Chapter 6

Tabitha rushed out of the district. No matter how much she swiped at her eyes, she could never wipe her tears away. After Atlas treated Stacy, he sent her to Leone Hospital. Tabitha tried looking for Stacy in a few hospitals, only to realize she wasn't there. At that point, she was about to suffer from a mental breakdown. She grabbed her phone in a fit of despair. Atlas must have returned to Newtropolis because of Stacy's efforts to contact him after repairing the old mobile phone. Hence, Tabitha punched in the number and dialed it. Once the call went through, she scolded Stacy while sobbing, "Where the heck are you right now? Do you have any idea that I've spent the whole day looking for you?" Unbeknownst to Tabitha, Stacy wasn't the one who picked up the call. It was a nurse who was with Stacy at that time. The nurse looked at Stacy respectfully. After all, the man who brought her to the hospital was the most powerful man in the nation. She dared not disrespect Stacy at all. "Ma'am, she's at Leone Hospital, which is the best hospital in Newtropolis." The nurse's words stunned Tabitha. After all, not even the rich could get admitted to Leone Hospital. Still, she didn't dwell on it. She just flagged a cab and headed to Leone Hospital as soon as possible. The moment Tabitha rushed into Stacy's ward, she didn't hesitate to scoop Stacy into a bear hug. At first, she wanted to smack Stacy for making her worry, but she couldn't bear to hit her when she saw how weak and fragile Stacy was. "Are you trying to give me an aneurysm? I told you not to collect reusable junk parts! Why did you still… Ugh! Do you know I almost killed myself because I thought you were dead?" Stacy trembled in fright, but she continued holding Tabitha's hands. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I just wanted to call Daddy on the phone. I don't want you to be the only one carrying the burden and get bullied by others. Mommy, why do you have another cut on your face?" Tabitha was naturally a soft-hearted person. Stacy was the only one she truly cared about. She scanned the ward, only to notice the doodles on a dirty piece of paper. Even though Stacy was lying on the bed the whole time, she made sure to protect the drawing well. Tabitha asked angrily, "You learned how to draw because you wanted to draw him, right? Have you been lying to me all this time?" Stacy pouted at the accusations. "Mommy, don't be mad at me. Mommy… Mommy, I really miss Daddy! I want him to take over the burden for you!" Daddy? Was Atlas Stacy's "daddy"? Tabitha couldn't help but shake her head. No, Atlas was the devil who had dragged her into the depths of hell. Five years ago, she was supposed to be the bridesmaid for his wedding! "Do not bring him up ever again!" … Meanwhile, the screams of pain continued to echo throughout the junkyard in Newtropolis. At that moment, the door belonging to a rundown shack located far away from the source of the screams slowly swung open. An old man with a hunched back walked out of the shack with a bowl of cereal in hand. He walked over to Atlas slowly before passing him the bowl of cereal. "You must be Stacy's father, right?" Atlas was stunned when he saw the contents in the bowl. There were barely any cornflakes floating in the shallow puddle of milk. "How did you know that, sir?" he asked. The old man, Pablo Ginger, sat down before replying, "That little girl always comes here to collect junk. She told me before that her father would return to her and protect her." Atlas was starting to feel uncomfortable. He had no idea how long Stacy had been waiting for him. He came back at a time that was far too late. He was definitely a failure of a father. Paul noticed Atlas starting to lose control of his emotions. Still, he smiled faintly at the latter. "Oh? You can't take it anymore even though this is only the start? Your emotions don't matter at all in the face of the suffering and aggrievements Tabitha and Stacy had to go through all these years. "I know a lot more about what happened to them. Would you like to listen to the stories? Or should I say… are you brave enough to listen to them?" Atlas was the leader of Aerial Blade. Why wouldn't he have the balls to listen to old-time stories revolving around Tabitha and Stacy? "Go ahead, sir." Paul huffed lightly, as though he was jeering at Atlas for underestimating the darkness of this world. He grabbed a set of old newspapers he had collected and placed it before Atlas. Atlas picked up the newspapers eagerly. A second later, his hands began trembling. Fear began taking over his senses. The mere headline of the newspapers was enough to make his blood boil. Paul had a few more sets of newspapers bearing similar headlines. An article was printed on the front of the newspapers. "Tabitha Grayson of the Grayson family becomes a bridesmaid just so she can seduce the groom!" Atlas' heart throbbed with pain as he stared at the eye-catching headlines. That wedding was meant to celebrate his and Sierra's matrimony. It was true that Tabitha was the bridesmaid that day, but she wasn't the one who had seduced him. Rather, he had gone into a state of lunacy because he had gone too deep into the research of the Blackwells' medical tomes. Tabitha was the victim that night. But thanks to the article, everyone in Newtropolis didn't hesitate to criticize and chastise Tabitha for what happened. They branded her as a holier-than-thou bitch and a lowly skank. The things Tabitha had to endure were a lot harsher than the way the article was written. That night, when Tabitha returned to the Grayson residence, she found herself getting evicted by her own family. That was when a part of her soul officially died. As Atlas read the article, he could feel his heart shuddering in pain. To think that Tabitha had to endure so much because of a mistake he had committed that night. The thing was, Tabitha didn't do anything wrong. "She's Sierra's best friend, isn't she? Why didn't Sierra protect her?" Atlas roared, feeling more pain flaring from his chest. Paul just guffawed in response. He couldn't be bothered to answer Atlas' questions. "You really don't know why Tabitha's life is filled with suffering, eh?" Right… Sierra was a cruel woman who was willing to do everything to achieve her goals. In just five years, she was able to establish a company so strong that it monopolized Newtropolis with just one of Atlas' medicinal formulas. Five years ago, Sierra did all she could to lure Atlas to Northern Bronshire. By doing that, she had revealed her actual intentions. Unfortunately, Atlas couldn't return to Newtropolis before five years were up. Tears began sliding down Atlas' cheeks. The next article caught him entirely off guard. Two months after the incident, Tabitha found out she was pregnant. She had just left the hospital after the checkup when she was surrounded by a crowd of people. Those people weren't the Graysons, who were supposed to shower her with love and care. No, they were a bunch of people who were bribed by Sierra in advance. They stood at the entrance while bellowing at Tabitha. "You're just a filthy slut who seduced the groom at the wedding! Someone like you doesn't deserve to bear his child!" "You really are shameless! To think that a woman like you still has the guts to get a checkup! Are you planning to give birth to that child?" "Both you and the child should die! You should be drowned!" "That's right! You should be drowned!" Tabitha was terrified, to say the least. There was no one behind her. All she could do was clutch her stomach the best she could. She tried to run, but all of her escape routes were blocked. She tried to plead for mercy, only to get beaten up mercilessly. The enraged mob grabbed Tabitha and threw her into a cage. After that, they threw her into the river. Poor Tabitha struggled inside the cage while begging the mob to spare her life the whole time. Unfortunately, everything she did was futile. Atlas was so overwhelmed with grief and rage that he ended up losing his balance and collapsing to the ground. Paul just sighed. "That was my first time meeting Tabitha and her unborn daughter. I happened to be picking up trash at the beach that day, so I was able to rescue her. "Back then, her stomach was completely covered with blood. Even her nails were torn from all the scratching."