Chapter 531
Back in the day, medical expertise hadn''t caught up with the needs of the times, and as a result, the
younger daughter''s illness remained untreated. Now, eighteen yearster, she believed that her
condition could be remedied, but her father still refused to seek treatment for her, choosing instead to
bury his head in the sand. Maybe he feared that curing his long-hidden daughter would tarnish the
family''s good name. So, he opted for blissful ignorance, turning a blind eye to her suffering. With each
passing day, the younger daughter''s resentment towards her father and sister grew.
Meanwhile, the healthy elder daughter was the very picture of joy, as free-spirited as a bird in the sky.
She went to college. and was the object of many a suitor''s affections, yet she spared none a second
nce. That was until the day a film studio spotted her potential, and she was swept up into the world
of acting, rocketing to stardom with her very first roles. She appeared in a string of movies that were all
shot domestically, adored by her fans, and reveling in her craft. She left college prematurely. Her heart
was set on the silver screen, starring in hits like "Emerald Waters" and "Sails in the Wind"...
The old man paused, seemingly lost in a reverie of the youngdy''s radiant beauty in her heyday.
Cordelia furrowed her brow slightly. "Emerald Waters," "Sails in the Wind"—those titles sounded
vaguely familiar to her. But where had she heard them? She couldn''t quite ce it.
"Please, go on," Cordelia urged the elder man.
He hadn''t touched his ss of milk; it sat untouched as he continued.
The healthy sister eventually fell in love with a fellow actor during a film shoot. Their on-screen
romance bled into reality, and before long, they couldn''t tell where the acting ended and their true
feelings began. They crossed a point of no return, and in the midst of her rising career, the elder
daughter couldn''t afford a pregnancy. Perhaps it was the depth of her love for the man that led her to
retreat overseas, hoping to give birth to their child in the privacy of her family home—the child of the
man she so deeply adored.
The male actor hadmitments to finish on set and couldn''t apany her. Moreover, he was
intimidated by her prestigious family background, uncertain if her parents would ept a man like him.
The actress reassured him, promising to return home first to gauge her father''s sentiments.
But when she got back, her home was in turmoil. Her fathery bedridden, a shadow of himself, and
her once-ailing sister stood in the living room, healthy and vibrant, greeting her with a sly smile, "Hello."
Cordelia felt a chill run down her spine. The sister''s sudden recovery seemed too strange, too
convenient. And her father''s abrupt decline? It was all too sinister.
The old man himself seemed uneasy as he recounted the tale; Cordelia noticed a tremor in his hand as
if he, too, feared the younger daughter''s machinations.
"Are you curious about how the younger daughter recovered?" he asked, his voice tinged with the
drama of his story.
Cordelia nodded, eager to hear more.
The younger daughter had pleaded with the housekeeper who brought her meals to beg their father to
let a doctor examine her, arguing that with her sister away, she could step in to care for and honor their
father. The man, now advanced in years and alone since his wife''s passing, was swayed by the
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thought of having a daughter by his side. He quietly summoned a physician who treated the girl with
therapies and acupuncture.
Perhaps it was the younger daughter''s sheer will to live that spurred her rapid recovery. She began to
run daily, and the sight of her vitality brought somefort to their aging father. Yet, unbeknownst to
him, his own final days were quietly drawing near.