The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 76

The glow of the phone screen felt jarring against the absolute darkness.

Annelise turned the brightness all the way down, rolling onto her side and pulling the blanket up to form a makeshift tent between her and Hackett. It trapped the faint light within her own small, isolated world.

She tapped into the familiar messaging app.

Pinned at the very top was the profile picture she had etched into her bones: a white gardenia.

She opened the chat, and the history flowed like a filthy, bottomless river, snaking all the way back to two years ago.

Annelise's finger swiped up rapidly.

Her heartbeat was perfectly steady.

Her hand was just as steady, firmer than a surgeon's scalpel.

She opened the camera on her backup phone, aimed it at Hackett's screen, and began meticulously photographing the damning evidence, page by page. It was enough to nail them both to the cross of public humiliation.

[Two Years Ago]

[Gardenia]: Hackett, I'm pregnant.

[Lehman]: Since when?

[Gardenia]: Last month.

[Gardenia]: Are we... keeping it?

[Lehman]: Keep it.

[Lehman]: If Elias really isn't coming back this time, at least the Lehman family will have an heir.

Reading the words "If Elias really isn't coming back," a wave of pure ice shot from the soles of Annelise's feet straight to her skull.

At that time, the news of Elias's "death" had barely been circulating for a year.

Yet Hackett Lehman was already making full preparations to capitalize on his brother's permanent absence.

How incredibly ironic, and how utterly cold-blooded.

[One and a Half Years Ago]

[One Year Ago]

[Lehman]: Anne is looking into her infertility issues again. She's visiting all kinds of doctors and asking around for home remedies.

[Gardenia]: Are you sure the surgery you performed on her didn't leave any traces? Will it show up on an exam?

[Lehman]: Relax. I did the surgery myself. The tubal ligation and the technique I used are highly concealed. Unless it's a top-tier specialist using the most advanced imaging equipment, no one will ever know it was done on purpose.

[Gardenia]: Good. But you still need to find a way to stop her from running to the hospital all the time. If she runs into a doctor she knows and they start asking questions, we're in trouble.

[Lehman]: Yeah. I'll come up with an excuse to get her to stop going.

Annelise's finger hovered over the screen, trembling.

She remembered now.

It was right around a year ago when Hackett suddenly became incredibly "considerate."

He told her to stop stressing over having a baby. He told her he loved her for who she was, and whether they had kids or not, his love would never change.