From Sneers to Cheers: Anthea’s Ascent (Anthea )

After Anthea departed, Paulina immediately instructed the maid to purchase the medicine listed on the prescription.

She then phoned her mother-in-law Wilma to share the exciting news.

Upon hearing the update, Wilma rushed over in a flurry, "Paulina, is there hope for my son? Where’s the doctor? I must meet her!"

Accompanying Wilma was her niece, Luna.

Luna, orphaned at a young age, had grown up under Wilma's care.

Since Wilma and her husband Baily never had a daughter, Luna had been cherished as their own over the years.

Paulina said, “Ms. Yeager has already left, but she’ll be back in a week.”

Wilma asked, “Can this Ms. Yeager really cure Tammie?” After seeing countless doctors without hope, she wondered incredulously, “Does that woman possess such skill?” Wilma was fraught with anxiety.

Paulina had the maid bring forth a glass jar, saying, “Take a look at this.”

Inside the glass jar was a blood-red substance with thread-like translucent creatures wriggling within.

At the sight of it, Luna frowned, a flicker of malice passing swiftly through her eyes before she clutched Paulina's hand in feigned fear, “Paulina, what on earth is that? It’s terrifying!”

Wilma, too, got the shivers at the sight.

Paulina explained, “This is the parasite that’s been inside Tammie. We’ve been mistaken all along, thinking Tammie was sick, but he was infected with this parasite. Ms. Yeager says it’s quite cunning and usually undetectable by ordinary medical equipment.”

Luna narrowed her eyes, her gaze growing intense as she pondered the true identity of Ms. Yeager.

Wilma, incredulous, asked, “Are you saying these creatures were living inside Tammie?”

Paulina nodded.

Fear was apparent in Wilma’s eyes. The thought of these parasites filled her with horror, and she couldn't bear to imagine the torment her son had endured.

At the sight of Wilma’s distress, Paulina quickly reassured, “Mom, don’t worry too much. Now that we’ve found the cause, Ms. Yeager will be able to cure Tammie.”

Luna added comfortingly, “Paulina is right. Don’t be overly concerned. Tammie will definitely get better.”

Back at home, Anthea turned on her phone and proceeded to delete her WhatsApp account and other accounts of social media, opting to start anew.

In the evening, she went to work.

Baldie, ever the usual, was sitting at the bar doing his homework when he saw Anthea arrive and greeted her enthusiastically, “Hey, you’re here.”

“Yeah,” Anthea nodded in acknowledgment.

Noticing Anthea's phone, Baldie continued, “Got a new phone?”

“Bought it today.”

“How about we connect on social media? I'll send you a request.”

Hesitating briefly, Anthea handed over her phone, “Sure.”

“Done.”

Soon after, Baldie received a notification that his friend request had been accepted.

Anthea’s profile picture was an unassuming little flower and her alas was a poetic line, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day.”

Baldie frowned slightly.

Dropping out of middle school, did Anthea even comprehend the meaning of those words? What was this if not pretentiousness?

No wonder Harriet wasn’t fond of her.

Baldie frowned deeper, closed his phone, and returned to his homework, pushing the thought aside. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Around seven in the evening, a beggarly old woman entered the rotisserie.

Dressed in ragged clothes with a head full of silver hair, she hobbled among the tables with the aid of a walking stick, her back bent with age.

In these times, with so many scammers around, most people chose to ignore such beggars.

But when Anthea saw this elderly woman, her heart ached.

In this stranger, she saw the shadow of her nanny from her original world.

In her original world, with her parents gone, it was an old lady with no kinship to her who had raised her. If not for that old lady, Anthea would not have survived.