But even as the words leave her mouth, she knows they’re not true. She wonders if she’s suspected Waylen all along. Have I been in denial? She thinks with a shudder. How could I have let myself love him when I know he’s capable of hurting Charles like this? She wants to close her eyes and wake up back in her own bed. She pinches her arm hard, but nothing changes—the machines beep, and Charles is still half-dead in the bed.
“I want you to tell me the whole truth,” she says.
“You’ll regret it, but I’ve always admired your bravery,” Andrew says with a sigh.
“You know Waylen has always been jealous of Charles and his feelings for you. Well, when you went missing, Waylen hunted him down and shot him in the left side of the chest. I don’t know if Waylen knew about Charles’ strange heart and meant to spare his life, or if he meant to kill him.”
“You’re lying,” Leilani says.
“You have to be lying.”
“I’m not lying,” Andrew says quietly.
“I swear to you, and it’s the truth.”
Leilani shakes her head, and the tears begin to flow. Another sob burst through her lips, and she loses all control. She sinks onto her knees and buries her head on Charles’s bed. Why does it have to be like this? She thinks. Why? I always knew that Waylen was possessive, but this was so pointless, so cruel.
Then another more painful thought comes to her. This is all my fault, she thinks. If I hadn’t encouraged Charles’ friendship—if I’d just rejected the ring and avoided him, this never would have happened. He’s going to die because of me.
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask Waylen yourself,” Andrew says from above.
“Of course, he might lie to you, but I have the feeling he’ll tell you the truth.”
Leilani cries until her eyes burn, and her throat aches. Her entire body feels heavy and broken, but she slowly climbs to her feet. She smooths the quilt over Charles and gently squeezes his cold hand. She blinks, and for a moment, his face transforms: it’s warm and full of life again, and he smiles his soft smile. Then she wipes her eyes and sees him pale and thin and half-dead.
“Will he stay here until—until,” Leilani can’t finish the question.
“Until he dies?” Andrew asks.
“No, the Meyer family will pick him up and move him to one of their own care facilities.”
“Good—his own family, should take care of him,” Leilani says.
“When are they coming for him?”
“Soon,” Andrew replies.
Leilani nods. She wants Charles to be cared for by people who love him, but she’s scared of the consequences. The Meyer family will surely find out what happened to Charles and who did it. They don’t have the power to fight the Bamford’s, but Charles’ godfather, Mr. Oliver, is another story.
She bites her lip and rubbed her temples. Waylen deserves to suffer for what he did to Charles, she thinks. It makes me sick to my stomach that he did this. But at the same time, I can’t bear to see anything happen to Waylen. What’s wrong with me?
High-heeled shoes click down the hallway, and Leilani looks nervously toward the door. Charles’ mother rushes in, looking tired but elegant. Her hair is twisted into an elegant bun, and she’s wearing a neat gray suit. Leilani steps away from the bed, but Mrs. Meyer doesn’t seem to see her.
“Charles?” Mrs. Meyer asks shakily, grabbing his hand.
Her voice is quivering, and there are dark circles beneath her wet eyes. Suddenly, she lifts her head and sees Leilani. Her expression turns fierce and cold.
“What are you still doing here?” she asks.
“Haven’t you already hurt Charles enough?”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Meyer,” Leilani whispers.
“I shouldn’t be here.”
“I don’t give a damn about the broken ring,” Mrs. Meyer snaps, “At the end of the day, it’s just a stone, and I was willing to overlook it because I know how deeply my son loves you. But now you’ve gone and broken him, and I will never be able to forgive that.”
“I’m sorry,” Leilani whispers again, wishing the words could explain just how awful she feels.
“Your apologies won’t bring my son back to me,” Mrs. Meyer shouts.
“Get out of here! I don’t ever want to see you again!”
“You’d better be polite, Mrs. Meyer,” Andrew says.
“Leilani only just learned about Charles now.”
“Mr. Clifford, I don’t know how or why you’re involved with Charles, and I don’t even want to imagine what you’re doing here with Leilani,” Mrs. Meyer says.
“But I think you need to start minding your own business.” Mrs. Meyer turns toward the door and shouts, “Jackson, come get them out of here!”
“Let’s go,” Andrew says, putting his palm on Leilani’s lower back.
For once, Leilani doesn’t resist his touch. She’s exhausted and weak, and she doesn’t want to deal with Jackson. As she crosses out of the room, she took one last look at Charles, wondering if this will be the last time she ever sees him. Outside of the nursing home, the rain falls down in sheets. Andrew quickly opens an umbrella and holds it protectively over her.
“I know it’s pointless to ask, but is there any way you’d give Charles his heart back?” Leilani asks.
Andrew sighs deeply, and Leilani sees his knuckles whitened on the umbrella’s handle. Leilani listens to the rain beating down violently on the umbrella and tries to avoid the deepest puddles as they walk to the car.
Finally, Andrew asks, “You want me to give the heart back to Charles?”
“Well, it belongs to him,” Leilani says.
“What about me?” Andrew asks.
“Don’t you care about what will happen to me?”
Leilani wants to slap him. His selfishness makes her feel sick. He genuinely doesn’t care that he’s killing Charles, Leilani thinks. He just wants to continue to live his playboy life—hurting whoever gets in his way. She bites her tongue to keep herself from yelling at him.
“I want you to marry me,” Andrew suddenly says.
Leilani stares at him in disbelief.
“If you marry me, I’ll let Charles have the heart back in a year,” Andrew says.
“You’re joking,” Leilani says.
“There’s no way you’d risk your life just to spend a year with me. Andrew, I know you’re sc.u.m, but that’s a sick trick, even for you.”
“I’ll give you time to think about it,” Andrew says quietly.
“Let me know when you’ve made up your mind.”
Waylen looks around the aircraft cabin in confusion. He can’t remember how he got there, but his entire body aches and something prickles and itches his left arm. He tilts his head to the side and looks for Robert. Instead, he sees an IV wire trailing up from his arm to a plastic bag above his head.
His throat aches, but he shouts, “Robert! What’s going on?”
“How much do you remember, sir?” Robert asks.
“Nothing,” Waylen groans.
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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