Charlie‘s mother nodded and left the room.
Wanda said to Charlie, “seeing how you‘ve ended up is like looking into my own future, but I don‘t want to submit to my fate, so I have to gamble. I thought of a perfect plan and I will surely be able to get that box. However, I will not be working with you any longer, because you have been utterly defeated this time.”
As Wanda was leaving, Charlie‘s eyes were filled with resentment and tears.
‘I’m not dead yet! How dare Wanda look down on me?!‘ He thought, ‘it‘s bad enough that Elyette doesn‘t consider me his rival. Who does Wanda think she is to look down on me?’
At the memorial service, personal belongings that represented Shea were carried onto the car after the ceremony and they were meant to be buried next to Rosalie‘s grave.
The rest of the guests headed towards the hotel for the lunch service; Mike was about to take the children to the hotel as well, but noticed that both Layla and Hayden were staring at Elyette, who was about to deliver Shea’s belongings to the graveyard.
“He is going to the graveyard. Do you two want to go with him?” Mike asked..
Hayden nodded and Layla copied his motion.
“Alright! Let‘s go with him, then.” With that, Mike took them along with him and headed towards the graveyard.
The graveyard was surrounded by mountains and the temperature was extremely chilling.
Once they buried Shea‘s remains, the gravestone was planted. Elyette kneeled and placed a bouquet of lilies in front of the grave while looking at the smiling photo of Shea. “Shea, if there‘s a next life, don‘t be so silly again.”
Layla heard him and mumbled, “Shea isn‘t silly! silly people know nothing, and she knew everything.”
Mike gave Layla a look and silently hinted her to stop talking.
“Shea must have known that it‘s my mom who did her surgery, that‘s why she likes my mom so much. That‘s why she likes me and my brother, and also our little brother…” Layla was so depressed; she knew that if she didn‘t take the opportunity to speak her mind, she wouldn‘t get another chance again. “If I have a time machine that allows me to travel back in time, I will definitely stop Shea from giving her blood to our brother. Robert is really cute, but I didn‘t want to lose Shea as well.”
Elyette‘s body stiffen at Layla’s words.
Averie was the one who performed Shea‘s surgery? It was Averie the entire time.
Elyette felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
Mike watched as Elyette‘s face turned from white to red, before darkening.
“Layla, why would you spill everything out like that? Your mom didn‘t even mention this to him,” Mike whispered to Layla.
Layla didn‘t think that she had done something wrong. “But Shea is already gone! Even after the two surgeries my mom did for her, she still died!”
‘Two surgeries!‘ Elyette thought, ‘Averie was the one who did both surgeries on Shea!‘
Elyette swallowed hard as he stared intently at Layla‘s face, feeling as though everything before him was a dream.
If Averie was the one who performed the surgeries on Shea, why was he completely unaware of it? He even ended up paying Zoe 300 million like a clown.
He felt like a fool, while Averie watched everything and refused to mention this to him even after Shea‘s death. If Layla hadn‘t talked about it, was Averie going to keep this from him forever?
Mike could sense that Elyette was emotionally unstable, so he picked Layla off the ground and took Hayden‘s hand with his other hand, before saying goodbye. “It‘s too cold here. I will take the kids and go now.”
With that, Mike left hastily before Elyette could react.
The weather was cloudy and it looked as though the sky was about to fall.
The graveyard was surrounded in silence, so one would distinctly hear the slightest movement.
Elyette looked back at Shea‘s smiling face in the photo as his state of mind shifted drastically.
It was no wonder that Shea would call out to Averie every time after the surgeries; it was no wonder that Shea said she heard Averie‘s sound after the second surgery and refused to accept that Zoe was the one who performed the surgery.
Zoe’s story was nothing but an enormous lie, yet he was even more laughable than her. At least Zoe knew that it was a lie from the start, but he had believed her story up until now.
“Averie Tate, why would you do this to me?” Elyette mumbled as he quietly sobbed, “why?”
All he received in response was the sound of the wind blowing.
On the way home, Layla muttered in confusion, “why isn‘t Dad happy when he finds out that Mom was the one who performed surgeries on Shea?”
“Layla, would you be mad if your brother lies to you?” Mike tried to explain with a metaphor.” Your dad wouldn‘t have been upset if he had known about it all along.”
“Why didn‘t Mom tell him, then?”
“Because your mom didn‘t want anything to do with him at first. She was afraid that if she gets involved with him, he would come and take you and your brother away from her. By the time their relationship improved, it was too long in the past for her to mention.”
Layla still seemed slightly confused by Mike‘s explanation.
“The adults‘ world is so complicated!”
“Yeah! Which is why people like Shea are actually rather lucky.” Mike glanced at Layla and said, “your eyes are all swollen now. I thought that you had a rehearsal tonight?”
“It‘s a rehearsal, not the official live performance.” Layla rubbed her eyes and it hurt a little.” After the show, I want to go find Mom.”
“Sure.”
In the evening, Averie made a video call to them.
It was seven in the morning in Bridgedale and that was usually the time they video called one another.
“Shea has been buried and Layla has gone off to attend the rehearsal for the night ball.” Mike and Hayden stood before the camera in the video call with Averie. “Layla told Elyette that you were the one who performed surgeries on Shea and he was really emotional as though he had been struck.”
Averie remained silent.
“Did he contact you?” Mike asked.
“No.” Averie drew a quiet deep breath and changed the subject. “Layla’s classmate’s mother contacted me saying that her child will be having a birthday celebration soon, she would like to invite Layla as a guest. That child seems to be quite close with Layla so if you have time tomorrow, take Layla over. If you are busy, tell the bodyguard to send her.”
“Oh, I‘m busy tomorrow. I will tell the bodyguard to send her there, then.”
“Sure.” Averie turned her attention to Hayden. “Hayden, do you have class tomorrow?”
Hayden nodded.
“What do you learn in the special classes?” Averie hadn‘t a clue about what Hayden was studying, as it was a completely different field as her profession.
Hayden briefly went through the content of his curriculum and Averie complimented him as she often did, “you are so brilliant, darling. I am so proud of you.”
It was a simple complement, but Hayden felt especially proud.
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.
Leave a Reply