Once She Came Like a Flash novel Chapter 19

**Faith Didn’t Survive Time – by Aadi Sharma**

**Chapter 19**

“Lola… are you… are you willing to see me and Edwin?”

Charlie felt his heart stop, his body rigid as he clutched the phone tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white.

But the voice that met his ears was not the warm, soothing tone he had grown accustomed to; instead, it was a chilling, almost robotic male baritone that sent shivers down his spine.

“Mr. Hudson, I have a letter from Ms. Hudson addressed to you and Edwin. You will learn about her situation from this correspondence.”

Charlie’s mouth fell open in disbelief. A storm of questions surged within him—who was this man, and what right did he have to speak on Lola’s behalf? But deep down, he recognized the futility of his anger; he had no claim to demand answers. He swallowed hard, forcing down the rising tide of fury that threatened to erupt, and managed to push out a single, defeated response.

“…Alright.”

The man on the other end assured Charlie that the letter would be delivered to his office shortly, then abruptly ended the call, leaving Charlie in a state of confusion and dread.

As he rose from his chair, he began to pace the office floor like a caged animal, each step fueled by a whirlwind of emotions. The mere thought of another man standing beside Lola ignited a fire within him, a primal urge to charge in, reclaim her, and drive this intruder out of her life for good.

Yet, a small voice in the back of his mind cautioned him against such reckless actions. If he were to act on his impulses, he would only sever the already fragile threads that connected them.

So, he stifled the urge to lash out, forcing himself to wait in a state of restless torment for the letter that would reveal Lola’s truth.

Yet, as the flames of his anger began to cool, they transformed into an icy realization. He recalled the time he had been swept away by the intoxicating thrill of Rose’s return, lost in the fantasy of rekindling a first love. In that haze, he had cast aside family and responsibility as if they were mere trifles.

He had even gone so far as to humiliate Lola, mocking her in front of others just to gain Rose’s fleeting approval. What right did he have to expect her to factor him or their family into her life-changing choices?

It was not the family that had shielded Lola from life’s tempests; it had been the very family that had unleashed the fiercest storms upon her existence. Only when her husband and son had turned their backs on her, when the term “family” became synonymous with despair and betrayal, did she finally choose the most treacherous path of all.

Charlie’s arm dropped limply to his side, the letter slipping from his grasp and floating down to the floor like a fallen leaf. He made no move to retrieve it, his gaze fixed ahead, hollow and vacant. Not every mistake comes with the promise of a second chance. At least, he was certain Lola would not afford him that opportunity.

The emptiness that consumed him was suffocating, as if a vital piece of his soul had been wrenched away. The woman he had once dismissed as expendable had turned out to be the one loss he could never bear.

How could he even begin to explain this to Edwin? How could he articulate that his mother was not coming back, that the hope of seeing her again was a cruel illusion that might never materialize?