“It’s Ms. Avery. She came and accused me of something I didn’t do. I’m feeling terrible and I would like to meet up.” “Okay. I’ll send you the address after your shift. Come over to my place.” …The night at Lush Heaven was always lively and crowded. The darkened sky marked the beginning of night entertainment. The place was filled with people gyrating to loud music and drinking alcohol with their favorite people. It was Violet’s first visit to such a raucous place. She had gotten the instructions from Sylvia earlier through text, so she went up to one of the bouncers and said, “Hi, I’m Violet. I’m looking for Ms. Sherry Fowler.” The bouncer said, “The boss is on the second floor. I’ll bring you up.” Violet followed the man through the lively crowd and went up to the second floor. The bouncer brought her to a VIP room and left her at the door. Violet thanked the man and then went inside. The room was a little dark, but she was able to clearly spot the two ladies sitt
Sylvia noticed Violet’s reaction. “What’s wrong?” “Madam, I think I've seen this woman before,” Violet said as she pointed at the picture. Sylvia’s expression shifted. She picked up the picture and asked, “Do you know her?” She and Sherry had gotten the picture from Northpeak Holiday Resort’s member list. The woman’s name was Melanie Miriam, and she had only joined the resort as a new member on the same day as Madam Carter’s accident. Although there were two other new members who joined on the same day, Melanie was the prime suspect. Most of the surveillance cameras at the resort on that day were being repaired but not the ones at the main entrance. Sylvia managed to get her hands on the surveillance footage and found out that Melanie had followed them to the resort. After she had gotten out of the car, she had even followed them in but was stopped by security. The footage then showed her making a call before following the security guard over to the reception to register
“Yeah. Tara must have sent her away from the city. What are we going to do now, Sylvia?” Sherry asked. “Wait. We wait for her to show up,” Sylvia said as she narrowed her eyes. …Two weeks went by. It was a Saturday and Tara arrived at the Carters' residence early in the morning. Odell was not home but Isabel and Liam were. Like always, Tara went to the living room as soon as she arrived, but Aunt Tonya stopped her at the entrance. She smiled and said to Aunt Tonya, “Aunt Tonya, I’m here to see Isabel and Liam, and also Grandmother. Please move aside.” Aunt Tonya bellowed, “Tara, you are not welcome here. Get out of this house immediately!” Tara had a glance into the living room and wanted to go in. Although Aunt Tonya stopped her again, she forced herself through and even tried to push Aunt Tonya away. Feeling irritated, Aunt Tonya pushed back. She barely used any strength as she just wanted to stop Tara from going in. To her surprise, Tara faltered and fell down
Isabel cried even louder, and Liam shot a frosty gaze at her. Tara’s gaze shifted when she saw the boy’s eyes, but she quickly regained her composure because they were just a pair of four-year-olds who had just lost their mother. Suddenly, Aunt Tonya got up and slapped her on the face. The force of the slap sent Tara faltering backward. Tara covered her face in pain. While she cursed Aunt Tonya deep in her heart, she continued to feign a teary look and said, “Aunt Tonya, I meant what I said!” Aunt Tonya pointed at her and scolded, “Get out of this house immediately, or I’ll slap you again!” Tara then left with a recalcitrant expression. Aunt Tonya grunted and turned around to the brother and sister. Liam was rather calm, but Isabel cried ceaselessly. Both Aunt Tonya and Sebastian tried everything they could think of and still could not stop the girl from crying, so Sebastian was forced to call Odell. After the call with Odell, Violet heard the crying and came out of M
“It’s Aunt Tonya…” Tara observed the reaction on his face and continued, “But I believe she doesn’t mean it. I didn’t know Isabel and Liam were in the living room, and I explained that I was there to see them. It slipped my mind and I accidentally mentioned Sylvia’s death, so the kids heard it, then she slapped me.” Odell frowned. “Go home first.” He was worried about the kids and had no time to comfort Tara. Tara immediately said, “Okay. Go check on Isabel and Liam. They need you right now.” While Odell hummed a reply and went into the house, Tara sighed a breath of relief and wore a grin. Now that the two little monsters knew their mother was gone, they would stop asking for her. All Tara needed to do was visit frequently and show them care and love. They might then start to accept her and rely on her as a mother figure. Until then, she could be with Odell again without any more hindrance. …Odell strode into the living room. Isabel was still crying loudly while Liam
After getting a picture of the brother and sister sleeping soundly, Violet sent the picture to Sylvia. “Madam, don’t worry. Isabel isn’t crying anymore.” “Thank you, Violet.” Violet chatted with Sylvia for a while before sneaking away. Little did she know, the boy was watching her with his big eyes from inside the room. …Inside a secret room in Lush Heaven, the windows were shut tight. Sylvia was sitting by the window, studying the picture she had gotten from Violet. The picture showed Isabel curled up in her brother’s arms. Her face was flush, and there seemed to be tears lingering at the tip of her eyelashes. Liam was the same age as her, but he looked after her like an adult would. The picture choked Sylvia up and made her emotional, but thinking that Tara was the one who caused all this stopped her from tearing up. It was not the time to be emotional. She had to find a way to locate Melanie! …Back at the Carters', Isabel and Liam went to Madam Carter’s room
Odell was in the other room and had no idea that his children were plotting to locate their mother. He stood in front of the balcony with the windows opened. The night breeze blew against his towering figure. He was leaning against the wall with a cigarette in his mouth while toying with a wooden tortoise in his hand. The wooden tortoise’s edges had been filed down by the repeated caresses, but the words carved on its stomach was still visible. As he stared at the little tortoise with a deep gaze, his mind uncontrollably played the scenes of that woman.Her arrogance, the injustice to her, and the blank expression that she wore…everything was being replayed in his mind. From the moment he confirmed his feelings for her to the moment she jumped into the lake, every expression on her face flashed in his mind. He still failed to understand why would the woman, being the shameless person who cared a lot about the kids, would have jumped into the lake. If he could start over, he
Isabel and Liam’s cuteness was Sherry’s weakness, so she lowered herself to their eye level to hug and kiss them. She left a ton of kiss marks on their puffy cheeks before releasing them. Liam might not be a fan of intimacy, but for the sake of his mother, he tolerated being ravaged. Isabel was fine with the kisses and hugs, and the thought of her mother made her return a kiss on Sherry’s cheeks. The returned kiss almost melted Sherry’s heart. She smiled and hugged the two of them, and asked, “Where do you two want to go today? I’ll bring you anywhere you want!” Isabel looked at Liam expectantly. Liam said, “We want to eat hotpot!” “Let’s go then! I’ll bring you two to the best hotpot shop in town!” Sherry held their hands and wanted to leave the house, but Aunt Tonya wanted to follow them. Liam turned to Aunt Tonya and said, “Aunt Tonya, why don’t you take a rest today? You don’t need to accompany us.” Sherry also said, “Yeah, Aunt Tonya, don’t worry. I’ll send them