams as a child.

Meanwhile, Dimitri had made himself at home at Patricia's study desk and kept up with the courses he was missing on at schoool to be here.

Dr. Pamela Blooms reached their home faster than anticipated.

Before the sweaty doctor had the time to pay her greetings, Irene had already started narrating the events from earlier in her own way. She didn't forget to pin all possible worsening of her daughter's injuries on her gremlin of a son while she was at it.

The aforementioned 'gremlin', on the other hand, ignored his mother's accusatory speech. He put down his pen, closed his laptop, gathered his study materials into a neat stack, and removed his spectacles.

"She's been awake for nearly an hour now and hasn't stopped crying since." Dimitri's tone was calm and direct. Unlike his mother, he was level-headed. "She started muttering absurdities when my father left for work."

Hearing her son's words, Irene's tears naturally flowed out.

Her husband was in charge of the family business. For this reason, he had no other choice but to get back to work as soon as his assistant called him to remind him of a meeting scheduled for this evening.

It was only when he was getting up that she and her husband realized that their daughter had been clutching onto his pants the entire time. Their poor daughter's fingers had gone white from the force of her grip!

"Daddy, please don't abandon me!" she'd screamed, panic etched on her puffy red face. "I wasn't lying. I'll be good. I'll be obedient. Even if we're all already dead, it doesn't matter, I will do everything you ask. Just- Please don't leave me! I love you. I love all of you. It's not about the lifestyle. I don't care about the money. Take everything, but don't leave me!"

Patricia struggled against them when they tried to pry her fingers opened. She even became hysterical once Kostyantyn fully detached himself from her. She thrashed about. She almost fell off the bed in the process.

To ensure she wouldn't hurt herself further, Dimitri had to hold her legs down while their mother held her to her bosom.

They kept telling her that her father would be back. But all Patricia said in response to the reassuring words was that they were abandoning her again. She kept repeating that she was a fake and that they believed she was a terrible person, which was why they didn't want to stay with her.

Of course, the couple tried to refute their daughter's senseless words, blaming it all on a nightmare. But Patricia had already shut their words out. She was letting herself drown deeper and deeping in lies she believed were unalterable facts.

After Kostyantyn managed to leave the room—albeit reluctantly—Patricia remained in the same seated position, repeating over and over again that they were all abandoning her. She said she was unlovable. She said a stupid ***** like her didn't deserve to be part of the Gorshkova family.

Her body even turned cold to the touch. She was trembling like a leaf.

"This is all your fault," Irene said to her son as soon as he returned. He'd left the room without a word shortly after Patricia stopped struggling.

Irene was shocked that her son would leave them considering the situation at hand. However, although she was relieved and happy to realize he'd only gone back to his own room to fetch a comforter and a few blankets for his sister, the bitter and childish side of her refused to simply let things slip.

"You keep saying she isn't the biological daughter of our family. Look at the damage you've caused! Are you proud of yourself?!

"My baby is so sensitive. She kept her feelings to herself. She pretended your hurtful words didn't get to her. We're witnessing the truth today. The reality is that your heartless accusations has been gnawning at her little heart all these years!

"I'm a terrible mother. How could I not realize the impact your lies had on her! My poor baby... Does she truly believe in your lies?"

Irene's eyes pooled with unshed tears. Her daughter was still mumbling incoherently. It was like she was in a whole other world.

"And what is that rubbish about only wanting our family's money? As a member of the Gorshkova family, she has equal rights over it as the rest of you all ungrateful boys! If it weren't for you always nagging her to mind her expenses, she wouldn't have misunderstood us!

"And you even dared call her a stupid *****, you evil gremlin?! Whatever did I give birth to you for?"

"I never called her that." Dimitri wrapped a blanket around Patricia's upper body as he continued in a calm voice, "I never insulted her. And I never lied. As for the money issue, it's not my fault that her brain cannot process direct words correctly."

Irene glared at her son with bloodshot eyes. Dimitri's calmness was grating on her nerves. And his words...

"Firstly, I never use curse words. Secondly, I merely called her dumb from time to time, and not for a lack of reason. Thirdly, she isn't my sister. Not from a biological standpoint, at least. It's a fact I'll stand by until the day I die."

Irene knocked three times on the wooden headboard of the queen sized bed with her knuckles. She also made three distinct spitting sounds as she did. Was this boy looking for a beating?! Why was this boy suddenly bringing up death?

"You son of devil! I should have your head tested!"

Dimitri didn't lose his composure faced with his mother's angry-looking face. He continued writing in his studybook. From his expression, one might think that he was hearing none of the words leaving his mother's mouth.

This attitude of his only fuelled his mother's anger.

"If your brain is useless to you, we might as well donate it to science!"

That was the scene Dr. Blooms witnessed when she reached the door.

"She refuses to tell us what it was that is bothering her."

Dr. Blooms eyed the mother and son duo without a word.

It was inappropriate to listen in on others' person matters. However, it wasn't her fault that this seemingly one-sided argument could be heard from outside. Her ears merely heard what was being said. As such, she figured it would be in her best interest to avoid saying anything that could potentially get either party to mistakenly believe she was taking sides.

"She opens her mouth only to speak gibberish."

Seeing the way Mrs. Gorshkova was staring at her tactless son, Dr. Blooms suspected she'd have pounced on him already had she not had the mumbling young miss in her arms.

Because of the murderous atmosphere reigning in the spacious bedroom, Dr. Blooms felt a sense of suffocation.

She suddenly felt like she should have asked for the pay to be tripled.

No.

Quadrupled!

"You can tell us directly if she's received too hard an impact to the head and has gone insane as a result."

As a matter of fact, Dr. Blooms figured she shouldn't have accepted to come in the first place.

Alas, what was done was done. She cleared her tone. Thereafter, she invited everyone to leave the room.

"You heard her. Shoo, shoo. Get out. The doctor needs to check up on my baby."

"You, too, Mrs. Gorshkova," said the doctor with quite a bit of hesitation.

A deep frown settled between Irene's brows. She hugged her daughter tighter. She was on the defensive.

"Why should I leave?! I'm her mother. I should be allowed to stay!"

"Third Young Master..."

"Mom, let the doctor do her job."

"The doctor is a woman. So am I. Why can't I be allowed to assi—"

Dimitri pinched the bridge of his nose.

He took a deep intake of air with his eyes closed. Then, he slowly exhaled through his mouth. Afterwards, he slowly reopened his eyes and focussed his attention on his mother's face.

"Why don't we let the doctor have a one-on-one with her patient. The sooner she's done, the sooner the two of you will be able to have a proper mother-daughter conversation."

A moment of silence.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed how Patricia had no problem looking at both father and me in the face but refused to even turn your way."

A tsk sounded.

Then, Irene harumphed and stomped out of the room. She dragged her son out by the ear.

Dr. Blooms barely repressed the painful expression on her face at the scene playing out before her.

Despite the door being fully closed, Dr. Pamela Blooms clearly heard the words "You evil gremlin are truly heartless!" being thrown at the boy.

Of the two, why did the child seem more like an adult than the actual adult?

Shaking her head, Pamela plastered the biggest, most inoffensive smile possible on her round face and turned to her patient.

Whether the girl in front of her was or not the real Young Miss of the prestigious Gorshkova family had nothing to do with her. Yet she somehow felt that the key to the issue at hand resided it the veracity of this possibility.

Aish. She signed up to be a doctor, why was it that she was suddenly dragged into the personal matters of other people?!

How she wished she'd opted for law like her father intended...

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