“And…”
Naomi shifted her eyes. She wanted to change the topic. However, Kendrick’s cold aura overpowered her, and she found herself subconsciously shrinking her neck before blurting out frantically, “She told me that she hired someone to light the fire last time. You… Cough, cough… You’re not the one who set the fire!”
When he heard that, Kendrick felt as if someone had turned him into a block of ice.
He stood in the rain as all of his senses shut down. At that moment, the only thing he could see was Montgomery Manor being engulfed in flames.
Naomi looked at Kendrick as he froze in place. Then, she quickly got up and ran away without even caring where she was going.
The rain became heavier, and Kendrick stood there for a very long time. Suddenly, he burst out laughing.
There was an indescribable bitter smile on his sickly face.
He was not the one who set the fire?
He was not the one who set the fire that destroyed Montgomery Manor?
He closed his eyes to think. However, whenever he thought about what happened that day, it was as if he had lost an important piece of memory.
He could not remember what he was doing before the fire.
He bought two bouquets. Then, he came to Eloise and Sean’s graves while dragging his exhausted body and holding a black umbrella.
Even though he was not the one who set the fire and was not as sinful as before, the destruction of Montgomery Manor was still related to him.
He was still responsible no matter what.
Kendrick looked apologetically at the words on the tombstone with his dull eyes. He said, “Mom, Dad, I’ve already handed Eveline to a reliable man. Don’t worry, I’ll go and atone for my crime with you soon.”
…
Niamh’s fever finally went away after she slept for 24 hours.
The first thing she did after she woke up was to call Kendrick. However, his phone was switched off.
She went to Ryan and wanted to use his phone to call Kendrick’s other number, but it was also switched off.
From this day on, Niamh completely lost all updates on Kendrick.
She went to the villa they bought after they got married every day, but Kendrick never showed up.
She even started wishing for rain. Whenever it rained, she would get the urge to go into the rain. She figured that if she was sick, Kendrick would appear. However, the man never appeared again even when winter came.
Niamh buried herself in work and tried to use this to shift her attention to something else.
She wanted to numb herself and told herself that it was good news that she did not have any updates about Kendrick.
She imagined that he was still alive and they were looking at the same sky together.
Then, Ryan told her that Lana and Yorick had been transferred to F Country for further interrogation. Finally, Niamh felt slightly relieved of her hatred.
She despised Lana. She wanted this woman to get the death penalty as soon as possible.
Especially when she saw her daughter who still could not talk, she wanted so badly to punish that devious woman herself.
Today, Niamh wanted to take Lillian for therapy, but the moment they got out of the door, they saw Fabian. He looked like he had been waiting for them.
When Lillian saw Fabian, a smile blossomed on her beautiful face.
Even though she did not say anything, her body language showed that she wanted to get close to Fabian.
Niamh let go of her hand and Lillian jogged over to get close to Fabian.
Fabian squatted and carried the adorable little girl. “Lily, did you miss me?”
Lillian nodded her head lightly.
Fabian felt his heart getting warmer when he saw the innocent face.
Niamh was not against Fabian. She thought this scene in front of her looked pretty heartwarming as well.
She could see Fabian’s concern and care for Lillian.
He used to be frivolous, but now, it seemed that he had changed a great deal.
“Fabian, are you here for me?” Niamh asked.
Fabian nodded. He did not mind the little girl in his arms playing with his hair.
“Lana will be punished soon. However, she refuses to admit that she’s the one who set the fire in Montgomery Manor. She insists that Kendrick was the one who set the fire. The police in F Country contacted the police here and I received a shocking piece of news.”
Niamh’s heart started racing when she heard Kendrick’s name.
However, she pretended to be calm. She looked at Lillian who was grinning while playing with Fabian’s hair before asking flatly, “What news?”
Fabian replied after hesitating for a while, “Kendrick is dead.”
“…”
The three words fell into Niamh’s ears. She looked silently at her daughter who was in Fabian’s arms.
At that moment, she felt as if her whole world had stopped moving.
“Eveline, is that true?” Fabian looked at the frozen Niamh and asked in curiosity.
Niamh found her train of thought and scoffed. “He’s fine. How could he be dead? I even saw him a while ago.”
She purposely emphasized that she had seen him. However, a while ago was a few months ago.
“I need to take Lily to the psychiatrist. I don’t want to hear any news about Lana.” Niamh took Lillian from Fabian and walked to the garage. Her brain was buzzing with countless voices repeating in her brain, saying that Kendrick was dead.
Niamh walked away hurriedly. She was the only one who knew she was hiding from this.
She was driving the car on the road, and halfway through the journey, Niamh stepped on the brakes to stop halfway.
“Kendrick is dead. Eveline, is that true?”
‘No.’
‘That’s not true.’
Niamh denied it in her heart.
Lillian was sitting in the car seat at the back and looked strangely at her motionless mother.
She wanted to say something but could not. As such, she lifted her chubby hand and knocked on the window.
Niamh came back to her senses. When she wanted to turn around to look at Lillian, she saw a familiar figure walking past her from the corners of her eyes.
She saw Ken driving past with a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.
Niamh’s heart was beating erratically. She did not forget how Ken was Kendrick’s best assistant.
What was Ken doing with a bouquet of white chrysanthemums?
Niamh followed after him with her car and noticed that Ken was heading to the cemetery.
What surprised Niamh even more was that Ken was holding the flowers to the plot below Eloise and Sean’s—the nameless grave.
Niamh walked over with Lillian. When Ken heard noises from behind him, he turned around. To his surprise, he saw Niamh.
“Miss Montgomery…”
“Who’s in there?” Niamh pointed at the nameless grave and asked in a shaky voice.
Ken looked at Niamh as she tried her best to control her emotions. Then, he took out a card from his suit pocket and handed it to Niamh. “Mr. Waldburg told me to hand this to you the day you find out.”
Ken handed the card over and lowered his head in sadness.
“Mr. Waldburg passed away a month ago.”
The wind in the early winter was so bone-piercing. It felt as if it was laced with brambles as it wrapped around her wounded heart, intensifying her pain.
Niamh reached out a shaky hand to grab the card Ken was handing to her.
When she got it in her hand, she felt as if she had touched Kendrick’s cold fingertips.
“When did this happen?” she suppressed her sadness and asked calmly.
“Today is the 49th day,” Ken answered and looked at the grave in front of him before sighing.
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.