Secrets Of The Neglected Wife: When Her True Colors Shine

Chapter 179: Allison, drifting in and out of consciousness, vaguely felt someones gentle hand brushing across her forehead, the cool touch of a damp cloth providing a fleeting moment of relief.

Dont go, she murmured, caught in the haze of a dream.

This time, it was a dream that took her back to those bleak years after shed fled the orphanage.

She relived being kidnapped, the overwhelming agony from the drug-induced stupor that stole her sight and plunged her into suffocating darkness.

Every sound became a harbinger of terror.

Then, out of the void, she saw a younger version of herself, being carried on the back by a shadowy figure a boy.

His face was obscured, but his struggle to carry her was palpable with each step.

Hey, whats your name? she asked, her voice faint in her memory.

A pause, then the scarred boy replied, Colton Stevens.

Alright, Ill find you one day.

It had been years since that memory resurfaced in her dreams.

Her heart, long numbed by the years spent with the Stevens family, now felt as though a part of it had been cruelly gouged out, as if the wounds of the past had been reopened.

Even in her exhausted state, her eyes too heavy to open, she could sense someone nearby.

A sigh of relief broke the stillness.

Finally, the fevers gone.

The strong yet calm voice seemed to blend with the boy from her dream, and for a fleeting second, they felt like the same person.

Gradually, Allison realized it wasnt her dreams shadow but Kellan, who had tirelessly cared for her.

He had been at her side, constantly replacing the damp cloths to cool her fever, his touch so deliberate as he gently moistened her parched lips with water.

His attention to even the smallest details left her with a sensation she was not used to safety.

an eternity, Allison felt something foreign

back to those countless nights under the Stevens roof when she would lie alone in the cold bed, sick, or melancholic,

warmth beside her… Before long, the weight of her body pulled her into another deep sleep, as if she were sinking into the

next awoke, she found herself lying in the

casting a warm glow across

faint scent of roses from the

movements sluggish, and

whispered, still half in a

her small hand nestled next

quiet murmur was enough

when she saw Allison conscious, she clutched her hand with an intensity that spoke of deep

to speak, but no

though, conveyed more than words could ever express pure,

Lorna, Allison murmured, gazing

must have been terrified, afraid she would lose her

away in the

soon became aware of another presence in the room Kellan, slumped in a wheelchair by her

eyes rimmed with exhaustion, the telltale sign of sleepless nights spent by

she smiled faintly, trying to offer some comfort to Lorna, who had been

Kellan, ever the light sleeper, to stir from his

shot open, immediately locking onto

Youre awake.

carried the weight of

swiftly reached for the glass of water on

said softly, handing

Drink slowly.

Itll help your throat.

still feel a

pressed the call button, and within moments, Jim entered

Lorna

Alright.

when he saw Allison awake, his face lit

Mr.

Lloyd, Ms.