Luke’s cold, steely face materialized in her mind, accompanied by the image of his smirk whenever he stared at her.
Gwen closed her eyes and muttered Luke’s name over and over.
‘Don’t worry, Luke. I’ll come to you as soon as everything here is settled.
‘Even if we can’t be husband and wife in this life, I’m sure we’ll be able to in heaven.’
All of a sudden, someone knocked on her door.
Bethan’s voice rang out, “Gwen, get yourself ready; we need to head out soon. “Thomas’ father died, and now Thomas has been captured as the prime suspect of murder. Brettley wants us to go over right now to keep Yannie company.”
Gwen’s entire body froze when she heard this. A split second later, she shot up and flung the door open. “How did this happen?”
Brettley had been keeping an eye on Senior Howard since his accident the day before, and he had been perfectly fine. Senior Howard did not suffer any major injuries, and all he needed was some rest and rehabilitation, so why did he die all of a sudden?
Not only that, but Thomas had become the prime suspect!
“I’m not too sure either.”
Bethan frowned and sighed when she saw the look of disbelief in Gwen’s eyes. “I asked Brettley the same thing, and he couldn’t give me a clear answer either. Perhaps he doesn’t have much idea.
“Thomas was arrested while on his way to Yannie’s place, and according to Brettley, Yannie isn’t doing so well now. Not only that, but…”
Bethan paused for a moment before finally saying, “Riley is missing, too.”
Gwen’s eyes widened in shock. “Riley has gone missing? How could that be?”
Bethan sighed and dragged Gwen out the door, then explained to her in a whisper, “Because of what happened with Riley previously, Thomas had specially conducted strict background checks and interviews on the doctors looking after her, but…
“None of us knew the full extent of the Miller family’s influence in the medical community. Even after such strict conditions, the Miller family still managed to slip past Thomas’ eye. The chief surgeon looking after Riley…turned out to be a member of the Miller family’s inner circle.
Bethan sighed and continued, “Last night, the doctor brought Riley out of the hospital and disappeared into thin air. Brettley is stressed out by this, but he has no idea where either of them is, so he decided to send someone close to him to figure this out…but there’s no guarantee whether he’ll find Riley or not.”
Gwen furrowed her brow as all the delight she had felt when she received Denise’s email dissipated. She bit her lip and shot Bethan a worried glance. “Who…is the person Brettley sent to investigate Riley’s whereabouts?”
Bethan shook her head. “I’m not sure either. Brettley didn’t tell me, and I forgot to ask, but I think it must be someone we can trust.”
This was the best they could hope for.
She, like Brettley, was overwhelmed by all this and did not know what to do at this point.
“Alright.”
Gwen could tell just how flustered Bethan was, so she did not say anything further. Instead, she grasped Bethan’s hand and led her downstairs while comforting her. The car Lucas had sent to pick them up was already waiting at the hotel entrance. The driver got out of the car and nodded respectfully at Bethan. “Ma’am.”
Bethan did not even acknowledge this and instead flung the door open then quickly got in.”
Let’s go, quick.”
The driver got back into the car and started the engine.
Perhaps it was because he could sense Bethan and Gwen’s urgency, but the driver sped through the traffic so fast that he reached Yannie’s house, which was 45 minutes away, in less than half an hour.
As soon as they arrived, Bethan threw the door open and sprinted towards Yannie’s house.
Gwen could not help sighing when she saw this.
It seemed that Yannie mattered to Bethan like a sister. In the past, Gwen had only ever seen Bethan so worried for her and Bonnie. She quickly followed Bethan into the house, where Yannie was slumped in Mrs. Flores’ arms, sobbing her heart out. “Mom, do you think…do you think I curse everyone I meet?”
Yannie muttered. “Thomas had never encountered anything like this before meeting me, and it’s all my fault he got arrested today… “If I hadn’t held my ego so high, Thomas wouldn’t have been forced to eat the poisoned food with me yesterday. If he didn’t eat the food, Tina and Denise’s plan wouldn’t have succeeded… “He wouldn’t have been tricked, and his father wouldn’t have died, nor would he have been accused of murder!
“And Riley…”
Tears continued to slide down Yannie’s cheeks. “There hasn’t been a peaceful day in Riley’s life from the moment I took her in. She’s been plagued by her sickness, and now she’s been kidnapped… Mom, do you think…I cursed them?”
Mrs. Flores opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. “You didn’t curse anyone,”
Bethan’s clear voice rang out.
Yannie lifted her head dazedly.
Bethan was standing in front of her with a coat draped over her loungewear.
It was clear that Bethan had been in such a rush that she did not have time to change her clothes and threw on a jacket over her indoor clothes instead. Not only that, but Bethan’s hair was a mess, and she was still wearing the hotel’s slippers.
This was the worst state Yannie had ever seen Bethan in, but at this moment, a surge of warmth spread through her heart.
“Bethan…”
She met Bethan’s gaze with tears brimming in her eyes.
“Yannie, you’re not a curse.”
Bethan let out an exhale and strode toward her. “Even though all this had something to do with you, you’re not the main cause at all.”
She fixed her gaze on Yannie’s face and continued, “Please believe that even without you, Thomas would’ve to go through these hardships somehow. The people who had deceived him never took you into their equation at all.”
Mrs. Flores curled her lips into a smile and stood up, handing Yannie over to Bethan’s care before disappearing into the kitchen to make them some coffee.
Bethan sat down on the sofa and pulled Yannie into her arms. “Yannie, you must believe that none of this happened because of you. On the contrary, you’re the only reason Thomas and Riley are still here today.
“If it weren’t for you, Thomas would’ve believed that he had slept with Denise when he awoke yesterday. Do you think he would’ve stayed calm after that, knowing how much he despises Denise?
“If it weren’t for you, Thomas wouldn’t have been arrested on only one count of murder, but two–his father and Denise. Isn’t that so?”
Yannie began to calm down when she heard this. She bit her lip and lifted her head to stare at Bethan rather helplessly. “But Bethan, if it weren’t for me…Thomas wouldn’t have been poisoned and…”
The more she tried to say it, the more upset she got. “I can’t possibly deny my responsibility in all this. Bethan, you don’t have to try to comfort me… I…” me,
She sniffed and added, “I’ve caused Thomas so much trouble… If it weren’t for wouldn’t even be in jail right now…’
||
Bethan sighed and pulled Yannie closer. “Please don’t ever think that, Yannie…”
“There’s no use just reliving the past and continuously blaming yourself for it,”
Gwen’s cold voice rang out before Bethan could even finish her sentence.
Gwen strode into the room and sat down across from Yannie.
She could not help but be reminded of herself when she stared at the woman sitting in front of her, the girl who was constantly blaming herself and taking responsibility for every bad thing that had happened.
he
Was she not the same?
After finding out the reason for Luke’s death, Gwen spent sleepless nights blaming herself over and over. There were even some instances when she could not help blaming herself for things that were clearly not her fault or not within her control.
It was as though she was compelled to tell herself that none of this would have happened if she had never existed.
Now that she had finally moved on from that state, she could not help feeling sad when she saw Yannie acting the same way.
“Yannie, the most important thing we can do now is to change our circumstance, not moping about it.”
She took the cup Mrs. Flores handed her and stared intently at Yannie. “What you have to do now is try to investigate Senior Howard’s death and go in search of Riley.
“Crying and blaming yourself isn’t going to solve the problem. What’s happened has already happened, and no amount of tears will change anything. “Lucky for you, Thomas is only arrested, and Riley is still alive somewhere, albeit missing, so you still have time to make up for your mistakes. “Please don’t commit the same mistake I did, which is regretting all my decisions after things are too late.”
Yannie bit her lip upon hearing this. She lifted her head to stare at Gwen, her gaze gradually becoming more resolute.
When she recalled what Gwen had gone through…she could not help realizing that what she was going through at the moment was nothing compared to Gwen’s past.
At this thought, Yannie sniffed and lifted her head to meet Bethan and Gwen’s gaze. “What… should I do now? Is there any news from Mr. Morrison? Does he have any way to help Thomas prove his innocence?”
When Bethan saw just how worried Yannie was, she could not bring herself to bring Yannie bad news, but at the same time, she could not hide the truth from her either.
Therefore, she let out an exhale and said, “So far, nothing yet. Brettley has managed to find a coroner to conduct a postmortem examination on Senior Howard to find the cause of his death. If he can prove that Senior Howard didn’t die of the gunshot, Thomas will be released from captivity immediately.”
She grasped Yannie’s hand in comfort as she continued, “What you have to do now is help Thomas get his emotions under control so that he can recall whether Senior Howard has said anything to him before his death.
“All this can eventually become evidence to prove his innocence.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.