66)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sabrina held Vanessa close and gently stroked her cheek. \u201cThis is all my fault, sweetheart. I\u2019m the one who made you sick.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vanessa shook her head. \u201cNo, it\u2019s not you. My immune system just isn\u2019t very strong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears welled up in Sabrina\u2019s eyes, her voice thick with remorse. \u201cIf I had known you\u2019d get this sick, I never would have let you come to the hospital. Please don\u2019t be upset with me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vanessa raised a small hand and wiped Sabrina\u2019s tears away. \u201cI\u2019m not upset with you, Sabrina. I\u2019ll be back to my usual self in a couple of days.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sabrina managed a weak smile and brushed Vanessa\u2019s hair from her forehead. \u201cYou\u2019re such a sweet girl.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vanessa wrapped her arms around Sabrina again, clinging to her tightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent watched them, a slight smile on his face though his tone held a hint of admonishment. \u201cVanessa, Sabrina isn\u2019t fully recovered herself. You shouldn\u2019t squeeze her so hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearing that, Vanessa immediately loosened her grip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing his daughter\u2019s slight deflation, Vincent picked up the insulated lunch bag. \u201cLook what Sabrina made for you\u2013a special \u2018get\u2013well\u2018 lunch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vanessa\u2019s face instantly brightened. \u201cWow, I\u2019ve never tasted your cooking before, Sabrina! Daddy, let me try it right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back at Ravenshade Villa, Sabrina was usually occupied with her research, and meals were typically handled by Lily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing Vanessa\u2019s excitement, Sabrina felt the need to lower expectations. \u201cDon\u2019t get your hopes up too high, sweetie. I don\u2019t cook very often. It might not be that great.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vanessa didn\u2019t seem to care. She looked eagerly at Vincent. \u201cCome on, Daddy, open it!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent complied, unzipping the bag and lifting out a container. Inside was a thick, creamy fish soup, though it was dotted with small, charred flakes floating on the surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even so, Vanessa didn\u2019t show any sign of distaste. She picked up a spoon, took a sip, and immediately felt a strange, almost metallic tingling on her tongue. She couldn\u2019t help but frown slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett had remained in the room, standing in an inconspicuous corner near the window.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
20:02 Wed, Jan 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 278 A Rival\u2019s Comfort\u00a0<\/p>\n
She watched Vincent, Vanessa, and Sabrina gather around the bed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They looked like a perfect, loving family of three.\u00a0<\/p>\n
66\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vanessa\u2019s polite effort despite the questionable soup twisted something inside Scarlett. Though the soup looked utterly unappetizing, Vanessa drank two big spoonfuls to be nice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After swallowing, she smacked her lips and said to Sabrina, \u201cIt\u2019s really good, Sabrina. I\u2019d love to have it again sometime.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett saw it all clearly. A numbing ache spread through her chest. A simple bowl of poorly made soup could bring Vanessa such visible joy, while her own efforts seemed to go entirely unnoticed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Standing there, she felt utterly superfluous\u2013a joke no one was laughing at.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She couldn\u2019t take it anymore. Unclenching her hand from the fabric of her pants, she turned and walked quietly out of the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Vanessa glanced up, she caught sight of her mother\u2019s retreating back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even though this was what she thought she wanted, a peculiar, hollow feeling settled in her chest at the sight\u2013a faint but persistent sting she couldn\u2019t quite name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pushed the feeling away and looked up at Vincent, finally noticing the bandage on his forehead. \u201cDaddy, what happened to your head?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nothing,\u201d Vincent replied smoothly. \u201cJust an accidental bump.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett, stepping into the hallway, heard his answer. She knew he wasn\u2019t trying to preserve her image in their daughter\u2019s eyes\u2013he just wanted to avoid further drama.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After leaving the hospital, Scarlett took a cab back to the hospital where she worked and withdrew her request for leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She worked through the entire afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the evening, she stayed an extra half hour to finish up some charts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As she was leaving, a colleague invited her to grab dinner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time she returned to Theron Manor, it was already past eleven.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent hadn\u2019t called once since she\u2019d left the hospital where Vanessa was staying that morning, and Scarlett hadn\u2019t asked about Vanessa\u2019s condition either.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Henry and Dian\u0105 had retired for the night hours ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
212\u00a0<\/p>\n
20:02 Wed, Jan 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 278 A Rival\u2019s Comfort\u00a0<\/p>\n
B\u00a0<\/p>\n
66\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
A light was on in Nathan and Violet\u2019s room, but they weren\u2019t inside\u2013likely still downstairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clara, too, had gone to bed early.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mindful of waking anyone, Scarlett moved through the quiet house on silent feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once in her bedroom, she didn\u2019t even bother to shower. She simply collapsed onto the bed and was asleep almost instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sleepless night followed by a full workday had drained her completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some time later, she drifted into a feverish half\u2013sleep. Her whole body felt like it was burning\u00a0<\/p>\n
She touched her skin\u2013it was clammy with sweat yet radiating heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She swallowed, and a raw, cutting pain shot through her throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every limb felt weighted with lead, and her eyes were sore and swollen behind their lids.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett knew what this was. She\u2019d been infected and was now running a fever herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She tried to summon the strength to get up and search for some fever reducers, but her body was too heavy, too weak to even lift herself from the mattress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1.1K\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
20:02 Wed, Jan 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
Editorial Board: Our editorial team works behind the scenes to refine each chapter, maintain consistency, and deliver the best reading experience.<\/p>\n
Silent Dreams Never Die \u2014 Author: John Miller 278 66)\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 Sabrina held Vanessa close and gently stroked her cheek. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-impossible-condition-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}