Chapter 11
The Emersons claimed Madeleine’s body to have it cremated, but sulihan ended
Initially, the Emersons confronted Sullivan about it, but he refused to retum the ashes have to take the ashes over my dead body!”
was being transported back to them.
arnt occurred, he would silence them by saying, “You’ll
He moved out of the villa he once shared with Madeleine, but as he was clearing the house, be realized that many of the belongings that were related to their pelationship had gone missing. He linked that discovery to her strange behavior in recent weeks and came to a conclusion
Although the police determined that Madeleine had accidentally fallen off the yacht and ended up drowning in the sea, Sullivan adamantly believed that her death wasn’t an accident. It had been planned from the start.
That explained why she rejected having sex with him. That was why s tried to set him up with Isabel and cleared out anything that was related to their history together
Inside the bedroom, Sullivan hugged the box of ashes to his chest. Liquor bottles cluttered at his feet. His eyes were filled with sorrow, regret, and a good amount of self–mockery
Why hadn’t he noticed a thing when Madeleine had made it so obvious?
Hechugged yet another mouthful of liquor. As the buming sensation spread through him, he stroked the box of ashes and closed his eyes. He could see her smiling. face appear before him.
“Madeleine.”
As Sullivan continued to be engrossed in his imagination, the door to the bedroom abruptly opened. The light came on, and he had to squint to deal with the sudden influx of harsh light as he looked toward the door.
Meanwhile, when Isabel saw the scene in the bedroom, she hurried her way through the liquor bottles to help Sullivan up and take the box of ashes away from him crying out, “Sully!”
Her voice made him realize who it was, but he instinctively avoided her grasp and shielded the box of ashes behind him protectively. The wary look in his eyes made her heart sting with pain
Still, when she saw his gaunt and stubbly face, she couldn’t help but soften her tone. “You can’t carry on like this, Sully. Just put the box down. Let’s go to the hospital first, okay?”
Sullivan’s eyes flickered. He finally looked Isabel in the eye. Though his voice was calm, she caught an interrogative hint in his voice as he asked, “You knew about it, right?
Had Isabel known that Madeleine had decided to leave but kept the information from him?
At first, Isabel was startled. It took her a while to realize what Sullivan meant. Immediately, she looked hurt, as if she couldn’t believe Sullivan could think th her.
that of
“I didn’t know anything, Sully. Madeleine came to see me and said she wanted to make a deal with me “A deal? What deal?”
–
Sullivan swiftly grabbed Isabel and eyed her sharply. She had never seen that look in his eyes before. Subconsciously, she loosened her grip on him Thanks to his menacing gaze, she tearfully told him what happened.
Toward the end, she didn’t forget to plead her case. “I only did it because I love you too much, Sully. I stopped framing her, too. She was the one who forced you to get into a relationship with her, Sully. You never liked her anyway. Now that she’s dead, you’re finally tree again.
“Shouldn’t you be happy?”
As soon as Isabel finished speaking, Sullivan grabbed her by the neck and snarled, “Who said I didn’t like her? Isabel was so benified that her eyes tumed red. Soon, tears trickled down her cheeks, dripping onto Sullivan’s hand. When he felt the droplets, he stiffened and quickly released her.
A long while later, he turned around to hide the hostility in his eyes and said, “Leave. I don’t wait to see you ever again.”
Sullivan didn’t know why his heart hurt to see Isabel cry, but he knew very well that he didn’t love her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten physical with her just
Yet, he would always lose his rationality because of her. Time and time again, he would ignore Madeleine for her sake. Moreover, even when he didn’t want to argue with Madeleine, the words that poused out would somehow end up being completely different from what he intended.
Sullivan couldn’t understand what his heart wanted. He couldn’t control lds actions.
it was not until Madeleine had died that the fog had been lifted. He ally realized his true feelings, but that only made it even more difficult to explain his past
actions.
At that moment, a sense of abundity wailed over him.
