CHAPTER 394

Since Caitlin's parents had passed, Theodore and the other three of them were busy helping to deal with the aftermath and were worried for her. They had even tried giving her money, only to have her refuse them. She was grateful for everything they had done for her, so she treated them well. Regardless, she simply replied, "I'll still be leaving."

Theodore frowned at her answer. "It's unsafe for a girl like you to be going around like that. Gil, Ferg, and I had been worried sick during the period where we couldn't contact you."

"And me!" Jared came forward and took a glance at Caitlin's forehead. "Katy, I must spill my blood tonight as repentance over what happened tonight! You must give me this chance to atone for my sins!" Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

"It's not that serious." Caitlin laughed. "The times when you all helped me when my parents passed are still in my mind. In the future, I'll repay you all when I have the capability to do so."

"Katy, we're all childhood friends here. Back when we were young, your mother had always fed us delicious food and loved us as though we were her flesh and blood. So, you shouldn't talk about repaying us. That's too distant of you," Theodore said with a frown.

Jared followed up. "Yeah. What happened to your parents was out of the blue, so we couldn't help much. We've always felt sorry for that."

There was a difference between those who were close and those who were distant.

The four of them had grown up together with both Lucian and Caitlin. On one hand, their relationship with the former was just like Damon and Pythias. On the other hand, the latter was their cute little sister. They loved Caitlin dearly, but they were still closer to Lucian. That was why they could only

remain neutral and did not take either side back when the outbreak happened.

Lucian had assured them that he would only go after the Owen Family's wealth and not bring any physical harm to the family, and that he just wanted the Owen Family to pay the price for his father's death and Caitlin's father to repent for what he had done.

Nevertheless, all four of their families were long-time friends of the Owen Family, which meant that their fathers had known Caitlin's father for many years. If her father had requested their help, the four families would have stepped in to offer their help for the Owen Family, even if that meant going back on their stance to maintain neutrality. Yet, her father never did.

As it was someone else's family affair, the four of them couldn't act recklessly, as they were in the dark about the truth of the situation. When they had gotten together to discuss the situation, one of them thought that Caitlin's father still had his own moves to play, while some had thought that he did indeed play a part in Lucian's father's death. Otherwise, Caitlin's father would not have been so tolerant of Lucian to the extent that he could seize the power of the company.

They had come up with various thoughts and guesses, but never would have guessed that Caitlin's parents would pass away one after another. They were shocked by the news, but more importantly, they regretted never asking for their fathers to arrange a sit down between Caitlin's father and Lucian to properly talk it out and make peace with one another.

Nevertheless, the dead would never come back to life. No matter how regretful they were, it was all too late. Hence, they could only try their best in taking care of Caitlin now.

At Jared's mention of her late parents, Caitlin's twisted expression grew worse.

Noticing that, Gilbert tugged at Jared before he said to Caitlin, "Katy, you should get some rest. We'll see you on another day." Then, he and Fergus dragged both Lucian and Jared away. These two idiots really can't read the room. How were we so blind to becoming best friends with them?

Looking at them finally leaving, Caitlin sighed slightly.

Feeling sympathetic toward her, Madeline soothingly patted Caitlin and said, "The doctor's here, so you should have your injuries looked at. Take a rest after having something to eat. I'll be back soon after settling my affairs."

Caitlin smiled and replied, "No worries. You just go and do what you need to do. It's not like I have anywhere else to go even if I do leave, so I have plenty of time to wait for you here."

Such heartbreaking words. Madeline couldn't help but gently pat her again. "Don't worry. No matter what happens, Sebastian and I will be here for you."

"I'm fine. If I was that weak, I would've fallen a long time ago and wouldn't have met you back in Worrick. Now then, go ahead and do what you have to do. You don't have to worry about me."

Madeline nodded and instructed the doctor to properly care for Caitlin's wounds before she left. Entering another private room after she knocked on the door, she found that in addition to Sebastian, Grayson, Lucas, Ann, Quincy, and Joel, Kieran and a few of Sebastian's friends were around as well.

Then, Sebastian greeted her and said, "Sit here."

Madeline made her way over and sat beside Sebastian who was seated at the head of the table.

Grayson was seated on the guest seating with Ann, who was wiping her tears with her head down, beside him. However, she only pretended to wipe her tears with her head hung low to mask the feelings of anxiety and shame she felt.

In the past, Ann was very taken with Sebastian and had even dreamed of marrying him at some point. Now, just the sight of him would send chills down her spine and evoke feelings of anxiety in her, so much so that she wanted to just run away. Sebastian is just too scary! she thought.

The last time, even though Ann's plan in drugging Sebastian had ended in a failure, he had urged Philip to reprimand her and drive her out of the family. With her familial ties severed, she lost her proud status as the cousin of the Hart Family. To her, he was a cold and ruthless man, as he hadn't shown her an ounce of mercy.

Now, not only did she lose control of herself as she cursed at the child, but she had even thrown her bag at the child's face. Although the bag didn't make its way to the child's face, she still felt chills as she thought back on what Sebastian had done in the past. Even though the child was unharmed, she knew the man would not spare her so easily.

Her last scheme against Sebastian had ended with her suffering and losing her status as the cousin of the Hart Family. Now that she was caught red-handed, she wondered just what she was going to lose today. Just imagining the possible consequences had her feeling shivers down her spine as her body trembled. She felt as though there was a knife hanging over her head, and that she knew not when it would fall on her. Scared and on the edge as she waited for the knife to fall, she found it extremely unbearable. With Madeline's entrance, Ann knew the knife was finally going to fall, so she held her breath and tried to minimize her presence, albeit with trembling in her body.

After Madeline took a seat beside Sebastian, Joel, who was nestled in Sebastian's arms, went into

Madeline's arms with an unhappy expression.

Madeline then looked at her child and kissed him on the head before she asked, "Darling, what's wrong?"

Pouting, Joel looked at his mother and said, "Mommy, I'm not a thing. I'm a person! A good person!"

Madeline was rendered speechless as her son remembered what Ann had told him: "Do you know what you are?" Then, she stroked the child's head and said soothingly, "There is nothing nice to hear when someone is insulting you. Since you've said that that lady is a bad person, her words wouldn't be nice to hear. So, we should just let it slide and pretend not to have heard her."

Blinking, Joel was slightly reluctant, but still nodded and replied, "Alright, I didn't hear anything."

Madeline couldn't help chuckling as she sat him on her lap before kissing him on the cheek. "Good boy."

Sebastian gently stroked the child's head before he looked at Grayson and said, "You told your sister- in-law that I've had the Hart Family sever all ties with Ann Evans in a fit of anger?"