Chapter 871 A Dream Fell Apart

"Donna please stop lecturing me. I've been rotting in prison for half a year. I've lived a very terrible life at that place. Would you mind saving your sermon for another time?"

Derek complained impatiently. His stomach then rumbled from hunger.

He looked at Donna shyly and gave her an embarrassed smile.

"Alright. Come inside. I'll ask the maid to serve some food,"

Donna offered as she stepped aside and invited Derek to enter the house.

"Actually, I want to eat wontons made by you, Donna," Derek requested with an innocent look on his face. He really missed the wontons made by his sister, and he couldn't help but swallow in anticipation for his favorite food.

"Okay. Come and sit here for a while. Make yourself comfortable. I'll be back soon."

Donna led Derek to the couch in the living room. She then went towards the kitchen to prepare some wontons. Johnson was also fond of Donna's wontons. This was why Donna made a lot and froze them in their refrigerator. He would sometimes get hungry late in the night, and she would just heat up some frozen wontons for him to eat.

Meanwhile, Lily Xie and Gerald were in the study room. They held their pens and drew on their notebooks. Lily Xie was surprised when a maid entered and told them that Derek arrived.

Frankly, Lily Xie didn't know how to face her father. She was overwhelmed by so many emotions. Her heartbeat became faster, and her confusion enveloped her.

"Lily, are you okay? You don't seem to be glad that your father is back," Gerald asked carefully. His voice was filled with confusion because Lily Xie gave no reaction to the maid's news.

Lily Xie and Gerald were intimate friends. They shared a lot of memories and secrets with each other. She had also told him about her past.

"I don't actually understand how I feel right now. I should be happy that my father has returned, but I'm not." Lily Xie shook her head as she voiced out her confusion.

"Well, he's really here. You just feel complicated about what to feel since you haven't seen him for half a year. Maybe you just really missed him. Why don't you go and see him now?" Gerald patted Lily Xie's shoulder to comfort her. She then raised her head and looked him in the eye.

"Okay," she nodded.

Lily Xie paused for a while to gather up some courage, and then she stood up. She walked toward the living room where she saw Derek. He was seated on the couch as he hummed a song she wasn't familiar with.

Derek heard someone's footsteps and turned his head to see who it was.

"Lily…" Derek's voice had a mixture of joy and surprise.

He always remembered her daughter as an average-looking girl. However, half a year was enough to

t his eyes. Her presence terrified Derek that he wanted to disappear from the living room.

'Shit! When did this bitch get here? I shouldn't have bragged. I couldn't afford to antagonize Linda. If she becomes angry at me, she will surely send me back to jail. What should I do now?' Derek thought to himself as he tried not to shake in fear. He faked a smile and looked at Linda. He tried to appease her with his words.

"Linda, my beloved niece. It was only a boastful joke. I didn't mean any of it. I have learned my lesson in prison. Rest assured that I have realized my mistakes and I would spend my time with you guys as a changed man."

Derek was so sincere that Linda almost believed him. However, she was aware of how manipulative Derek could be.

"I don't care whether you are a changed man or not. You seemed to misunderstand something. Mother said she missed you and wanted to celebrate the Spring Festival with you. She asked me to bail you out so that she and your daughter could spend some time with you. You are not fully released yet. You are going back to prison after a week." Linda's tone was cold and without compassion.

She told Derek the truth to force him to cooperate in his return to prison after a week. She didn't want him to cause trouble for them just because he refused to go back.

"What?!" Derek couldn't believe Linda's words.

'This bitch made me think that I was finally free from that wretched prison. It turns out I need to go back there after a week.'

Derek's dream fell apart.

'I should have just stayed in prison. I had my hopes up when I got outside, but Linda just crushed and broke my dreams. This is so cruel!' Derek felt like he was under torture. He felt like his heart was ripped to pieces, and he couldn't find any hope for his future.