The Heiress Nobody Saw Coming (Natalie and Marcus) novel Chapter 512

As Charles spoke, his eyes turned red. "When I was arranging the funeral, your grandmother somehow found out. She dragged her sick body over, crying and yelling at me, asking why I hadn't told her.

"At that time, only Yvette's body hadn't been placed in the coffin. I was afraid it would be too much for her, so I refused to let her see it no matter what. She threatened me with her own life, and in the end, I had no choice—I took her to see Yvette.

"When Vivian saw Yvette's charred body, she coughed up blood on the spot." His voice choked again. "It was a horrific scene, something no one should have to witness.

"She couldn't accept it, and neither could I. I'd always seen Yvette as a younger sister. For her to die like that, my heart—"

Charles lifted a trembling hand to cover his eyes, unable to say another word. Marcus reached out and gently patted his back, silently offering comfort.

After a long pause and a deep breath, Charles steadied himself and began again.

"Vivian lost her entire family in the Jenkins disaster. She saw with her own eyes the corpse of the sister she loved most, burned to that state. Her already frail health declined even more rapidly.

"She forced herself to stay strong and helped me complete the funeral arrangements for the Jenkins family. Afterward, her condition worsened by the day. She blamed herself endlessly. Day after day, she grew thinner, and her hair started falling out in clumps. She cried day and night.

"She was too afraid to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she'd see Yvette in the flames, screaming for help. Not just Yvette—others from the Jenkins family too. All of them, bodies engulfed in fire, screaming at her, begging her to save them.

"Eventually, Vivian couldn't bear it anymore. She left a suicide note and drowned herself in the bathtub."

Charles shut his eyes. Tears streamed down uncontrollably as his body trembled. "Marcus, your grandmother, Vivian, drowned herself in the tub. When I found her, she was already gone.

"She left a note asking to be buried with the Jenkins family. She asked me not to tell Wesley or Cassie. She didn't want her children to know their mother had died such a weak, helpless death.

"She asked me to raise them well. She also wrote that she had seen the fire, that she had seen Yvette die in front of her. But I had arranged for her to be in the hospital, so she had no way of witnessing it."

Charles took a deep breath. "In her letter, she said someone sent her a video after the fire. She saw Yvette, in flames, crying out for help.

"I later asked her doctor. He told me Vivian's mental state had already deteriorated. She couldn't distinguish between reality and hallucination. She believed she knew about the Jenkins tragedy but hadn't done anything to stop it.

"Her suicide was largely because of this. The psychiatrist at the time asked me if I'd been lying to Vivian and to myself."

Marcus listened intently, quietly processing all that had been said. He couldn't help but notice how Charles' story had started to contradict itself.

Maybe it was his age. Maybe it was the emotional shock of seeing those photos again. But Marcus could tell that Charles was trying to patch up his own narrative, and poorly at that.

And that only made Marcus more suspicious. Because the inconsistencies weren't subtle at all.

Marcus' phone rang, startling Charles. Marcus quickly took the phone from him and checked the screen. "It's Nat. I'm going to take this."

"Alright."

Marcus stepped outside and answered. "Hey, Nat."

"Did you get anything out of him?" Natalie's cool voice came through the phone. "Guess what Walter managed to find out from that girl."