THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 284: Are You A Bad Person?

And from those cute lovely lips, Joanne heard a concerned, "Grandma, you are crying?"

Well, suffice me to say at this point that the deepest foundation of Joanne’s heart was shaken.

’Grandma?’ she repeated to herself. ’Well, that sounds wonderful.’

She immediately wiped off the tears she didn’t know had formed in her eyes as a genuine smile sprang up from deep within her, brightening her sad face.

"I’m sorry sweetheart, I’m fine now that I have seen your lovely face. Did I scare you?"

"No," Eleanor replied boldly in her sweetest voice. "I was only worried about what could make such a beautiful grandma sad?"

This, without fail, caused another warm sensation to spread over Joanne’s heart, endearing the little angel to her the more— she was totally smitten by Eleanor’s charms.

Joanne impulsively did something she had never done in her life before— confiding in someone other than her proud friends.

"Come closer sweetheart," she said gently. "Do you want to know why grandma was sad just now?"

Eleanor nodded, however she was a bit reluctant to sit where Joanne was patting beside her.

Joanne understood the little girl’s reservations and didn’t force her. "I don’t bite," she laughed before continuing,

"Well grandma was sad because she realized she did something bad to someone."

"Huh? Are you a bad person?" Eleanor asked warily, drawing back a little.

’I wonder what my brother will think of me if he sees me talking to a complete stranger.’

But the lady looked so pitiful when she had seen her bowed head and eventually the tears in her eyes. Somehow, she hadn’t felt scared as she approached her.

But hearing her say that she did something bad to someone now made Eleanor regret her impulsive actions.

"Of course not, I’m not a bad person," Joanne quickly denied when she saw the cautious way the girl was acting.

"But in this case, I was particularly bad to someone because I did not like her and I feel terrible for it now."

"You know what grandma," Eleanor found herself saying, against her good judgment. "It’s good you feel terrible for what you did, which means you want to change, right?" Eleanor asked, arching her cute brow as she waited for the older woman to confirm that she was right.

"Mmm," Joanne nodded.

"My mother always says that, when you do something bad to someone, you should apologize as long as you know you have wronged the person," Eleanor counseled with a serious expression.

"I don’t think the person will forgive me darling," Joanne said sadly. ’I’ve been way, way, way more than bad to that person,’ she added to herself.

"That will be only if your apology is not sincere enough. You see..."

"Eleanor!"

Eleanor, who was gladly warming up to share some of her timeless wisdom to the lady whom she believed needed them desperately, had to cut herself short.

"Sorry I have to go, grandma," she siad. "But do as I have said and you will see that everything will be alright."

She stood on tiptoe and plastered a wet kiss on Joanne’s cheek while saying,

"This will drive the sadness away. But be good from now onwards. Ok?" She admonished before dashing off to meet Cheryl who was standing a few feet from them observing the whole scenerio with an appalled expression on her face.

Joanne nodded sadly as she stared longingly at the little angel.

She would have loved to talk more with her and yearned with all her heart to have her stay but she wasn’t hers afterall.

If she had not been meddling in her son’s marriage for so long, maybe she would have such an adorable granddaughter or grandson by now or even both.

She regretted her actions in the past. If only she knew things would turn out like this she would have been a lot nicer and kinder to Kathleen.

What happened today was a major eye opener for her never to look down on anyone.

And with the little angel’s reminder, she now had a new approach to life.

She raised her hand and touched the spot where the little girl had kissed and a strange calmness came over her troubled mind, erasing all the anger she had felt towards her son.

"I think I deserved what they did to me since I’ve been nothing but an asshole"

"And I have to correct my ways from now on and make amends."

"But how do I start? Going over to Kathleen to ask for forgiveness was too humiliating."

"Won’t she further rub her victory and my apparent failure in my face? She is now someone appallingly above me. Fate had made it so."

No longer in the mood for an argument with her son, she rose up to leave.

"Are you already leaving, Madam," the bodyguard asked out of courtesy.

Infact he was glad she was leaving voluntarily. He had been racking his brain for the best way to dismiss her without causing problems.

Afterall the so-called check by the doctor inside has been going on for quite a long time and will doubtless continue for as long as Mrs Hudson was there, since no doctor was in there in he first place.

"Tell him that I dropped by," Joanne said soullessly as she walked away as if the weight of the whole world had been placed on her shoulders.

"Yes, Madam."

About ten minutes after she left, Cheryl stepped out of the elevator with Eleanor, bouncing happily by her side, a bouquet of flowers in her hands.

To avoid the barrage of questions she knew Eleanor would throw at her for unceremoniously whisking her off before seeing her dad, whom they had come to visit, she had asked her to follow her downstairs to get flowers from the flower shop strategically located not far from the hospital for people like her that would need to get flowers in emergency situations like the one she found herself.

Eleanors eyes scanned the waiting room when they got there. "That poor grandma has left?"

"She probably has something to do," Cheryl said, glad that Joanne took the initiative to leave.

She still wondered how Eleanor could kick off with her so effortlessly on their first meeting. Or have they known each other before now?

"Have you guys met before today?"

"No," Eleanor answered honestly. I just saw her for the first time today when I ran ahead of you to daddy’s room."

"Then why were you so close to her?"

"I wasn’t close to her, Aunt Cheryl. It’s just that she looked so pitiful that I couldn’t help wondering why."

"So you took up the initiative to approach her?" Cheryl asked in a reproachful tone.

"I’m sorry, Aunt Cheryl. I know I shouldn’t have spoken to a stranger, but I didn’t feel like she was a stranger," Eleanor said sincerely.

’Of course, she is not a stranger since she is your grandmother,’ Cheryl siad inwardly.

"But she is still a stranger," Cheryl emphasized to Eleanor. Although she understood that it was probably the family tie that drew them together, she still knew Joanne’s character. She had caused so much pain to Kathleen, what would she do if she found out that Eleanor was Kathleen’s daughter before knowing that she was also his son’s daughter?"

"Right. I’ll be careful next time. Will you tell my mom I spoke to a stranger?" Eleanor’s scared eyes scanned Cheryl’s face as she looked up.

"It depends?" Cheryl said with a mischievous glint.

"Are you about to blackmail me, Aunt Cheryl," Eleanor asked, alarmed by the glint in Cheryl’s eyes.

"How can I blackmail a child. Is that the poor image you have of me in your heart?" Cheryl pretended to be deeply offended.

"No, you are my best Aunt. But I wanted to be sure what you wanted me to do, for you not to tell my mom about me."

"Well, my condition is that you tell me every darned thing you two talked about, leaving nothing out."

Eleanor breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me, Aunty. Thats easy. I will tell you everything."

"Good. So what did you two talk about?"

"She was feeling very bad for doing something bad to someone. So I advised her on what to do."

"Really? I didn’t know you were such a renowned counselor," Cheryl teased.

"Counselor?"

Seeing that Eleanor did not understand what she meant by the word, she explained, "Someone that gives advice to others, especially when the person is confused and doesn’t know what to do. That’s who a counselor is." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Oh!" The frown on Eleanor’s face instantly cleared. "As a doctor, I will also be a counselor in the future as I have to advice people about their sickness— just like mummy," she said with a dreamy expression.

An amused grin formed around Cheryl’s mouth. "Yes, Madam counselor. So what advice did you give your pitiful client today?" She teased.