Holden suppressed the uneasiness in his heart while silently watching the interactions between Sadie and Adele.

Sadie was manipulative in nature. She was not a good influence on Adele. So Holden didn't want Adele to become overly dependent on Sadie.

At that moment, Devin came in and said to Holden, “Mr. Fredrick, there's something urgent in the company."

Holden nodded. Then, he turned to Adele and said, "Adele, Daddy needs to leave now. I will be back to pick you up later."

With that, he and Devin left the ward.

As soon as the door of the ward closed, Sadie's expression turned cold. She grabbed Adele's ear tightly and sneered, “You're such a clever and obedient little girl. Keep it up, okay? As long as you always listen to me, I won't throw Melon to the wolves."

Adele's face turned pale. She shook her head frantically and pleaded, "No, Mommy, please. I'll be good. I will do everything you say."

When Sadie saw Adele so frightened but obedient, she smiled with satisfaction. But her eyes remained cold when she said, “You are Mommy's good girl."

Sadie had been letting Adele watch movies about wolves every day, and the effect was apparent. Adele had had sleepless nights because she was scared of wolves.

Sadie had leveraged Adele's fear. She had threatened Adele she would feed Melon to the wolves if Adele misbehaved or spent time with Ariana.

The trick had clearly worked.

Looking at Adele, Sadie said, "You've been behaving well lately, so you can skip the handstand tonight."

Adele sat on the bed, lowered her head, and murmured, “Thank you, Mommy ."

Before leaving the hospital, Ariana had taken Melon to see Mitchel, and then, they headed home.

Their house was covered in dust, as it had been empty for a few days.

Ariana tidied up fast and then gave Melon a bath.

By the time everything was settled, it was late at night.

After putting her son to bed, Ariana sat on the couch with a pillow, still bothered by Adele's strange behavior earlier.

Adele's abrupt change in behavior was concerning, and Ariana couldn't dismiss the feeling that Sadie might have provoked Adele.

After all, Ariana believed Sadie was capable of doing anything.