Chapter 169 Thelma's Story!
<Chapter>Chapter 169 Thelma's Story! </Chapter>
When Ryder and Sarah heard that, both their faces drained of color.
Was the situation really that severe?
Ryder, with furrowed brows, asked, "Em, do you have any idea who could have attacked Thelma?"
Between sobs, Emily replied, "I don't know. When I arrived, I only saw Thelma there, and she had already passed out. She didn't tell me who did this to her..."
Sarah comforted Emily, patting her on the back, "Don't cry, hon. Good people have good karma. Thelma will pull through, you'll see."
But Sarah was just as worried as Emily.
Ryder's mind began to race. Who would want to hurt Thelma? From what he knew about her, it was hard to imagine her having enemies.
It might be because of the incident yesterday when she had come forward to tip off Sarah and himself.
Could this be retaliation from Sam Smith because he had been exposed?
But then again, that didn't add up. They lived in a lawful nation. Sam Smith was already a target for the police. It seemed unnecessary for him to exact such brutal revenge on someone like Thelma, who wasn't even involved in his core interests.
If not Sam Smith... then who?
Lost in thought, he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps from the corridor.
Two women came running toward them.
One was a middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties, and the other was a slender girl in a high school uniform.
Their faces were marked with urgency and tears.
The older woman cried out frantically, "How is Thelma? Is she alright? Has the doctor said anything?”
"Are you related to Thelma?" Ryder asked.
"I'm her cousin!" replied the middle-aged woman.
As she spoke, she gestured toward the girl beside her who was wiping away her tears and sobbing. "This is Thelma's daughter, Julia. Goldie's kid."
Suddenly, the woman lost control of her emotions and burst into tears, then took a moment to compose herself before continuing, "I was at home when I got the call that Goldie had been attacked and was in the hospital. I rushed to the school to bring Julia here. Oh, I hope she’s alright. If anything happened to Goldie, what would Julia do...?"
Sarah quickly stepped forward to console her. "Ma'am, please try to stay calm. I'm sure Thelma will be fine."
Sarah cast a knowing glance at Emily. The two of them helped the cousin to a seat on a bench along the corridor.
But Thelma's daughter, Julia, kept her eyes fixed on the ER doors, silent with pursed lips and tears falling steadily. Her slender frame suggested that she was no stranger to poor health brought on by malnutrition.
Ryder suddenly felt a pang of sympathy as he looked at Julia. He saw a reflection of his own sister, Ava Clark, in her. The Clarks had fallen on hard times following their father's death, drowning in debt and struggling to make ends meet. There was a period when Ava was poorly nourished too. She had even collapsed during class once.
Still, she always tried to act like everything was normal in front of Ryder, putting on a brave face, wary of adding to his burden – such were the responsibilities thrust upon children in poverty...
The cousin sniffled. "Oh, why does my cousin have to suffer so much? She's such a good person, but that monster ruined her life! It's like she's been cursed for generations to end up with a man like that. How could someone so cruel even be human?"
Ryder latched onto this crucial piece of information. "Ma'am, it sounds like you know who hurt Thelma."
The woman nodded. "There's no doubt about it. It must have been Patrick, that beast!”
“Who’s Patrick?”
“He’s Goldie's ex-husband, nothing more than scum in human clothing," the cousin said through clenched teeth, her face twisted with anger.
At that moment, Sarah, who was sitting beside her, spoke up, "I'm Thelma's employer. She's been a great help to me at the company. If you don't mind, could you tell us why her ex-husband would commit such a heinous act? I'm more than willing to help Thelma seek justice."
The cousin looked surprised, "You... You're Goldie's boss? She's spoken about you quite often. She says you're the kindest and most capable boss she’s ever had! That's wonderful! I'll tell you everything I know..."
Over the next half hour, she spun the tale of Thelma's life:
Thelma was born in the countryside. She was an excellent student in her youth and had a solid chance to make it to college. Sadly, her family's poverty prevented them from supporting her studies, so she was forced to drop out early. Soon after, she was married off to Patrick from the neighboring village by a matchmaker.
Patrick's family had a notorious reputation for being difficult in their village, and other girls of marrying age went to great lengths to avoid them. Thelma ended up as Patrick's bride because her parents were enticed by a larger and more expensive wedding.
Married life for Thelma included daily arguments with Patrick. He was a lazy good-for-nothing who gambled and drank without earning a dime. Worse still, his parents treated her dismissively, occasionally resorting to physical and verbal abuse. In their eyes, they had bought her service, so it didn’t matter if they treated her no better than a servant.
Thelma bore all this in silence, nursing a faint hope that family affection might grow with time. A year later, she gave birth to a girl, Julia.
The family firmly believed in the superiority of sons over daughters. They saw Julia's birth as a bad omen. From that day on, Thelma was subjected to harsher treatment. She was made to work in the fields before her postpartum period had even ended and to wash clothes with cold water, among other things. Any slight misstep would lead to scolding and beating.
After enduring three more years of this and reaching a breaking point of total disillusionment, Thelma finally sought a divorce. The process was predictably far from smooth, dragging on for four or five agonizing years.
After the divorce, Thelma took her young daughter to the city. They rented a small apartment, and she worked tirelessly to ensure Julia could attend school, where she excelled, always coming out on top of her class.
Thelma believed that they had finally turned a corner toward better days. But suddenly, Patrick managed to find out where they lived. He began showing up unannounced, harassing them whenever he pleased. Sometimes, he demanded money. Other times, he would arrive drunk and rageful, or even worse, vent his suppressed rage in vile ways, sometimes right in front of Julia.
He committed nearly every imaginable atrocity over the next seven or eight years.
Recently, Patrick had incurred a massive gambling debt he could not repay and turned up at Thelma's doorstep to demand money. This time, the confrontation escalated quickly. The creditor had threatened to kill him if he couldn't pay off his debts. Patrick menacingly told Thelma that if she couldn't provide the money, he would take her life instead.
Fearing the worst, Thelma sent Julia to stay with her cousin for a few days while she dealt with the situation alone. She never imagined that Patrick would go through with his threats...
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