Chapter 253

　　Tabitha's POV 　　When Derek and I were in a deadlock, a shifter wheeled Dad in. 　　Seeing him lying there, I felt endless bitterness in my heart. 　　He was my only family, always looking out for me like no one else. 　　My poor old man didn't know that Derek was why he ended up this way. 　　I forced myself to hide the pain, not wanting him to find out anything. 　　Derek's big hand enveloped mine, his voice gentle yet making me feel nauseous. "John, I'm sorry for being such a jerk. I was so busy with work that I failed to take care of you and Tabitha." 　　I felt the heat from his palm, but it didn't bring me any comfort. 　　Sure enough, Derek caged me again. 　　He brought me back to Rose Manor, the place where he planted a rose garden just to impress me. 　　I hadn't been here in two years, and the garden had totally overgrown. 　　All kinds of roses swayed in the evening breeze as if mocking my past ignorance. 　　Derek piped up, "Tabitha, from now on, you and John will stay here. There is a whole medical team here. I'm sure he'll recover soon." 　　Hearing him mention John made me tense up. 　　"Derek, you can kill or torture me if you want, but please spare my dad. He has just woken up from a coma, and he's all I have left!" 　　I was practically begging him, hoping for a flicker of conscience. 　　Derek gently stroked my cheek, but his tenderness only terrified me more. "Tabitha, I swear, I won't let anyone hurt you two ever again. Just give me a chance to take care of you." 　　I pushed his hand off with my left, snapping, "But you're the source of everything we've gone through!" 　　Derek looked paranoid and possessive, and his words crushed me. "Tabitha, please don't leave me again. I'll take care of you. Just rest here while I go check on John, okay?" 　　I was fuming by his action. What the hell did he want?! 　　Worried, I followed him. 　　Dad still had no clue what had happened between me and Derek. When he saw Derek, his eyes lit up as he mumbled, "Derek." 　　It took him forever to get that out, and Derek smiled as he walked over. "John, you must've suffered a lot." 　　"No... It's nothing." Dad's gaze darted between me and Derek, stuck in a memory of the past two years, where I'd been the only one scrambling around the hospital taking care of him. 　　He reached out towards Derek, and in my nervous gaze, Derek crouched beside Dad and placed his hand in Dad's palm. 　　Dad then reached for me. I didn't want to upset him, so I stepped closer. 　　His palms were so thin, and they trembled uncontrollably, yet even so, he was trying his best to pull my hand and Derek's hand together. 　　I knew that in his mind, I was still madly in love with Derek. He had no idea that Derek and I had already rejected each other. 　　Just to hold my hand and Derek's hand together, it took him a massive effort. 　　When Derek placed his hand on the back of my hand, Dad said to him, "Take c-care of her." 　　Derek immediately responded, "From now on, I'll take good care of you both." 　　Only then did Dad smile and nod, murmuring, "Great!" 　　I felt tongue-tied. Even if I wanted to tell Dad the truth, today wasn't the day. 　　I had to wait until he fully recovered. 　　Derek, as if to make up for his past mistakes, had been super caring toward Dad—doing rehab with him and even washing him up. 　　At first, Dad insisted, "Let the c-carer do—" 　　But Derek cut him off, "John, since I'm Tabitha's mate, I'm practically your family. So just let me help you. Tabitha, why don't you head back to your room and rest a bit? I'll help John wash up." 　　I gritted my teeth, not saying anything. Apparently, Derek knew that if he had John in his hands, he had power over me, too. 　　A wave of helplessness washed over me. I gotta find a way to break free from Derek's control.