Chapter 229 How To Heal
The place where she was staying was quite close to the school, and she hadn’t left the building for many days. Looking at the bustling, lively streets, Eileen’s mood brightened considerably. Without a phone, Eileen realized there was no one she needed to worry about.
She didn’t have many friends to reach out to, so her world was quieter than anyone else’s.
Before she knew it, Eileen found herself in a familiar alleyway shop. It was the same place where Elm had once taken her to eat.
Eileen didn’t know why she ended up here.
As she was about to turn around and leave, a woman in her forties or fifties came out from inside. She was carrying a basin of water and immediately recognized Eileen. “You look familiar… You’re Elm’s friend, aren’t you?”
Eileen nodded.
“Perfect timing. He gave me something for you last time. You haven’t come to collect it for days. Wait here, I’ll go get it for you.”
Eileen didn’t know what it was.
The last time she came here for a meal, she had only seen the boss, not the boss’ wife. Hence, Eileen didn’t know how the woman recognized her.
After a short wait, the lady boss came out with a gift box wrapped in black and adorned with a pink ribbon. “This is from Elm before he left. He asked me to give it to you. I thought you weren’t going to pick it up after all this time.”
Eileen latched onto several keywords. “He left? Where did he go?”
The lady boss said, “He said he’s taking his mother to Remdik for medical treatment. It might be a long time before he returns. Didn’t
you
know?”
Indeed, Eileen didn’t know.
“Thank you.”
“No need for formalities here.”
A customer in the shop called out, “Madam, more sauce please.”
“Coming!”
Eileen didn’t know what was inside the box. She went to a park and sat on a wooden bench, placing the box on her lap. She opened the gift box and found a pair of pink fluffy gloves inside. There was no tag, so she a*sumed they must have been hand-knitted.
She wondered if it was Ruth who knitted them.
This was the warmest gift she had ever received in her two lifetimes.
A ripple of emotion stirred in her heart. In the end, she had gone back on her word.
She had failed to participate in the Olympiad Math to secure a guaranteed spot, and she had also been unable to watch Elm pa*s the exam to get into Hulbury University.
Lifting her delicate and smooth jawline slightly, she gazed at the deep blue sky. At that moment, a plane happened to fly overhead, tracing a Blake line across the sky.
Goodbye, Elm.
I wish you everlasting peace and happiness. May all your wishes come true.
Thank you for your gift. I really like it.
She hadn’t had the chance to tell him all this in time.
I hope both our futures will be bright.
Eileen was prone to getting cold easily. With the drop in temperature, her hands and feet were icy cold. Thus, these gloves came at just the right time for her.
When Gavin found her, Eileen was staring blankly at the empty square, a surprise gift box resting on her lap. Her silhouette looked lonely and desolate. The aura she exuded was not one an eighteen-year-old girl should have. She had indeed changed.
In truth, Eileen hadn’t changed. She had simply experienced what most people hadn’t and hadn’t gotten over it yet.
What was supposed to be a time when one could act with reckless abandon now only left behind a shell devoid of spirit.
All these days, Jasper hadn’t sought her out, and she had known their relationship would eventually come to this point.
Eileen returned to the Swan residence with Eric.
She had initially thought she would be scolded by her father, but it seemed like she wouldn’t be as he was not at home
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Eric said it had been over two months and that Will was very certain that child was his.
At this moment, Will had already taken Elsie to Saintnam for prenatal care. Consequently. from now on, she would be the only one left in this house.
As it turned out, all this time, her father hadn’t cared about her wellbeing. Any expectations she once had vanished in an instant.
When she approached the living room, which felt both familiar and unfamiliar, Sharon walked over with tears in her eyes. “Eileen, you’ve had a hard time these days being away
Eileen looked at her indifferently. She didn’t understand. If Sharon truly cared for her and treated her like her own child, then why would she put drugs in her milk?
Now, she was even pretending to care about Eileen, acting as if her heart ached for her!
Why would she do this?
Since even Sharon was also one of Eric’s people, Eileen wondered who around her was truly
sincere toward her.
Eileen dodged Sharon’s hand, staring at the latter as if she was looking at a stranger.
Eileen didn’t even know what to say to her.
She ascended the stairs, aware that she couldn’t face the truth even Sharon, who regarded her as family, had betrayed her.
Eric left. Before he did, he asked Mary to take good care of Eileen.
Currently, Eileen was emotionally unstable, so Eric had Sharon head to Euphoria Condominium for the time being.
Once Eileen got home, the first thing she did was grab a pile of snacks and bread that could fill her stomach before retreating to her room to lock herself in. Fearing someone might come in, she used everything she could the bedside table, desk, chair anything that could block the door, she used it all to barricade herself in.
Eileen’s actions and words were very unusual and uncontrollable. She knew what she was doing, and she didn’t want to become like this.
She feared she might become as mad as a lunatic, so she was only thinking of using this time to heal herself.
She yearned to overcome her recent experiences.
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No one could save her now. The only person who could save her was herself.
She felt a sliver of comfort only after she closed the curtains and the room was enveloped in
darkness.
When mealtime arrived, Mary carried the food upstairs. Despite knocking on the door, there was no response from inside.
It had been like this several times in a row.
The soundproofing of the room door was quite good. Other than the knocking, Eileen couldn’t hear anything. Eventually, the knocking ceased, and Eileen couldn’t hear anyone speaking outside.
In the evening, Eric brought Vera home.
Vera removed her schoolbag and handed it to the housekeeper. “Eric, can I go see Eileen?”
Before Eric could respond, Mary began to stammer, “Oh, Mr. Snow, Ms. Eileen took a lot of food when she came back and hasn’t come down since. She hasn’t touched any of the meals I prepared for her.”
Suddenly, Eric thought about Eileen’s living conditions in the rented house, which matched. what Zachary had described.
It was evident that Eileen was suffering from severe depression.
“I’ll go ch*ck on her.”
Vera said, “I’ll go with you.”
“No need. Wait downstairs.”
As a thought crossed Eric’s mind, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.
The person on the other end of the line took half a minute before answering.
“Get to the point. I’m busy.”
Zachary looked at the woman he had pinned against the wall, one hand gripping her waist, the other answering the phone.
Eric asked, “How do you treat depression?”
