Katrina is crying so hard, and she has a hard time breathing. She shakes her head at Carl"s words.No! That"s not true! How could Uncle Anderson feel guilty? He doesn"t owe me anything! I"m the one indebted to him!
Uncle gave me a home and raised me until I finished college. I owe him so much! He gave me shelter and all my needs starting the day he brought me into his home. Though his family never treats me fairly, he never fails to protect me despite his busy schedule.
Even if the rest of the family doesn"t accept me well, he has always been kind to me. How could I reject all his kindness because of their behavior?
While Katrina sobs, Carl struggles to take out a key from under his pillow and hands it to her. "Katrina, this is a key to a safe. The pa.s.sword is your birthday. There"s something I left for you inside. Keep this with you. When I die, remember to open the safe. It is an important doc.u.ment, but please remember to open it when I"m gone,"
The key is engraved with the name of the bank and a string of numbers.
Katrina is stunned into silence. Is uncle Anderson leaving me something before he pa.s.ses away? The realization makes her feel worse.
Uncle Anderson raised me for so many years! How could I accept more kindness before I can repay him? If I need a key and a pa.s.sword to open it, it must be very valuable! I can"t accept this! I don"t feel I deserve to accept anything from him!
Katrina shoves the key back to him. "Uncle Anderson, I can"t take this! I don"t have the right to accept anything else from you!"
I"m not touching any part of Anderson"s property! None of those belong to me! I can"t accept anything he gives me no matter what, even if he"s doing it in secret!
But Carl struggles to put the key in her hands.
"Katrina, listen to me. There"s no money or valuables in the safe. The safe contains information, something you"ll want to know. It"s worthless to others, and it will only be useful to you. You have to accept it. In this way, I could leave this lifetime at peace. So please accept it!"
Katrina wipes her tears and bites her bottom lip. Finally, she accepts the key with great reluctance.
Something I want to know, something that will be useful only to me… Since Uncle Anderson entrusted this to me, it must contain valuable information… Whatever he wants to tell me, I can"t let him down!
"Uncle Anderson, I promise I"ll keep the key and open the safe!"
When Katrina accepts the key, Carl sighs in relief. He looks like a great weight has been lifted off his shoulders.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps approach the room, and the door is suddenly pushed open. Katrina looks up and sees Winnie and Sophie standing at the door, carrying something in their hands.
The moment they see Katrina, shock flashes on their faces
Winnie demands, "Why are you here?"
She doesn"t understand why Katrina is in front of her. After Carl became seriously ill, no matter how much he begged for Katrina, they all used various reasons and excuses to disappoint him. They did everything to keep Katrina away from him.
Katrina"s face turns cold when she sees Winnie and Sophie. Uncle Anderson"s disease has become so terrible, but they still kept me from seeing him. Don"t they care about his feelings?
In the presence of Carl, Katrina doesn"t want to seem cold. She turns back to Carl and says, "I heard Uncle is ill, so I came to see him!"
Winnie and Sophie have been sensitive about Katrina since Carl became ill. Seeing her alone in the room with Carl alarms them even more.
Sophie hurries to say, "Katrina, you"re not welcome here! Get out now!"
Katrina doesn"t want to argue with them. I"ve already seen Uncle Anderson. I"ve told him everything I want to say. Now that they"re here, they can keep him company.
She stands up. "Take good care of Uncle Anderson. I"m leaving now."
Then she leans over Carl and says goodbye. "Uncle, take good care of yourself. I"ll come to see you again soon." With that, she turns around and leaves.
As soon as she steps out of the ward, Winnie follows and calls out in a cold voice, "Wait!"
Katrina stops in surprise. She shoots Winnie a cold look and says in a polite tone, "Aunt Green, what do you want?"
They"re anxious to see me leave, why did she rush out to stop me? She can"t have changed her mind in such a short time. There"s no way she"ll let me stay, she thinks with a frown.
Staring at the key in Katrina"s, Winnie demands, "What are you holding in your hand?"
Katrina quickly grasps the key tighter and pretends nothing is wrong. "It doesn"t have anything to do with you," she says, turning around to leave.
But Sophie rushes out after Winnie. She grabs Katrina"s arm and tries to pry the key out of her fingers. "Stop! Don"t treat us like fools! I know my father gave you that key! Hand it over right now!"
While Winnie and Sophie were at the door, they overheard Katrina and Carl talking about a safe and a key. No wonder father wanted to see Katrina so much! What did he give her in secret!
They couldn"t say much in front of Carl. But now that they"ve left the room, they can"t let Katrina leave with the key. Whatever father gave to her, she can"t take a penny off our family!
When Sophie pulls her arm, Katrina"s face darkens.
Uncle Anderson left this to me! He said it contains something I want to know. It"s worthless to anyone but me, why are they so unreasonable?
It shouldn"t matter that I have it! If there"s something valuable inside the safe, I won"t take a penny!