Duncan uttered amusedly, “I should be asking you that question. You raced out with. Sonny in your arms and stopped my car without looking at who was behind the wheel. You got into the car without knowing it was me. You could be kidnapped and sold if you stop and get in any car.”
While talking, he took a good look at Liberty.
It appeared Liberty had lost more weight over the holidays.
She lost the fat on her cheeks and became more pleasing to the eye.
“Are you free now, Mr. Lewis? Can you drive me to Wiltspoon School? If not, I can hail a cab.”
Liberty did not want to take up Duncan’s time since he was a busy man. Besides, it must be a busy time of the year since it was just after the holidays. She carried her son and was going to get out of the car.
“Sit down. I’ll drive you there! Hand me the keys to your shop. I’ll help you lock up.”
Liberty felt her pocket and said, “The keys… The keys are in the restaurant.”
Duncan shot Liberty an angry look before getting out of the car. He went into the restaurant and picked up the keys to lock the place up.
Back in the car, Duncan concentrated behind the wheel and asked, “What happened? You’re all over the place, and you look pale.”
“Jasmine called me to say something happened to Serena.”
Color washed off Liberty’s complexion further at the mention.
Her sister went to the bookshop to tidy up the place today. What could have happened?
Did a bookshelf topple over her sister?
There were a lot of books on the shelf. The weight of the bookshelf with the help of gravity falling on a person…
Liberty stopped herself from dwelling deeper into that scenario.
She was terrified.
What if something happened to her sister? What if her sister had an accident?
Liberty had lost her parents and only had her sister, growing up. If her sister…
Tears streamed down Liberty’s face.
Duncan asked with concern, “What happened to your sister?”
Since Serena was his best friend’s wife, Duncan was rather worried about the situation.
“I don’t know. Jasmine didn’t say. All she told me was that something happened to Serena. She sounded flustered on the phone, so it must be something bad.”
Duncan said, “Hurry up and give Ms. Sox a call to get to the bottom of the situation. Don’t cry. You’re crying without knowing what the situation is. What if it isn’t what you think it is? That would be a waste of your tears.”
Liberty choked with sobs. “I can’t help myself… It brought me back to the time I was called out of the classroom by the teacher and told to go home. The community reached out to the school and told me to hurry home. I got home only to find my parents dead…
The day of her parents’ death was imprinted in Liberty’s mind for life.
She shuddered with fear every time she received a phone call out of the blue.
Liberty feared the worst.
“Don’t scare yourself. Just check what happened.”
Duncan was aware that Liberty and Serena lost their parents eleven years ago. Serena might not remember much because she was ten years old, but Liberty was a young teen at fifteen. She had just entered high school and could remember the details clearly.
Besides, due to their parents’ sudden passing, Liberty had to pick up the pieces as the older sister to sort out the funeral and look after her sister. It would forever be a painful memory for her.
“Mr. Lewis, tissue please.”
Sonny, who was scared of Duncan, asked the man for a tissue.
Duncan handed him a tissue.
After thanking Duncan for the tissue, the little man slipped out of the car seat and stood in front of Liberty to wipe away her tears. His young voice bore hints of comfort. “Don’t cry, Mom.”
Liberty picked her son up and brushed her own tears away. “Sonny.”
“Don’t cry, Mom.”
Sonny lifted his little arm to wipe his mother’s tears away.
Feeling touched, Liberty gave her son a tight cuddle before giving Jasmine a call. Jasmine accepted the call right away.
“Jasmine, what happened to Seren? How is she? It wasn’t clear on the phone just now. I’m on the way to the shop, so I’ll be there soon.”
Jasmine replied, “I lost you before I could say anything more. I kept trying to get your attention, but you didn’t respond. That was why I hung up. Don’t panic, Liberty. It’s not what you think. I-It’s Mr. York.”
“What happened to Zack? Was he in an accident?”
Hearing that it was not something fatal as she had imagined, Liberty was able to calm her nerves. She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she found out it was about Zack. Her heart jumped out of her throat.
“Liberty, Mr. York is Mr. York.”
“Zack is Mr. York? What do you mean Mr. York…? Don’t tell me you’re talking about the heir of the wealthiest Yorks. Is it ‘the’ Mr. York whose wife’s identity everybody has been gossiping about?”
Jasmine answered, “That’s him!
“Mr. York accepted a press interview. I watched the interview, and it was about him and Serena. Serenaturned white and stunned like a puppet when she saw the video. I pushed, hit, and yelled at her, but she hasn’t shown any reaction. She’s scaring the hell out of me. That’s why I’m calling you for help.”
Liberty had the shock of her life.
Her brother-in-law turned out to be the heir of the York family!
How could that possibly be?
Liberty had met the Yorks. They were no different from ordinary folks. They dressed in clothes without labels and drove mid-range priced cars. They did not seem wealthy to Liberty. The only thing that stood out was that the Yorks carried themselves with grace and culture.
“I’ll be right there. Pour a glass of water for Serenaand tell her to drink it. If that doesn’t help, splash her with a basin of cold water. That should do the trick.”
Jasmine replied, “Won’t Serenacatch a cold?”
With her head clearer than before, Liberty uttered, “That’s the only way to snap Serenaout of her trance. Otherwise, she’ll sit there blankly. We won’t be able to get any emotions out of her.”
She understood what her sister was feeling right now.
Liberty would rather Serena cry than her showing no emotions like a puppet.
Zack had been lying to her sister all this while!
Jasmine looked at her stupefied best friend and responded, “I’ll wait for you to arrive, Liberty.”
“Alright. I’m on my way.”
“Liberty, I’ll try another way to see if I can get ahold of her.”
Jasmine then disconnected the call.
She gave Serena another nudge.
“Serena. Serena. Come back to me. Don’t scare me.”
Serena looked like a mannequin. Jasmine pushed her, and Serena shook along the motion, but the moment Jasmine stopped, Serena went back to sitting there and staring blankly at Zack on the computer screen.
Jasmine then pinched Serena’s cheeks and twisted her ear. Nothing worked.
“D*mn Zack! It’s his fault Serenais like this.”
Jasmine cussed at Zack and fell into thought before going into the kitchen. She took out some utensils and started banging the spoon on a metal bowl around Serena.
Focus gradually returned to Serena’s eyes until she was able to pull herself together.
“Jasmine?”
“Thank God you’re back on earth. You scared the hell out of me.”
Jumping to her feet, Serena picked up her car keys and walked around the cash. register to dash out.
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.