Chapter 97
Emma got into the lift, and Annie slipped in right after her. Her chest heaved as though the weight of their tension somehow became heavier inside this small area, suffocatingly heavy. Her breathing hitched, her chest juddering as though her lungs and heart were at battle with each other. Emma said nothing but paid attention to the glowing numbers up above, indicating which floors they were currently passing
The elevator doors opened with a ping, and the two women, each for different reasons, went through it into the hall, unified by urgency across the chasin of emotion separating them. Down the hall to Adam Hersel’s room, they went, Emma’s heart pounding with the anticipation of truth. Annie’s with dread at exposure.
But just as they reached the corner, both stood still, arrested by a sight ahead.
A young woman, who could almost have passed for Adam Hersel’s daughter, was being dragged away in handcuffs by two- officers. She resisted their grasp, her tear–streaked face twisted in a mix of rage and despair. Behind her, an older woman wailed, clinching at her chest as her cried echoed off the sterile hospital corridor.
With that, the young woman cast one quick, sharp glance toward Emma before turning around the bend and out of sight. There was something substantive in that glance that weighed upon Emma.
“What, what’s going on?” Emma quavered, her voice barely audible as she looked through to Adam’s room.
Her breath caught as a stretcher emerged–a body covered by a white sheet–wheeled out of the room. Emma’s legs moved of their own accord, propelling her forward as the nurses pushed the gurney past her. The world blurred around her, while at the same time focusing down to the body beneath the sheet.
“No, she whispered, shaking her head. “No, this can’t be.”
She reached out, heedless, snatching at the edge of the sheet and yanking it down.
Her knees buckled.
It was Adam Hersel. His face was pallid, his body utterly still, and his eyes closed forever.
“No!” Emma gasped, tumbling backward as it had finally hit her like a freight train. Her vision blurred at the welling of her tears as her shaking hands flew to her mouth. This can’t be happening. Not now! Not when we’re so close.
Behind her, Annie stepped forward, her eyes wide in mock shock. But the glint of relief in her gaze told a different story. Emma didn’t see it. Annie felt it, the weight of impending doom lifting off her shoulders, Adam Hersel was gone, and with him, any chance of her secret being exposed. She forced her expression into one of pity, but inside, she rejoiced.
Emma glanced at the nurses, her voice breaking as she pleaded for an explanation: “What happened? He was fine this morning! What could have gone wrong?”
One of them- professionally and very hesitantly replied, “He asked for his family. His daughter showed up not too long later. There was an altercation. She attacked him, and he did not make it.
The words struck Emma like a blow to the gut. Her knees buckled, and she stumbled against the wall for support. Sharp breaths racked her chest while tears coursed down her face. All the hope she’d clung to, the promise of justice, was taken away in just one second.
“How how could this happen?” Emma managed to whisper barely audibly.
She looked through her tear–soaked lashes and found Annie. Angie moved towards Alexander with a confident gait, as if the death of Adam Hersel had restored her balance. Emma watched Annie’s crocodile tears roll down her cheeks; her false sympathy was almost too good.
Something inside Emma snapped
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21-22 Tue, Dec 17
Chapter 97
She spun on her heel, storming down the hall as the walls closed in around her. The anguish was too much, the weight unbearable. Adam Hersel was gone, and with him, the truth. It was like the investigation won right back to square one
Headlines blared from every nook and corner that day, pitiless and merciless. Adam Hersel’s daughter faced off in every newspaper, wild speculations regarding her motive on every new article either demonizing her as a cold–blooded murderer like her father or concocting mental instability stories of how such an incident occurred, but Emma’s mind had drifted a thousand miles away to the spiraling motions of guilt and despair in which she had found herself cast by the world around her, in the face of judgment and noise.
She grasped the crumpled letter between her shaking hands, and smudges of ink stained her palms from her falling tears. If only she had gotten there sooner. It beat in her brain, much like a drum unrelenting in its beat. Maybe, if she had come just minutes earlier, perhaps Adam might still be alive; justice and truth might finally be possible.
Her mind replayed the events in excruciating detail: the cold hospital corridor, Annie’s trembling voice, her wide eyes darting nervously. Annie had been terrified, Emma realized so Annie couldn’t have been the mastermind behind the attack. But again, Annie has slipped away, unscathed, while Adam Hersel paid the ultimate price.
Emma bit hard into her bottom lip, the metallic taste of blood mingling with the bitterness in her throat. Anger and regret tangled together in her chest, forming a choking knot. She wanted to scream, cry, and turn back time to do everything differently. But the past was a steel door that wouldn’t budge no matter who you were.
Her mind turned to Ethan. Her precious boy, whose bright eyes now held shadows no child should ever bear. Even after being discharged, Ethan hadn’t quite made it back to the one he was before. Nights were the worst, waking up screaming. drenched in sweat, as his small body shook, reliving the terror of the walls falling around him. The helplessness in his eyes tore at her heart, a constant reminder of the nightmare they couldn’t escape.
SEND GIFT
