It was Vanessa's idea, but she was not sure whether Brian could accept it or not. But she believed that
it was a practical and efficient solution.
Vanessa was waiting for Brian's answer, but Brian did not know what to say.
In terms of this matter, he was very selfish. He hated not only his father, but also that woman. If he let
his father be with that woman, his hatred would only serve to torture him. In that case, there would be
no point in insisting on it.
"Think about it. I hope that you'll forgive your father."
"I'm going in now."
Seeing that Brian could not give her an answer, Vanessa, who had waited for a while, left with
disappointment.
When Vanessa came to Brian, she had known that she might fail. However, she did not expect that
Brian would be so stubborn. She finally understood why Winnie resolutely refused to intervene in this
matter. However hard they tried, their efforts would be in vain.
Winnie saw that they two were in a pavilion. And she could roughly guess what they were talking about.
At this point, their conversation would be about the illness and hatred.
She could also see that Vanessa had failed to make things better.
Before, she had thought of talking to Brian herself. Now, however, she was glad that it was not her that
came to Brian.
Brian, why did you insist on it? You were just hurting yourself. Could you understand that?
Stella could not fall asleep. Sometimes, she lied down. Sometimes, she sat up. Sometimes, she cried.
Sometimes, she thought about this matter.
"Stop thinking about it. Have some sleep. Dad's just going to have a minor operation. You don't have to
worry about it."
Joshua had comforted her for many times, but Stella still kept lying down and sitting up in a bad mood.
"I'm not worried about the minor operation dad will have tomorrow. I'm just worried about the major
operation and dad's mood."
"I'm afraid that dad will pass away with regret. If he has regret, it'll be our regret. If he passes away, it'll
be a lifelong regret for us."
Stella realized something. She was afraid that the regret would be passed down.
"Stella, I'm glad you can realize this. If you want dad to feel better, you have to forget the hatred. Even
if dad is not as sick as we think, you two should stop intervening in his own affairs. It's time for you to
let him seek his happiness."
Seeing that there was a chance to change Stella's mind, Joshua took the opportunity to persuade her.
"Vanessa's right. If you let the past go, it will be you who will benefit most. Look. These days, you've
been thinking about nothing but this matter. As a result, both your sleep and your mood are affected.
How tired you are."
"Let the past go, and let your father be relieved. If he's not seriously ill, you'll still have a chance. If
he's...both of you will regret it."
At this moment, Joshua saw Stella cry. However, as the saying went, make hay while the sun shines.
Even if she cried, he could not miss this opportunity.
Joshua went on to speak.
"Stella, you may dislike what I'm going to say next, but I believe that it's the truth. If you two didn't hate
your dad in the past many years, he wouldn't be depressed. He's been depressed and silent for more
than 20 years. It has been lucky enough that he's only sick now."
"In other words, if Brian's and your hatred, he wouldn't be sick."
Joshua believed that it was necessary for him to say these words. Although it was only his thought, he
believed that it was reasonable to some extent.
Health was directly affected by people's mood. Rufus's health must have been seriously affected by the
depression in the past years.
"Is it really our fault?"
Stella asked with tears. It never occurred to her that her father became ill because of a bad mood, but
she thought that what Joshua said was very reasonable.
Joshua did not speak. He just nodded with certainty. His saying so would make Stella feel very sad and
have a sense of blame. However, it was the best way to let her let the past go.
After Joshua nodded, Stella burst into tears. She was filled with sadness and a sense of blame. She
and Brian were the culprits, and therefore they were not eligible to feel sad. They made their father
sick. How bad they were? If they went on treating their father in that way, would he die?
Joshua did not say anything to comfort Stella. He just held Stella in his arms.
She was also troubled by too many things. She needed to let them go and she also needed to vent the
emotion. Otherwise, she would also be troubled by those things and finally became ill.
Stella cried for a long time and then gradually calmed down.
"I'm willing to forgive dad. But Brian's the most key person. We need to find a way to make Brian
forgive dad."
Stella had come round. She was unable to let the past go, but she could stop herself from interfering
with Rufus's affairs and complaining.
But Brian could not do that. Once Rufus went to Isobel, Brian would move out of the house in the
suburb. The relationship between him and Rufus would worsen greatly.
"To persuade Brian, we had better ask Winwin to help. Neither you nor I can deal with it."
Joshua still believed that Winnie was the best person to talk to Brian. They could help, but the effect
would be limited.
"Winwin won't intervene in this matter anymore. For several times, Brian took the initiative to mention it,
but Winwin refused to talk about it."
Stella learned this thing from Brian. She could not figure out a way to deal with it, either.
"She has been deeply hurt by Brian. It's normal for her to refuse to help. However, now, apart from
asking Winwin to help, we can't think of any other ways to solve the problem."
Joshua knew what Winnie was thinking about. Interfering with this matter seemingly meant endless
harm to herself. Who would ask for it?
But he could not think of any other ways. So he could only try to find a chance to persuade Winnie.
"Dad once told me that what we knew about the past was not true. Since he said so, there must be
something we don't know. And dad has said that mom's committing suicide has nothing to do with his
affair with that woman at all. However, if dad doesn't tell us, we won't be able to learn anything about
it."
"If it wasn't dad that caused mom to commit suicide, as long as we make things clear, Brian won't hate
dad anymore."
Stella said. When Rufus said those words to her in the past, she didn't believe him at all. Now, when
she calmed down and thought about it carefully, she finally found something.
Her father was indeed an honest person and had a strong sense of responsibility. If it was his fault, he
would shoulder the responsibility. When his children were involved, he, as a father, would have an
especially responsible attitude to the things.
Then, it should be mom's responsibility. Did mom have a serious problem?
"How can we find out the fact? Apart from dad, no one knows the truth."
Joshua was happy that Stella could talk about the past in such a calm way. Stella changed. His efforts
finally worked.
"Paul had once had a talk with me. According to him, it was caused by my mother herself, but he said
he didn't know why, either. Mom had a close friend, but he had passed away. Otherwise, he might know
something."
Stella thought that it was a pity. That person might know something, but he passed away before her
mother committed suicide.
"Is her friend a man or a woman?"
Joshua asked tentatively.
"A man. He was not just a friend. He was mom's ex-boyfriend. But he died in a car accident a few days
before mom committed suicide."
With the hope of finding more clues and making Brian let the past go as soon as possible, Stella told
Joshua everything she knew. Only when the barrier between them was broken down could they be truly
happy.
"Boyfriend? Died in a car accident?"
Joshua became doubtful. However, having no evidence, he did not think too much. He was just
wondering if his mother-in-law's committing suicide had anything to do with her ex-boyfriend.
"Joshua, do you think it possible that mom leaped to her own death because of depression?"
Stella did not notice that Joshua was being doubtful. She was trying to figure out other possible
reasons.
"Impossible. If mom did that because of depression, dad wouldn't conceal it from you. Besides, do you
really believe that Paul doesn't know the truth? He has worked for dad for so many years, and he is
trusted by dad. He knows many things that you and Brian don't know. It's highly possible that he's
trying to conceal the fact from you two."
"If both dad and Paul try to keep the truth a secret, then it's definitely not a matter of depression."
Joshua analyzed the situation. In his view, it was not a simple matter. In his opinion, they should try to
find out more details about the "ex-boyfriend".
"You're right. Maybe I should find a chance to talk to Paul and see if he will tell me more about it."
After hearing what Joshua said, Stella immediately changed her view.
If her mother really committed suicide because of depression, it was indeed unnecessary for her father
to conceal it from her and Brian. If was silly to consider depression to be the cause of her mom's death.
It seemed that women would really become silly for some time after giving birth to a child.
The next day was Saturday. Although it was not a workday, Kevin still found a doctor to perform an
operation on Rufus. It was a minor operation, and it was a successful one. However, when they waited
for Rufus to wake up after the operation, they all felt uneasy and afraid.
Joshua suddenly had something to do, leaving the hospital. Stella just sat beside Rufus. And Brian sat
on a bench outside the ward silently with his head down.
Winnie opened the door and came out of the ward. Seeing that Brian just sat silently, she directly sat
beside Brian.
"Don't worry. Uncle will be ok."
Winnie gently comforted Brian. She understood that Brian must be worried and afraid now. She had
experienced it in the past.
Brian did not speak and did not look up. He just sighed a long sigh. He looked as if he would die if he
did not sigh the long sigh.
"Everyone will undergo old age, illness and death. And uncle is just sick. Don't worry too much about
him."
Winnie was less worried than Brian was. It was not because Rufus was not her blood relative. It was
just because she had experienced something more painful.
"Winwin, how did you make it through when that thing happened to your family? I almost can't breathe
right now. I want to help him, but I can't."
Brian spoke. He was distressed by what Winnie had gone through. At the same time, he thought about
how to make himself feel better.
"I have no idea how I made it through. At that time, I thought it might be better to die. But I can't. I'm not
eligible to die. At that time, I had the feeling that my life didn't belong to myself. I owed too much to
others. My life belonged to them."
"I felt that the sky was falling down, and I was really desperate. At that time, my family was ruined in a
very short time. I lost everything, and there was no one who I could turn to for help. And I'm alone. I
had to deal with everything alone..."
Just thinking about what she had gone through made her feel very bad. She really had no idea how
she made it through.
"I'm sorry. You must be very miserable at that time."
For Brian, the most miserable thing he had undergone was to lose his mother. However, compared with
Winnie, he was lucky. He did not lose everything, and he got support from his family. Even so, he still
found it hard to endure. He really could not imagine how Winnie could make it through.
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