"You're having your baby, aren't you?" Leila asked, as she focused her sight on Autumn's belly. Since she heard about Autumn's pregnancy, she was keeping track of Autumn's due date. Not until Leila found out she was giving birth did she dare to actually show up in front of her.
"What do you want, Leila?" Autumn asked anxiously. Noticing that Leila fixed her gaze on her belly, Autumn got nervous and feared that she might hurt her unborn babies.
"Don't get so nervous. I won't do anything to you," Leila replied with a sly smile on her face. As Isla had chosen to meet at a coffee shop full of people, Leila couldn't even try to lay a hand on Autumn even if she wanted to do so.
"It's been a long while since I met you. I just wanted to check on you to see how you have been recently," Leila observed, as a sinister smile came across her face. "I went to the cemetery to pay my respects to my grandparents the other day. To my surprise," she paused to create an air of suspense and went on,"do you who I saw there?"
"Who?" Autumn asked with her furrowed brows, as her uneasiness increased. Overpowered by a gut feeling about some bad news, she stared at Leila and asked,"What trick are you playing now?"
"My grandparents' graves were next to Emily's. What a coincidence! Perhaps they will be neighbors even in the afterlife." Leila burst into laughter, a vicious smile settled on her face soon after. Autumn trembled with fear and goosebumps appeared all over her body. Casting a dismissive glance at Leila, she snapped back,"Stop speaking rubbish. Emily is currently receiving a treatment abroad."
She then forced herself to calm down and went on,"Do you think I will believe your words just like that? Stop dreaming! I'm going to give birth in a month. All you wanted is to stimulate me now. What's your motive this time?"
Autumn clenched her fists and declared firmly,"No matter what your trick is, it'll never work. I won't believe a single word from you ever. I am not naive."
"Oh is that so?" asked Leila as she continued to smile. She discovered that Autumn was much stronger and resolute than before. With a snarl, she went on,"I knew you wouldn't believe me, so I took some pictures." She took out her phone, put it on the table and gestured her to see them for herself. "Look, here is her tombstone. Isn't she Emily? She wears a bright smile in the photo on her grave," she remarked confidently.
Autumn tried to resist her pressing curiosity but failed to conquer it. With one glimpse at the phone, she caught sight of Emily's picture on the gravestone. All of a sudden, she was gripped by instant panic and fear. She could not breathe.
What was left of her mind kept screaming at her to leave the coffee house at once. Pretending to be composed and unaffected, she rose from her seat and addressed Leila coldly,"I don't know what you're talking about, but I must leave now."
"Stop, wait a minute!" Leila panicked, as she got up and grabbed Autumn's arm. "If you still doubt my words, I can take you to her graveyard now. Your grandma has been buried for a while, but you haven't visited her even once. Even I feel sorry for her," she exclaimed, with fake sympathy.
Autumn shook off her hand and retorted emotionally,"Just shut your trap! I won't be fooled by you again. I've heard enough."
Autumn kept convincing herself to believe what Charles said. But the minute she saw Emily's photo, she lost her way. 'The person in the picture is Emily. The picture can't lie, ' her thoughts wavered.
"You just don't have the courage to face the truth, do you?" Leila commented, as if she read Autumn's mind. "You had someone always by your side at home almost every day along the way. Emily worked so hard all her life to raise you, but you didn't even attend her funeral. If others found out, they would immediately call you an ungrateful woman. That's what you fear, isn't it?"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: His Real Wedded Bride