Chapter 35
Audrey sobbed hysterically. Her throat was so sore that she could barely utter a word.
“Aunt Anne…”
Tears streamed down her face. She didn’t hold back any longer. She broke down and lost control. She hugged Anne and cried loudly, “You promised to make me chicken lasagna and egg salad!”
She didn’t want Nathan! She really didn’t want him! All she wanted was for Aunt Anne to be alright
Hugo stood outside the morgue. His eyes reddened as he listened to Audrey crying uncontrollably.
They had grown up together. He hardly ever saw her cry.
Even when she woke up in the hospital and found out that Nathan had lost his memory and fallen in love with someone else, she wiped away her tears and said she would bring his memory back. She had never broken down like this before.
Hugo thought Audrey was cold and unfeeling, just like others said. She always seemed calm, no matter what.
He waited outside the morgue for almost two hours. When the sounds of crying stopped, he walked to the door and gently pushed it open.
Inside, Audrey sat slumped next to the table where Anne lay. Her hair was messy and her eyes were
red and swollen.
She leaned her face close to Anne’s cold and lifeless hand. She looked numb and dazed as if she had
lost all feeling.
Hugo was about to enter the morgue when he heard Amelia’s voice coming from the direction of the
elevator.
“Be nice when you see Audrey. Aunt Anne was her foster mother. You shouldn’t have pushed her no
matter what…”
Amelia dragged Nathan out of the elevator, even though his arm was iri a cast.
Nathan was getting impatient. He shook his right arm hanging in front of his chest.
“My ar
arm wouldn’t be broken if I hadn’t tried to save her. I had to push Anne! She was pulling at me.
“Nathan!” Amelia stopped and glared at him. “Anne was hit by a car and died!”
Nathan’s lips pressed together tightly. In the past, he would have retorted sarcastically, sneering that he hadn’t caused the car to crash onto the sidewalk.
Maybe it was the guilt of drugging Audrey that night gnawing at him. Perhaps it was knowing that Audrey might have taken her own life if she hadn’t met him. He now understood why she clung to him so desperately for the last two years. It wasn’t as sordid as he had thought.
Chapter 35
He didn’t argue with Amelia.
“Alright, alright…” Nathan softened his voice when he saw her stern expression. He pinched her check. “I get it. Don’t be mad…‘
“Stop it!”
H
Amelia grabbed Nathan’s left hand and pulled him forward. When she noticed Hugo at the entrance to the morgue, she asked, “Why aren’t you inside with Audrey?”
“She wanted to be alone.” Hugo closed the door gently. He looked at Nathan, but hesitated to speak.” I’ve never seen Audrey so upset before.”
Nathan stopped in his tracks and frowned deeply.
“Nathan, you should go back to your room!” Hugo said in a low voice, “If Audrey finds out you pushed Aunt Anne, I’m afraid
“You’re being ridiculous, Hugo!” Nathan’s face was filled with anger that he couldn’t hide.
He scoffed, “Her foster mother kept pulling at me. I didn’t push her under the car. I wasn’t the one who drove the car onto the sidewalk. Why is everyone acting like it’s all my fault?”
But if you hadn’t pushed her, the car wouldn’t have hit Anne,” Amelia raised her voice slightly. She felt annoyed because Nathan didn’t want to own up to what he’d done.
Suddenly, the morgue door burst open.
