Winifred stared fixedly at Tyr's handsome features. Three seconds later, as if a flash of thunder had struck above her head, her mind started ringing. "You're… Tyr Summers…"
Winifred finally recognized Tyr.
The man who had told her that he would come back for her hand.
The man who had changed her whole life and made her wait for six years.
Winifred's mind went blank before it became a bundle of chaos. The atmosphere around them had reached a freezing point.
If he had to be honest, Tyr's mind was also a mess. Although he had spent a night with this girl in an intoxicated state, it was like love at first sight for Tyr. After one night, he had decided that she was the one. He had spent six years yearning and longing for her, but when he saw her again, she was completely different from his fantasies.
"Even if you don't plan to wait for me anymore, why did you neglect our daughter?" The moment Tyr said this, he regretted it.
Because right before his eyes, Winifred collapsed emotionally. Tears started streaming down ceaselessly. She cried. She cried her heart out. And then…
Slap… Winifred gave Tyr a hard slap across the face.
Tyr stood there without moving. Even he wanted to slap himself.
"Because of you, my life is ruined.
"Because of you, my whole family dislikes me.
"Because of you, my fiance has canceled our engagement.
"Do you have any idea how Blair and I have made it through these past six years? Now that you are back, the first thing you do is to interrogate me!" Winifred roared hysterically. In these past six years, she had endured so much, too much.
However, she kept believing that that man would one day come back for her. Now that he was here, he was different from the person she had imagined him to be.
At that moment, Tyr's heart tingled with sourness, and his eyes were burning. "Winifred… I…" Tyr subconsciously reached out a hand to wipe Winifred's tears, but she swatted his hand away.
"Don't touch me, you beast!
"Were you thinking that I had neglected Blair and came to have fun with some guy?
"Were you thinking that I, Winifred Zea, is a cheap woman?
"Shannon Louise is interested in Blair's eyes and wants her cornea. I couldn't protect Blair, so I could only come to see Steve Hudson. That's because Steve is Shannon's godbrother. He said that if I can keep him company, he would advise Shannon to let go of Blair. What else could I do? Tell me, what else could I do?"
Hum…
A buzzing sound exploded in Tyr's mind. He had misunderstood Winifred after all. Winifred had only done all of this to protect Blair. At the same time, Tyr felt the fire in his chest threatening to burst out. Just who was this Shannon Louise? How dare she dream of taking his daughter's eyes? Did she have a death wish?
"I'm sorry, Winifred, I'm sorry." Tyr ignored Winifred's protest and hugged her tight. At that moment, Tyr could only feel his heart melt away. The heavens have blessed her, and she was still the woman in his dreams, that perfect girl. "I'm sorry, it's my fault. I shouldn't have said something like that. From today onward, I won't even let you experience any grievance."
Winifred did not break free from Tyr's embrace, so she buried herself into his arms and cried out loud. It was as if she was trying to vent out all the frustrations and grievances she had had over the past few years.
The family of three returned home after that. Their home was a very plain and old three-bedroom apartment. Although it was run down, the interior was very tidy.
"Are both of you living here?" Tyr scanned the surroundings. When he thought of the Zea family's stylish mansion in comparison with this old apartment, his fists clenched tightly in reflex.
"Yeah." Winifred nodded. "Back then, after I was drugged, my fiance canceled the engagement, and my family was humiliated. After that, we got dragged down, so we can only stay here now."
"Where are you parents?" asked Tyr.
"They're back at my mother's home," Winifred answered, sounding slightly dejected.
After that, Winifred went to clean up one of the bedrooms for Tyr while Blair followed behind her fearfully. Now that she was full, the little girl had grown a little more afraid of Tyr.
"Blair, call him 'Papa'," said Winifred.
However, Blair seemed to be a little frightened and was unable to say those words no matter how she tried.
Tyr squatted down and reached out a hand to caress Blair's tiny head. "Blair, I'm your Papa. Papa will protect you from now on, okay?"
"Papa, protect Blair…" Blair mumbled. All of a sudden, she rushed into Tyr's arms and started crying. "Pa… Papa…"
At that moment, Tyr felt like a knife had once again stabbed his heart. "What's the deal with that Shannon Louise?"
At the mention of this, a hint of fear surfaced in Winifred's expression.
"She's a prominent figure who opened a KTV here in Khanh City. A little while ago, she got into an accident after drunk driving and lost vision in her right eye. She needed to do a cornea transplant surgery. After that, she saw how beautiful Blair's eyes were, so she wanted Blair's cornea. That woman has prestige and status in Khanh City, and I've thought of everything I could to change her mind for the past few days but to no avail. In the end, it was Steve Hudson who came to me, so I…"
"That monster!!!" Tyr's fist smashed into the wall beside him. Almost immediately, web-like cracks appeared around his fist in the wall.
Even if that monster were interested in somebody else's eyes, Tyr would still be enraged, much less his daughter's eyes.
He looked at both Winifred and Blair, then when he focused on Blair's beautiful big eyes, his mind subconsciously thought of how only two holes would be left in her sockets if Blair really went blind. This made Tyr even more furious.
"The Zea family is considered quite a powerful family in Khanh City. Didn't they do anything about this?"
Winifred let out a bitter chuckle. "In their eyes, Blair is just an illegitimate child and an embarrassment. They even wish she was dead."
Tyr recalled how that fat lady earlier had fed Blair a bread from the waste bin. He took a deep breath and could not help but pull Winifred and Blair into his arms.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of this. From today onward, I'll be the one to protect both of you."