When ra got to the Bradford house, she made a beeline upstairs to see Johnny. As she swung open the door to his room, she almost bumped into Naomi, who was on her way out.


    ra braced herself for some sarcastic remarks from Naomi, but surprisingly, she was downright polite this time. "Oh, you''re here. Go on in, your dad''s been waiting for you for ages."


    Feeling a bit thrown off, ra still stepped inside. The room was heavy with the scent of medicine, stinging her nose. She''d hoped that after sorting out the contract mess, Johnny would be on the mend. Instead, he looked even more frail than before.


    Guilt weighed on ra. Johnny hadn''t done anything wrong. With two daughters caught up in chaos, any father would have been worried sick. Years of stress had worn him down, and the added pressure from thepany had just caused everything to crumble at once.


    Sitting beside him, ra couldn''t hold back her tears. Johnny had lost so much weight, his eyes seemed toorge for his face. When he saw ra, his eyes welled up, and he said hoarsely, "You''ve done a great job with thepany. Cough, cough. From now on, Anna is your responsibility."


    ra''s voice trembled as she held his hand, "Dad, I''m sorry. I thought once the contract was sorted, you''d get better."


    She hadn''t even called him, maybe because she was unconsciously avoiding anything to do with the Bradford family.


    Johnny managed a weak smile, "It''s not your fault. Anna told me everything, about the memory loss. We didn''t want to believe you before, and that was our mistake."


    ra felt a lump in her throat, unable to speak. Johnny was a good man, but she felt she wasn''t much of a daughter. She couldn''t remember anything now and didn''t know how to give back the love he deserved.


    Her tears dripped onto Johnny''s hand, and he tried to lift it to wipe them away, but he just didn''t have the strength.


    "ra, your mom shouldn''t have med you for Quinn''s disappearance. You were just eight. You both were gone for three days, and we were frantic. When only you came back, she worried herself sick for a month. I knew she needed someone to me. She''s selfish, but she''s my wife. I could only watch her favor Quinn, so I tried to make it up to you by sending money to your ount, hoping to ease your pain. If none of this had happened, you wouldn''t have pinned all your hopes on Simon, and there wouldn''t have been so many messes..."


    The more he talked, the softer his voice grew, like he was losing the will to speak. "Dad, stop talking. Let me call the doctor."


    By then, Johnny had closed his eyes, looking so frail and weary. When the doctor came to check on him, Johnny justy there, not moving.


    ra stayed put, not daring to leave his side. Naomi popped in once with some fruit, which caught ra off guard, given Naomi''s unusually kind attitude today.


    But with Johnny lying there, she kept her thoughts to herself.


    After Naomi left, she handed ra''s phone to Quinn, cautioning her, "Don''t do anything rash. Your dad''s in bad shape; you should at least think about him." Quinn took the phone with a smirk, "Got it, Mom." And she dashed out the door.


    Watching her go, Naomi felt a sudden pang. Even ra knew to stick around for Johnny, but Quinn, who had been the favorite for five years, was only interested in running after boys.


    Naomi wondered if she''d gone wrong somewhere in her parenting, feeling a heaviness settle in her chest.


    Back in the room, she found ra quietly asking the doctor, "How''s my dad doing?"


    The doctor shook his head, "Years of stress and worry have taken a toll. Medicine can''t do much now. Maybe spending more time talking to him will help. He''s got a lot bottled up that he needs to let out."