Chapter 1262Chapter 1262 "You...have a death wish, don't you?" Meredith suddenly held up her hand, showing her fingers
to Josiah. "Do you see this?"
Josiah narrowed his eyes and finally noticed the needle held between her fingers.
"A needle?"
"Bingo. I haven't been using this for a long time, I might slip and make a mistake. Do you want to have a try?"
Meredith flashed a smile at Josiah.
Glancing at the needle in her hand, he asked, curious, " What would happen then?"
"I remember you've tried it once, haven't you?"
"Yeah. And I think I passed out. But I had a good sleep."
"Well, let's hope you can sleep well this time. Who knows, if you're unlucky, you'll never be able to wake up, "
Meredith smiled, "so would you like to try?"
Josiah wanted to snatch the needle away but Meredith managed to avoid him.
"Miss Meredith, why do you have such a thing on you?” Josiah asked gloomily, "Don't tell me you always keep
it with you so that you could protect yourself from me." "If I've always had them with me, would I have to be
bullied by you then?" Meredith asked.
Back then when Josiah forced himself onto her, she did not care about herself because all she wanted was to
protect Nia. Hence, she did not need anything to protect herself.
And when Josiah stopped tormenting her after that, Meredith did not think it was necessary anymore.She only brought the needle with her because things were hectic here in Delmas Town and she was meeting
Ivy all alone.
Josiah sighed softly, held her wrist, and said, "Edith, put away the needle. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Well, aren't you going to leave?"
"Yes, I'll leave right now."
Josiah gave a quick kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight."
On the day of New Years' Eve, the Shelby residence was even livelier and busier than usual.
Nia and Cooper had gone to pay respects to the elders.
Josiah wanted to bring Meredith together with him but Meredith rejected him with the excuse that she
was not a part of the Shelby family.
Meredith had some free time on her hands hence she helped out in the kitchen for tonight's dinner.
At night, Cooper and Nia were playing with firecrackers in the garden.
Meredith who was looking at them from the second floor felt relieved and glad. "It's so nice to be a
child. Sometimes, I hope I can go back to the old times."
"I want to go back..." Josiah paused and went on, "and play firecrackers with you."
Meredith glanced at him and replied, "Oh save it. You didn't even care about me back then. Why would
you want to play with me?"
"It's not that I don't care about you, it's just that...""Because Joe only had eyes for me back then." Ivy walked over with a smile on her face. Putting down
the tray on the coffee table, she said, "Joe and I used to play with firecrackers and watched the
fireworks together every year."
Studying the smile on Ivy's face, all of a sudden, Meredith was not sure if Ivy was showing off or if she
was just pretending.
"I still remember that Joe liked those fancy fireworks, the ones that spread across the night skies.
Those were really pretty," Ivy went on.
"It was Liam who liked those, not me," Josiah quickly drew the line and added, "oh, and Liam was there
with us too."
"Really? Why do I only remember that it was you who put up the fireworks?" Reminiscing the good old
days, Ivy said, "You'd even say that you put those fireworks, especially for me. I remember being really
touched by them."
Meredith took a glance at Ivy, then at Josiah with an 'oh- I-see' look on her face.
Josiah cleared his throat and quickly explained, "It wasn’t me, it was Liam who said that. You
remembered it wrongly."
"How could I possibly remember such a beautiful memory wrongly?" Ivy was still wearing a smile on
her face and her pretty eyes were shining.
It was as if the memory was precious to her.
"I really didn't say that," Josiah held Meredith's hands and said, "Edith, don't believe her."
Meredith tugged at the corner of her lips and said, "Why would I care about what you said when you
were younger when I don't even mind that you had another child with someone else without myknowledge."
Josiah was rendered speechless.
Deep down, Meredith was, of course, bothered by Cooper's presence. She was just saying that she did
not care.
But Josiah swore that he had never said those words to Ivy.
He was not sure if Ivy misremembered or if she was purposely provoking Meredith.
To avoid a bigger misunderstanding, Josiah helped Meredith get up from the chair. "You wanted to go
back to the old times, right? Come on then, let's go put on some fireworks together."
While walking away with Josiah, Meredith turned around and asked Ivy, "Aren't you coming with US?”
"Oh, it's fine. Go ahead, the both of you." Ivy was still wearing a gentle and polite smile on her face.
Meredith already guessed that Ivy would not join. She was just asking out of politeness.
Josiah and Meredith showed up at the garden.
Cooper and Nia ran over to them and handed them some firecrackers.
Taking the firecrackers from the children, Meredith gave a light tap on their heads. "Thank you, darling.
Let's play together."
The firecrackers lit up the garden and the children's laughter filled the place. It was a beautiful and
heartwarming scene.Looking at Cooper's happy face, Meredith thought that even though the child had an extraordinary IQ level,
and was sensitive and considerate, at the end of the day, Cooper was just still a child.
A child who enjoyed playing and loved playing with firecrackers.
"What are you thinking about? Come, let me light It for you.” Josiah shook his hand in front of Meredith.
Coming back to her senses, Meredith passed the firecrackers to Josiah.
And she soon joined the kids fooling around.
Josiah, on the other hand, stood at a side and helped them light the crackers to make sure that they were safe.
Ivy who was looking from afar saw the heartwarming scene. A flicker of jealousy flashed across her eyes.
She was, after all, a woman too. A woman who hoped for a happily ever after life...
On the first day of New Year, the Shelby family had a lot of visitors.
Josiah’s grandfather and mother spent their entire day welcoming visitors. When noon came, Josiah's
grandfather decided to let Josiah take over as he was drained.
Josiah had never enjoyed socializing. Mrs. Shelby, who had just returned to the country, wanted to strengthen
her position and status in the family, hence, she volunteered to take Josiah's place.
One of the ladies in the crowd asked, "Mrs. Shelby, you and Mister Shelby had separated years ago, right?
When are you guys planning to get back together?"
With a loud thud, Mrs. Shelby put down her glass on the table, looked at the lady, and asked, "You're dying to
know, aren’t you?"