Chapter 71: Ruth Silverheart

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Ruth Silverheart

"Coming... Ah! Derrick, come in. I was waiting for you." Beth opened the door with a smile on her face, but Derrick could see the traces of dried tears on her cheeks.

Yet, he did not feel sadness from her.

It was like some burden had left her body. She was more relaxed and calmer than he first met her.

It seems like she had a good talk with her mother.

"How was the first night in the new home?" Derrick stepped in and handed Beth a basket of cupcakes he had bought on his way from a popular bakery.

"You did not have to..." Beth took it with a smile and replied. "I never even dreamt I would ever live in a place like this."

If Derrick ever thought his financial situation was bad, her words and that smile made him feel ungrateful.

"I am glad you like it."

Once they arrived in the living room, Derrick saw Beth’s mother walking in from her room.

"Beth, who is—it’s you!" The woman was thin and frail. Even as she walked, it took her breath away. She was surprised to see Derrick, but then she smiled and said, "I heard everything from Bethy yesterday."

She bowed to him and said sadly, "Thank you for taking us out of that hellhole."

"Mother..." Beth whispered with her eyes gleaming but did not stop her mother.

She felt the same way as her mother did.

They both felt that Derrick went above and beyond for them.

Even if Darrick valued her daughter’s talent, there was no need for him to get them settled up in such a nice place and give him such a big salary.

Beth was desperate enough; she would have taken half of what he had offered eventually.

"Please, Mrs Silverheart. You don’t have to do that. This is what your daughter deserves." Derrick stopped her before she could bow any deeper and helped her sit down on the couch.

When it seemed like she wanted to say something else again, he continued, "If you are that worried, I will make sure to work her to squeeze every SC out by making her work just as hard."

"Haha—cough! Ha." The woman chuckled before jokingly adding, "please do."

On the side, Beth watched them interact with a faint smile on her face.

Ever since she had told her mother about her deal with Derrick, she could feel her mother’s worries even though she did not say them out loud.

...

"Derrick, didn’t you say we will talk about work? Shall we head upstairs?" When she realised her mother was starting to talk about her embarrassing childhood stories, Beth finally could not take it anymore.

"Come on, we were just getting to the good part—cough!" In the middle of speaking, the woman suddenly started coughing hard.

"You should rest, Mrs Silverheart." Derrick stood up with a smile on his face and offered her a helping hand.

The woman took it with a strained smile. "Please, call me Ruth. I am only 36 years old." Despite her situation, Ruth tried to stay positive and never showed a pained expression before her daughter or Derrick.

"Here, let me help."

Derrick and Beth led her back inside and let her lean on the bedrest.

"Drink some." Beth offered her a glass of water before settling her in the sheets.

"We will be upstairs; if you need anything, just press that button and connect to the call system of the first floor." Derrick said while pointing at a small glass screen hanging on the wall besides the bed.

Ruth nodded with a faint smile on her face. "Don’t worry about me. I will be fine; you kids should get to working."

...

"I am sorry about taking so much of your time. It has been a while since mum talked so much." Beth shyly apologised to Derrick as they climbed the stairs.

"It is fine. It was nice to talk to her." He replied before asking hesitantly, "if you don’t mind me asking, can I ask you something personal?"

Beth tilted her head in confusion but allowed him nonetheless, "go ahead."

"What about your father? Is he—"

Hearing the hesitant and careful tone of his voice, Beth instantly clarified. "No, no. it’s nothing like that. He is very much alive. It’s just that my mother got pregnant with me early in her teens."

"From what I learned, he was not ready to be a father. So once he learnt about the pregnancy, he left her and moved away from the city. I heard he started a new life." There was sadness in her voice, but Derrick also felt something else.

Whoosh!

It was such an overwhelming hatred that a shiver went down his spine.

He almost turned around and took a defensive pose.

Her hatred ran so deep that nothing of it showed on her sweet face.

Just how deeply has she been hiding it? Is her nice girl attitude an act?

All sorts of questions popped up in his head, but Derrick did not find an answer.

"I am sorry. I must have been talking for long." Noticing Derrick’s silence, Beth thought she must have bored him with all of her talk.

"It’s not like that. I was just thinking. How old was your father when he heard the news?" Derrick did not instantly criticise the man and decided to take in all the facts.

Now, it was Beth’s turn to hesitate.

But she replied eventually.

"Um, he was around 28-29 years old. I know, my mother has questionable tastes in men. Even when she was young." Her face flushed even as she said those words.

She felt so embarrassed that she wanted to find a hole to crawl in.

"You don’t have to be embarrassed about anything. If anyone should be embarrassed, it should be that man. He is a disgrace to a man. If he was someone as young as your mother was, it would have excused his behaviour, but for a grown-ass man..." Halfway through his words, Derrick noticed the fluctuating emotions under the surface of Beth’s calm face and hurriedly stopped himself.

"Forget about it." By this point, they were already standing inside the workshop. "I am sorry if I overstepped."

"Not at all." Beth hurriedly shook her head. "I do not mind someone bad-mouthing him. You can do more."

Derrick thought she was joking, but his innate ability was telling him otherwise.

"Ahem! We should get started with our work." Instead of replying to her, he changed the topic.

"But before we get started, I have something else to do first." He waved his hand, and a metal cauldron appeared in his hand, the size of a human head. "It is about time I accepted this artefact."