He turned around to his friend, Ken Murdock, "What happened, Ken?"
Ken was George's confidant and also his closest friend. Obviously, he knew about his relationship with Kelly. He looked at George with a grim face.
"I was passing by the river when I heard Kelly calling for help," Ken explained. "When I got there, she was struggling in the water. I also saw a wooden bucket and a dress near the bank. It seems she went to wash clothes and accidentally fell in."
George’s brows furrowed deeply. "The kitchen has hot water. Why on earth would she wash clothes in the river on such a freezing day?"
Ken sighed, but his gaze was piercing toward George. "George, I hate to say this, but why is Kelly doing chores at all? Doesn’t your house have servants? To send her out on a day like this ..."
"You’ve been far too harsh on her lately," he added.
George's expression clouded over, a mixture of guilt and defiance battling within him. "You don’t understand. She’s too spoiled. Letting her continue like this will only make it worse."
Ken's gaze flickered toward Amanda and he turned his head toward George. After a moment, he spoke, "George, when she was unconscious, Kelly called out your name."
George froze, his jaw tightening. "I see. She must’ve jumped into the river on purpose to get my attention. Such disgusting tactics ... where does she even learn these things?"
Ken’s entire body stiffened, his expression darkened with fury. Without warning, he swung a punch at George’s face. The punch was so hard that it sent George fell backward and hit the doorframe with a bang.
"Ken! What the hell are you doing?“ George roared, his eyes were blazing with anger as he clenched his fists as he was ready to retaliate.
Yet before he could do anything, Ken grabbed his collar and shoved him down, then pinned him to the ground.
This made Amanda so scared and she screamed, "Stop it! What are you doing? Let him go!"
Ken pressed George harder and his tone was deadly serious, "Kelly is your sister, George, the one you cherish the most. How could you say something so cruel about her?"
George gritted his teeth as he shoved Ken's hands off. "She’s my sister. I’ll handle her however I see fit. It’s none of your business, Ken. Stay out of my business!"
After Ken left, George stood by Kelly’s bedside, staring at her still-pale face with mixed emotion.