Abigail hung her head, wondering how she should piece the sentence. “I had something to say yesterday, didn’t I?”
“Yeah?”
“I…”
Bzzt-
Her cell phone suddenly started vibrating in her pocket.
Diarmuid could see her hesitation. “Just say what you need to say. You don’t have to hesitate.”
Mustering her courage, she said, “I had a child!”
Diarmuid pursed his lips–she had told him that before.
For Abigail’s part, she knew from his gaze that he thought she was referring to her other twin which did not survive delivery… which was a lie.
“No, I mean…”
“I don’t mind,” Diarmuid insisted.
As her phone started to vibrate again, Abigail became worried that it was Sheryl, and she could not afford to wait if something happened to Tommy.
“Never mind,” she said, and turned to leave when Diarmuid caught her wrist!
His gaze was almost searing. “Where are you going? Just stay here for the night.”
“I have something to do,” Abigail said quietly.
“What is it?”
“I have to contact my mom. My father is terminally ill, and he wants to see her. I should at least tell her about it.”
It was a half–truth, but Diarmuid could not meddle anyway since it was serious business.
“Okay,” he said and let her go.
Abigail strode out of his room, returning to her own and sitting on her bed to scroll through her call logs.
It turned out to be a missed call from Lulu instead.
Hesitating for a moment, she then called her back, and Lulu quickly picked up.
“Abigail…”
“Yeah. How are things going over there?” Abigail asked, concerned about how things were going with Lulu and Zachary.
Lulu did not answer, but Abigail soon noticed sniffles from the other end.
“Were you… crying?” she asked.
Lulu did not respond, and Abigail knew right then that she was in a bad state!
“What happened?” she asked urgently, but it seemed that Lulu was emotionally torn and could not compose herself enough to talk.
“Where are you right now?” Abigail asked then.
It took a while for Lulu to eventually answer, “I’m at Zachary’s place. Could you come give me a ride?”
“Of course,” Abigail replied. “But I don’t know where he lives–I’ve never been there. Why don’t you send me your location?”
“Okay,” Lulu replied.
Abigail stepped outside her room the instant she hung up, where she found Diarmuid leaving his room as well.
Their eyes met, and Diarmuid spoke first. “Are you going out?”
Abigail nodded. “A good friend of mine is in trouble. She asked me to help.”
Seeing that he was heading out as well, she asked, “You too?”
“Yeah.”
Diarmuid strode off, asking, “Where are you going?”
Abigail told him the address after receiving it from Lulu.
Diarmuid turned around to look at her then. “We’re going to the same place.”
“Eh?” Abigail gasped in surprise, though she soon remembered that Zachary and Diarmuid were close. “Did Zachary call you?”
“Yeah,” Diarmuid replied. “Let’s go together.”
Abigail nodded, and they left in Diarmuid’s car.
Although Abigail was riding shotgun, they were both silent. They wanted to talk, but did not know what to say.
Eventually, Abigail said, “The friend I mentioned is Lulu Adams–she used to be Zachary’s girlfriend.”
Diarmuid did not actually know much about Zachary’s personal life. From what Abigail said, however, it became clear that the man had been depressed recently because of relationship issues.
“So, are they having a fight?” he asked.
Abigail did not know how to put it into words. “Lulu wants to break up with Zachary, but he is refusing to let her go.”
Diarmuid remained aloof and did not ask any further questions–he never did poke his nose into others‘ affairs.
Soon, they arrived, and Abigail alighted before Diarmuid did.
Zachary answered the door, and he did not appear surprised to see them show up together. In fact, he had been right next to Lulu when she called Abigail.
Standing aside, he said, “Come in.”
Abigail hurried over to Lulu, who was leaning against the couch and had her face buried in her palms. Dropping to a crouch in front of her, Abigail patted her on the back. “Lulu.”
Lulu looked up, and her eyes were red and swollen. Her voice was also very hoarse–she had clearly been crying for a while. “Get me out of here.”
Abigail helped her up to her feet. “Okay.”
It seemed that Lulu was exhausted from crying, and Abigail had to help her walk.
“Head back to the mansion,” Diarmuid said as he gave Abigail his car key.
“Thank you,” she said as she took it.
Diarmuid gave her a look but said nothing.
Once they returned, Abigail helped Lulu to the couch and poured her a glass of warm water for her throat.
As Lulu had a couple sips, Mrs. Watson came and asked, “Is she your friend, Mrs. Althoff?”
“Yeah.”
“Will she be sleeping here tonight? Mr. Althoff…‘
“He knows,” Abigail said.
She understood why Mrs. Watson seemed uneasy–this was Diarmuid’s home and he never usually allowed strangers, so Mrs. Watson was worried that they would fight again.
Naturally, Mrs. Watson was relieved to hear that Diarmuid knew, and said warmly, “Very well. I shall prepare a guest room for your friend so that she can get some proper rest.”
“Sorry for the trouble, Mrs. Watson,” Abigail replied.
“Oh, it’s no trouble,” Mrs. Watson said, and left.
Meanwhile, Lulu was starting to calm down.
“Are you alright?” Abigail asked.
“No,” she replied.
“What happened?”
Lulu did not hold back anything, since Abigail was aware of what was going on between her and Zachary.
“Did you know that Zachary had a blind date at that teahouse?”
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.
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