A Matter of Wife and Love

Chapter 57

“Yes, I sent you away back then,” Melissa blustered without waiting for Leo’s answer. However, she had to take a breath as she spoke too quickly. “I know what I did was wrong, but you were blind back then. I just wanted you to recuperate in a quiet area.”

However, Leo didn’t even give her a response this time, only smirking disdainfully with his head slightly raised.

He said nothing at all, yet it Hurt Melissa even more than when he said anything; she felt absolutely shameful standing in front of him.

“Yes, I sent you away and… I get that you’re upset, but can’t you understand where I was coming from? I had no other choice back then. If there was even the slightest possibility, I wouldn’t have…” she defended herself in a mutter and a hint of pity.

Though Leo behaved apathetically toward her over the years, he had never mistreated her either. However, she could never experience the superiority of a mother over him.

Melissa didn’t like this, and she always took the opportunity to defend herself, but she was never brave enough to bring it up.

Now that she did, she wanted to justify her actions for good so that Leo would finally understand her.

Thus, the next second, she raised her voice and spoke justifiably, “You can’t possibly blame me for what I did back then, either. Your father just passed away, and you became blind with zero chances of recovery according to the doctors. Plus, you had a terrible temper and would lash out and throw things around for no reason… I couldn’t communicate with you at all. Your grandfather’s business couldn’t possibly land in the hands of others, so I could only… Adopting was a last-ditch move. At the end of the

day, I did it all for you. If you were really blind for the rest of your life, at least he’d be there to take care of the family business, and you wouldn’t be down and out for the rest of your life, no?” Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Leo had never been a man of many words, and as displeased as he got with Melissa, he never complained anything to her. However, her words were so shameless this time that he couldn’t help but smirk. “How do you expect me to feel when you yourself feel guilty about what you’re saying?”

Whoosh!

Melissa’s hand jolted reflexively, and the booklet dropped to the floor.

Leo burst her bubble so blatantly that her face flushed from embarrassment, her eyes darted everywhere, and her lips trembled uncontrollably.

She stretched her fingers, wanting to hold onto something, but because her hands shook terribly, she couldn’t grab onto anything. Instead, she knocked over a cup, causing it to roll and break as it hit the floor.

Finally, Leo looked over his shoulder at the woman he had to call mother.

All these years, he didn’t blame her for adopting a son to inherit the family business or placing him in a remote mountain area-it was the fact that she never once visited him in Quinn Town!

Even a strange girl could take pity on him, willing to spend time persuading him to put his temper away and encourage him to get back on his feet. Yet, his birth mother did nothing! In fact, he should’ve called it being abandoned rather than being sent someplace else.

Clearly, Melissa couldn’t get it.

Disappointment flashed across his eyes at that, and he continued his path upstairs.

Meanwhile, Melissa shoved a chair, knocking it to the floor with a bang.

How could she allow her dignity as a mother to be trodden down like this?! At that, she lashed out at Leo’s back with rage, bellowing, “Why should I feel guilty?! I’m not guilty at all!”

To make herself look more imposing, she thundered, “On the other hand, if you hadn’t bugged your father to drive you, would he have met with an accident?! Would all these problems arise in our family?! Have you forgotten it?! Your father wouldn’t have died if he hadn’t injured his head from protecting you and couldn’t be

treated!”

With that, she slammed her hand on the table. “So what if you’ve suffered a little grievance when you’re guilty of such a dire fault?! Moreover, didn’t I fix your eyes and let you reclaim your position as the head of the family?! You’ve lost nothing!”

Alas, Leo never stopped no matter what she said this time, disappearing into the edge of the stairs.

It was Melissa instead who slumped onto the couch after lashing out and could no longer move.

She bent her upper body forward as she covered her face.

Even if Leo said nothing to retort, she knew well that it was human instinct for a father to shield his son from danger. As such, Leo could never be blamed even if his father ended up sacrificing his life for it.

She had only thrown the resentment and the blame on Leo because she couldn’t exonerate her absurdity.

After returning to his bedroom, Leo rubbed his temples and flopped onto the couch, letting all his energy leave him before lifting his phone up a long while later to text Elyse goodnight.

By the time he came out from the shower, he had found two missed calls on his phone, one from Elyse and another from Laura.

As his assistant, Laura wouldn’t call him at this time unless it was absolutely necessary.

With that, he redialed her number.

“Sir.” Laura’s crisp voice came from the other end. “I’ve gotten a lead on the investigation.”

“Shoot.” Leo rubbed his nasal bridge but came alive upon hearing her words.

“I went to the hospital that did your corneal grafting,” Laura divulged, “and found the donor’s profile through some channels.”

At that, she took a breath. “But the donor didn’t leave her name or her age, birthplace, and whatnot. Thus, I asked the people in charge of the surgery and actually got something. They said it was a young girl who was around the age of fifteen or sixteen. They assumed she wanted to donate her cornea after her death, so they did some tests and found that her blood type and other figures matched yours perfectly, thus making her cornea a good fit for you. But because she expressed her willingness to remove her cornea while she was alive, no doctors were willing to go ahead with the procedure as it was obviously against the law and the hospital’s policy.”

Leo’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing her words, and he couldn’t help but ask, “They still remember when that happened a decade ago?”

“It was way too bizarre of an incident for them, so they remembered it until this day. Something like this could even end up in the headlines. Also, the girl was pretty persistent, begging the attending physician for weeks. It was no wonder they never forgot. What shocked them even more was that the girl found a private hospital that was willing to do it and actually donated her cornea.”

“Are you sure?” Leo’s heart twinged at the revelation, and excruciating pain slowly crept up on him.

“I, um…. I’m not a hundred percent sure. But the private hospital delivered the cornea to them and stated explicitly to transplant it to you. What was more, the blood type and other figures matched yours perfectly. There probably wasn’t anyone else other than that girl.”

Cornea donation was already rare, and only less than one percent were willing to donate their organs after

death.

Plus, because of Leo’s blood and genetics, the requirement for the cornea became even stricter. Thus, the possibility of finding a match in someone alive was less than one in ten million, let alone the cornea of a dead

person.

It was also why the Alstons believed he would remain blind forever.

Leo remained in the same position like a statue for a long time after ending his call with Laura before finally making his second call for the night.

“Leo.” Elyse’s crisp, joyous voice came from the other end of the line. “I’m surprised you texted me. It’s been a long time since I got a goodnight message from you. I’m so happy.”

To that, Leo took a deep breath and asked, “Was it… you?”