He regained consciousness after a short while.
Brettley opened his bloodshot eyes and muttered in a hoarse voice, “Neil… Bethan…”
“They’ve found Bethan.”
Luke closed his eyes and sighed. “She passed out at the airport, and one of the cleaning staff found her. She’s already in the hospital.”
Brettley opened his mouth slightly. “What about the baby…”
“She miscarried.”
The glimmer of hope in Brettley’s eyes dimmed when he heard this. “Then, Neil…”
“The firefighters managed to put out the fire. They couldn’t find Theo or Neil’s bodies, but they discovered some human remains at the scene.
Unfortunately, the DNA from the remains was so badly damaged that the scientists can’t even confirm if the remains belong to them.
“But they’ve confirmed that the blood at the crime scene belongs to Theo and Neil. The police suspect that when the fire started, Theo and Neil didn’t want to stay put and burn to death, so they opened the window to escape. However, someone planted explosives outside the window, and as soon as they opened it, the bomb went off– “
Brettley leaned against his headboard, his usually towering silhouette looking small and frail. He closed his eyes, and tears trickled out of the corner of his eyes. “Then, what about Nellie?”
“Nellie’s traumatized by everything that has happened, and she’s receiving counseling right now.”
Luke let out an exhale. “But, Brettley, now’s not the time to be sad. You…”
He tried to keep his voice steady as he delivered the most shocking news, “You have another son, but he’s been diagnosed with leukemia. His condition worsened today, and the doctors managed to save him, although just barely.
“You can’t give up.”
Bethan was unconscious for a long time.
During this period, her condition did not stabilize at all. Instead, she ran a high fever recurrently and dreamed all sorts of nightmares.
There was a huge fire in her dream, and she could see Neil and Theo trapped in it. They were shouting at her for help, but she could not go in to save them at all. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get closer to them at all. It was as though there was a layer of transparent glass separating her from them.
Bethan could only watch helplessly as the fire and explosion blew Neil and Theo apart.
Finally, she sat down in front of the burning house, crying and crying.
The dream played out the same way many times after that. However, each time, the people trapped in the fire were different. Sometimes it was Nellie, and sometimes Nigel…
Bethan was stuck in her nightmares and could not wake up from them.
By the time she finally regained consciousness, a month had passed.
When she opened her eyes and found herself staring up at the hospital’s white ceiling, Bethan no longer recognized the world she was in.
Why did she have to wake up?
Her baby was gone, and she could not save Nigel either.
Bethan would rather die herself than go through the pain of watching Nigel die before her.
Gwen sat by her bedside, her eyes red and swollen from all her crying.
“Bethan.”
Gwen could not stop the tears from rolling down her face when she saw Bethan wake up. She reached out to hold Bethan’s hand. “You’re finally awake. I thought… I thought you had gone to heaven with Neil…”
Bethan’s entire body stiffened when she heard this. She struggled to prop herself up before frowning at Gwen. “What are you talking about? What do you mean, ‘go to heaven with Neil’? Did you make a mistake? Neil is my second son. The baby that Brettley got rid of doesn’t even have a name yet.”
Bethan still recalled all the dreams she had while she was still unconscious. She glared at Gwen and snapped, “Don’t you dare curse my son! I know you’re my friend, but that doesn’t mean you can spout nonsense like this! “
Gwen must have been mistaken!
Neil was the healthiest, happiest child of the three. He was Nigel and Nellie’s happy pill. How could he possibly have…
Gwen lowered her head and wiped her tears away. “
Bethan…” she sobbed in a choked voice. “Everyone said we shouldn’t tell you the truth, but I don’t want to keep it from you anymore.”
She lifted her head to gaze at Bethan, her eyes as red and swollen as ripe peaches. “Bethan, Neil is…gone.”
Bethan felt as though someone had hit her right in the back of her head. There was a buzzing in her ear, and she could no longer hear what Gwen was saying.
The only thing in her mind right now was the three syllables Gwen had uttered.
Neil was gone. Neil…was gone. Impossible!
How could such a healthy, cheerful, and intelligent child be gone?
“You’re lying to me! You’re lying to me! “
Bethan covered her ears and howled, “That’s impossible ! Impossible! “
She ripped the IV line out of her hand and crawled out of her bed, not caring that blood was trickling down from her hand and staining her gown bright red.
She leaped off her bed and stormed out of the room like a crazy woman, shrieking, “Neil is still at summer camp abroad! I ‘m going to find him! I ‘m going to find him and prove you wrong ! Gwennie, you haven’t seen my Neil before, have you? He’s such a handsome little boy! “
“Bethan…”
Gwen tore out of the room after Bethan, trying to catch up with her.
However, to her surprise, she could not keep up with Bethan at all. How could a well-rested woman like her be unable to keep up with someone who had been unconscious for a month?
Bethan made her way to the elevators.
Bethan pressed the elevator buttons furiously, gritting her teeth at the same time. “Come on, elevator, come on. I want to see Neil, my Neil…”
She continued to mutter Neil’s name over and over again as if besieged by a spell.
Finally, the elevator arrived.
As soon as the doors slid open, Brettley caught sight of a deranged-looking Bethan standing outside the elevator.
She stormed into the elevator and grabbed Brettley’s arm. “Where’s Neil? Where did he go? You must know where he is, right? You must know he isn’t dead. You hid him! Where did you hide him?
“Brettley Morrison! ” she yelled like a lunatic and could not stop her tears from falling anymore. “Neil…”
Brettley’s expression darkened. After a moment, he let out a sigh and pulled her into his arms.
His embrace felt warm and protective, with a hint of his distinctive scent lingering about.
Bethan froze at the sudden turn of events, then immediately furrowed her brows. She struggled against his grip, screaming, “Let go of me! What are you doing, hugging me like that? I want to find Neil! Let me go, so I can go find Neil! “
Brettley closed his eyes and clung to her even tighter. No matter how hard she struggled, he refused to let go of her at all.
After a long while, he let out another sigh and said in a low voice, “Go get yourself ready. I’ll bring you to see Neil.”
Bethan lifted her head to gaze at him, a glimmer of anticipation and excitement in her eyes. She removed herself from his embrace and asked, “So that means Neil isn’t dead, right?”
She added in a choked voice, “Gwen was lying to me, wasn’t she?”
Brettley paused for a moment when he met her fragile yet somehow determined gaze, then finally said, “
You’ll know when you see him.”
“Okay! “
Bethan nodded obediently like a child who had gotten herself into trouble. “I ‘ll go get ready right now. Please tell Neil to wait for me. Tell him to wait for me! “
With that, she wiped her tears and ran out of the elevator.
Gwen, who had been standing outside all this while, first shot Brettley a quizzical look, then glanced at Bethan. “Bethan…”
“He’s bringing me to see Neil! “
Bethan sniffed and grabbed hold of Gwen’s arm with her bony hand. “
Come on, help me get ready and do my makeup! Neil wouldn’t want to see me like this. I look horrible! “
Gwen wiped her tears away and nodded. “Alright !”
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.