Chapter 20
“This whole thing is just an accident. I hope you’ll—‘
“Ending up in bed with me was an accident; pushing Ingrid down the stairs was also an accident. Accidents happen to you quite often, don’t they, Angeline?” Ned cut her off coldly, “Be at Regalia Hotel at 7:00 pm tomorrow.
“Explain this to my face. Otherwise, I’ll make sure your adoptive mother spends the rest of her life in prison. You know me–I’m a man of my word.” He hung up.
Angeline’s mind was blank as she listened to the dial tone on the other end of the line. She was seriously starting to doubt whether she truly understood Ned. In fact, she wasn’t sure whether Ned wanted her to be at the hotel tomorrow so she could actually explain, or so he could drug her.
Ned was infamous in Oceanford for being a bully, but he’d always treated her extremely well. The way he treated her and her love for him had formed a halo effect in her perception of him. She couldn’t analyze the situation accurately because of that.
At that moment, her phone vibrated. Her gaze focused again as she answered the call.
“Angie, I’ve already asked Vanessa about the situation. Ingrid’s doing quite well, so you don’t need to worry about her. As long as she’s fine, I don’t think Ned will do anything to make life hard for Anne,” Zachary said.
When Angeline didn’t answer, he glanced at his phone doubtfully. “Hello? Angie?“..
“Thanks for going to the trouble,” Angeline said. “Really.”
“The things I said at the police station earlier … I’m sorry. Don’t take it to heart,” Zachary said.
“I know.” Her tone was filled with exhaustion. “Could I ask you to represent Anne in court?” “Of course. I’ve eaten her cooking and stayed at her home before; I would’ve represented her even if you hadn’t asked! Get some rest, okay? Anne will be fine. I’ll talk to Ned about this.”
After hanging up, Angeline tried and failed twice to stand up. She only managed to stagger to her feet after pushing herself off the bench. The night breeze mussed up her long tresses.
She stuffed it behind her ears and stared at the corridor where Ned and Tommy had stood earlier. Then, she slowly trudged out of the hospital.
+15 BÔNUS
The next morning, Angeline was rudely awakened at 8:30 am by the ringing of her phone. She unplugged it from the charger and checked it. It was an unknown number.
She didn’t return the call. She was about to put down the phone when it rang again. Her drowsiness mostly dissipated when she saw it was Ingrid calling. Angeline sat up and
answered it.
“Angie.” Ingrid’s gentle voice rang out on the other end of the line. “I heard from Vanessa that you made a trip to the hospital last night.”
“Are you okay?” Angeline asked.
“I’m fine. Vanessa told me that the woman who pushed me wasn’t an anti–fan, that she’s just your relative.”
“She’s the adoptive mother I had before going to the Fletcher family.” Angeline didn’t hide Anne’s identity. She explained, “At the airport… she only made her way through the crowd because she saw Ned. She wasn’t heading for you; someone pushed her.”
“I know. I saw the video. I’m not calling to accuse you of anything, Angie.” Ingrid paused, then continued, “I wanted to ask whether you and Ned have really divorced.”
“Yeah.”
After a short silence, Ingrid sighed. She sounded like she wanted to have a heart–to–heart with Angeline. “But I’m still scared. I love him and want to be with him, but I’m worried he’ll remember your past together one day.”
