Exposing the Charade of Deep Affection (PDF) novel Chapter 6

Chapter 6 We Have No Proof

After saying that, he got in the car and drove off.

It took me a few seconds to realize that he was angry.

I did nothing but thank him. What did that have to do with whether we were married or not?

I didn’t bother to dwell too much on it. Instead, I went back to the office and continued working overtime. Now that my father was ill, I supposed that things would begin to pile up at the Conner Group, and I would soon be busy.

I reached the Conner Group’s office.

No sooner had I reached the door than I heard giggling from inside.

As I opened the door, Rachel Martin, who was sitting on the couch holding a tablet and watching idol TV series, looked up at me. At the sight of me, she put down the tablet and pushed the lunch box on the coffee table to me. “Where have you been? Didn’t we say I’d bring you lunch today? The food is cold.”

I sat down next to her, opened the lunch box, and said as I ate, “My dad is hospitalized. I went to the hospital.”

She frowned. “Rudolf is hospitalized? What’s wrong?”

“Advanced liver cancer.” I opened my mouth and found it difficult to swallow the food.

“Advanced liver cancer? How so?” Rachel paused and looked at me. “You…”

“I’m fine.” Afraid that she might say something sappy, I beat her to it. I said, “People die every day. You and I will die someday, too. It is only a matter of time.”

She clicked her tongue, moved her butt, got closer to me, and said, “Stop it. I’m not going to comfort you. I’m just saying that at this point, you should get along well with Rudolf and stop quarreling about what happened back then.”

I pressed my lips and lost my appetite. I put down the fork, leaned back on the couch, and stared at the ceiling. “Does it really not matter what the truth is?”

She sighed, “If only we could find the man who took you away that year so that he could tell the police that you and he did not elope, but he picked you up at the station in the name of Ashley and lured you to the border. Yet now he is nowhere to be found, and we’ve got no proof at all. What can we do?”

We had no proof.

Five years ago, I was eighteen, and I graduated from high school. Because I yearned for South Afeoria, I applied for Deston City University, where Ashley was studying as a postgraduate, with full expectations.