THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS

"Kathy darling. Is that really you?"

A weak but loving voice called out to Kathleen as soon as opened the door.

Kathleen quickly adjusted her facial expression and walked into the room closing the door behind her.

She didn’t need a soothsayer to spell it out to her that she had been tricked into coming here. Was it Shawn’s handwork or his grandmother’s?

She remembered that in the past whenever his grandmother wanted her to come and visit her, she will always put up such performance and she will have no choice but to rush over.

Was it the same as then, because from all indications, the lady she was seeing sitting up on the bed with a beautiful smile was a far cry from someone in an emergency situation.

"Hello, Nana. How are you doing?" She stood staring at Old Madam Hudson, Shawn’s grandmother who was elegantly placing a piece of chopped apple into her mouth.

"I’m doing just great my dear. Thanks to you, I am able to be alive today."

"There’s nothing to thank me for, Nana. I was just doing my job. Moreover, you have so many years ahead of you, so you can’t leave now."

"That is my beautiful daughter." She patted the space beside her for Kathleen to seat.

The reprimanding look on Nana’s face when Kathleen hesitated to sit made her instantly change her mind and she sat obediently beside her.

"There is an interesting program that I was watching just now, come on, let’s watch it together," Nana passed the bowl of chopped apple to Kathleen.

’Can someone help me explain to this cute but troublesome lady that we are not all jobless as her?’ Kathleen groaned inwardly.

She can’t imagine she left something so important only to watch a meaningless soup opera.

She had barely been seated for five minutes and was quietly bidding her time to look for a reasonable excuse to escape when one of the maids badged into the room without knocking.

"Thank God you are here, Doctor. You have to come immediately," she said

Kathleen’s brows furrowed, creating a deep line across her forehead. "What is the problem."

"I will tell you on the way," the maid replied to everyone’s displeasure.

Old Mrs Hudson was also worried and asked. "What is it that is so urgent that you can’t tell her here."

The maid shifted from one foot to the other. For a moment, she was confused as to how best to handle the situation.

She had been warned by the butler that under no circumstances must she involve the old lady or cause her to worry, so she quickly formulated the fastest lie possible.

"It’s... it’s... your car, doctor."

"What about her car?" Old Mrs Hudson asked the maid who had come to disrupt her bonding time with her beloved granddaughter just because of a car. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Speak! she ordered when the maid still kept mute. Despite her weak state, her voice still carried the authority that would be expected from the Matriarch of the Hudson family.

"Something happened to the tyres," the maid said.

"Is that why you came rushing in like someone in heat? Get lost!" She ordered.

It would be appropriate to say here that the person Shawn inherited his fierce character from was her.

Kathleen was able to see the plea in the young lady’s eyes and understood that there was more to the situation than the maid was disclosing.

Through her eyes she communicated with the maid to leave first, then gently caressed old Mrs Hudson’s hands.

"It’s Ok Nana, you don’t need to allow irrelevant matters affect your health."

When the angry lines on old Mrs Hudson’s face had completely disappeared Kathleen stood up from the bed, and continued to coax her.

She picked a piece of apple from the plate and fed her, poured her water to drink and went towards the window closest to the door and adjusted the already perfect curtains.

"I will just go and see what it is, Nana. I will be back before you know it." Before old Mrs Hudson could raise any objections, Kathleen was already closing the door behind her, missing the amused smile that spread over Old Mrs Hudson’s face.

As soon as Kathleen got outside the room, she saw the maid still hanging around.

"This has better be important," she warned, her tone alone sending chills down the maid’s body.

"It’s the young master. He came home all bruised and in a terrible condition. But the butler warned me not to disclose it to the Old lady so that she will not be agitated, so I had to come up with the tyre nonsense to cover up," she hurriedly explained.

"Why was I called, when they would have equally taken him to the hospital?" Was this the main reason Dr Sullivan gave her that call? And she mistakenly assumed it was Old Mrs Hudson who needed emergency treatment .

But why didn’t Dr Sulivan come here himself but asked her to come instead.

"He has refused to go and his condition is getting worse," the maid replied to Kathleen’s previous question.

Kathleen was lost in thought. ’What if it is another trick of theirs?’

She didn’t know what to make of the grandmother and son duo.

Do they think that she is jobless that they want her at their beck and call?

She made up her mind to leave but her training as a doctor could not let her just ignore the maids plea.

"Where is he now?"

"He is in his room and had strictly warned Butler Wallace not to allow anyone bother him."

"It doesn’t seem to be serious then," Kathleen said to the maid’s astonishment. "When it is serious enough, he will get medical attention."

The maid watched in stunned silence as Kathleen swaggered off to where her car was parked.

"Young Madam? Are you leaving already?" Butler Wallace finally showed up at that point.

"Mm-hmm," Kathleen said, without stopping.