Coop’s image was depicted on the papers. In an era of economic hardship, a person who knew photography, could afford to purchase an advanced and pricey camera, and would often visit the high-end restaurant where Annabel worked—those signs illustrated that he was wealthy. Judging from his nice handwriting, he didn’t seem like the son of a nouveau riche, so he might have been born in a family of scholars.
It was obvious that he was a patient and gentle man. From Annabel’s diary, Sophia was able to tell that the former lived in happiness when she used simple words to describe every minute detail of her relationship with him.
Under his guidance, she had made fewer spelling errors while her handwriting became cleaner and sharper, becoming more similar to his. Although her handwriting didn’t seem as energetic as his, it gradually took the appearance of his handwriting. Therefore, it was obvious that she had been trying hard to improve.
It piqued Sophia’s curiosity about him.
She then turned to another page and the words written on it was ‘Coop is 18 years old today!’ 18 years old? He received two doctorate degrees at the age of 18? Who on earth is this Coop? She scratched her head in disbelief.
Coop kept appearing in Annabel’s diary; it was obvious that she was living a happy life with him. Unfortunately, Sophia had already known about the ending—those two were unable to be together in the end. She felt a sudden sorrow and continued to flip to the next page with a heavy heart.
Sure enough, after a few pages, the diary stated, ‘Coop’s family came to look for me today. They said that I’m unworthy to be with him because his future wife must be a young lady from a good family. Coop, what should I do?’
There were a few spelling errors in the sentence, but the handwriting that would patiently amend her mistakes never appeared again.
There were quite a number of blank pages. Annabel might have been threatened by Coop’s family and was separated from him for various reasons. Feeling devastated, she had lost the mood to pen her thoughts in her diary—or perhaps it was because the person who urged her to do so never showed up again.
Sophia then turned a few more pages. Annabel seemed to have collected herself and started her new life, which was also the beginning of her nightmare. ‘It’s rather nice to stay in the Edwards residence and they pay well too. My brother needs the money to study, so I have to work hard to pay for his school fees.’
On the next page, Annabel’s handwriting started to tremble. ‘I was raped by Mr. Edwards today. Coop, what should I do? Coop, where are you? Can you quickly come and save me?’
Probably because it was her mother’s diary, Sophia was in grief and indignation.
As expected, my mother was never willingly in a relationship with Joe, that ugly and fat b*stard! She was actually raped! My mother had never been a slut who desired to become part of the rich and wealthy!
On the next page, Annabel wrote, ‘I spoke to my father on the phone today. He doesn’t allow me to head home because the wage here is exceptionally high. Coop, what should I do? Can you come to save me?’
The handwriting at the end contained her usual crooked style—the twisted handwriting and utterly illogical sentences strongly indicated that she might have written those in a sorrowful and indignant yet helpless state.
The truth of that incident years ago was finally revealed. Annabel left Coop because she was threatened by his family. To avoid them, she became a nanny in the Edwards residence where she was then raped by Joe! She was helpless and had no one to assist her. Coop had left her and Joe had even confined her. When she finally had the chance to call home to ask for help, not only did her family refuse to save her from the fire, but they even thought that she had received an opportunity to become rich by being a mistress to a wealthy businessman. Therefore, they asked her to continue to live at the Edwards residence!
The fingers on the notebook trembled and her nails tore a yellowish paper in extreme anger.
Sophia continued to flip to the next page. There was little content on the following pages—only Annabel’s scribbles, which repeated the old poem over and over again. If the city generals were present, the barbarians’ horses would never have crossed the mountains.
In the last entry on the diary, the handwriting was messy, revealing the writer’s collapsing emotional state of the writer. ‘My belly is becoming bigger. I’m really scared that madam would find out. Oh my God, what should I do? Coop, where are you? Coop, I really missed you.’
The diary came to an end after that entry. It might have been because Annabel’s pregnancy with Sophia started to show and was finally discovered by Joe’s lawful wife. The latter then drove Annabel out from the residence.
Annabel was helplessly driven out of the Edwards residence with a big belly. She couldn’t or dared not look for Coop, so she had to return home to Riverdale on her own.
It wasn’t difficult to imagine her life after she returned home. Rumors would have been spread like wildfire that an unmarried 18-year-old young lady was pregnant without a man by her side.
B*tch, whore, a loser… Haha.
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