hapter 4
Chapter 4
“Avery, Amanda is still young. It’s natural for her to be a little spoiled and headstrong. Once we’re engaged on the 9th of next month, I’ll take you away from all of this.”
The 9th of next month.
It was a date I had been looking forward to, though I never let it show.
I gave him a soft smile.
“Alright.”
That evening, Amanda flaunted the bracelet in front of me.
She waved it around as though afraid I might miss it, circling me several times before
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speaking.
“Sister, you’re not mad at me, are you? I didn’t expect William to listen to me so well.
Not only did he make you give me the
bracelet, but he also had you bow and apologize in person.”
After showing off the bracelet, she leaned closer, her eyes scanning the wound on my forehead with a mocking smile.
“Sister, is that a scar? What will you do about the engagement ceremony next month? Will it have to be canceled like today’s birthday party?”
I ignored her.
Let her have her moment, it wouldn’t last much longer.
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But she arrogantly blocked my path.
“Sister, I heard you want William to accompany you to visit your mom?”
I stopped in my tracks and fixed her with a cold stare.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying that William won’t go with you because he doesn’t love you.”
“He’ll go.”
I still trusted William despite everything. After all, my mother had been good to him for years. A visit to the cemetery wouldn’t take more than two hours.
Amanda kept pushing, pretending to be hurt as she drew closer to William.
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He thought I didn’t know.
But what he failed to realize was that Amanda had been sending me photos of them together every time, each one designed to provoke me.
I never responded to her. I simply saved the photos quietly for the day I would need them.
On the day of my mother’s death
anniversary, William finally acted like a
decent man.
Not only did he show up, but he also brought lilies, my mother’s favorite flowers.
As we arrived at the cemetery, his phone buzzed with a message.
He glanced at it, and his face instantly hardened.
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Taking my hand, he looked at me with an
apologetic expression.
“Sorry, Avery. There’s an urgent issue at
work. I need to leave.
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Even though I knew the message had come from Amanda, I still clung to a tiny thread of hope, pleading with him.
“William, today is my mother’s first death anniversary. Can’t you postpone work for just one hour?”
Before my mother passed away, he had been one of the few people she worried about besides me.
“Sorry, Avery. This is really important.”
His gentle tone hid a quiet firmness, and
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before I could say another word, he was already walking toward the gates, phone pressed to his ear.
Not long after, I received a message from Amanda. [I told you I won’t let William visit a dead woman.]
I turned off my phone, closed my eyes, and tried to suppress the anger threatening to overwhelm me.
Alone, I placed the lilies on my mother‘ s grave, my eyes fixated on the smile that seemed to forever rest on her face, etched
into the tombstone.
Tears began to fall without warning.
I wiped them away and whispered softly,
“Mom, on the 9th of next month, I’ll be
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leaving Franklin City.”
“I probably won’t come back. Please don’t
blame me.
99
My mother had loved me beyond words. I believed she would understand.
I stayed at the cemetery, lost in conversation with her for what seemed like hours before finally leaving.
Next, I headed to the bank, where I retrieved the diamond bracelet I had hidden away.
This bracelet, a precious heirloom passed down from my grandmother to my mother, was something my mother had entrusted to me before she left.
Chapter 5
