Chapter 23
A tremendous force rammed into Preston’s car the next instant. Shattered pieces of glass were sent flying everywhere.
Blood poured out of the wounds on Preston’s body like a fountain. Instead of the awful pain, he felt more gripped by a deep sense of dreariness and helplessness. Before he slipped into unconsciousness, Preston mustered the little strength he had left and yanked off the necklace he was wearing.
A song was still playing on the small display screen that had multiple long cracks on it now.
“It makes me sad thinking about how I once had you…”
Jolene received the news of Preston’s car crash eight hours after the incident happened.
That night, she and her family were staying over at the Norwood residence for another night.
Even in their sleep, the girls were mumbling about how they needed to save a piece of their birthday cake. Jolene and Cedric thought they were still thinking about the castle- shaped cake. As they were saying they should order a new one tomorrow, Cedric received a phone call.
The smile froze on his lips. Cedric’s expression quickly grew somber. He swiftly put on a jacket.
“Charles said Preston was involved in a car accident. I’m going to check how things are at the hospital. Jo, you should stay here with the kids and Dad. Don’t tell them about what happened first”
Jolene was shocked to hear the news.
She thought that they could prevent something bad from happening if Cedric just stayed at home. Jolene never imagined disaster would befall Preston instead.
The accident happened on the same day and in a similar fashion. The victims were both from the Norwood family either in Jolene’s past life or the present…
With all these coincidences overlapping each other, Jolene could not help but wonder whether this was fate’s doing or someone was behind this.
If this was the work of fate, how come Preston had taken Cedric’s place and gotten involved in a car crash? If someone had orchestrated it, who could it be that had harbored so much animosity toward the Norwoods?
Jolene spent the whole night thinking about it, yet she could not come up with anything conclusive.
At daylight, she received a message from Cedric.
“They failed to resuscitate him.”
The message was short, but Jolene understood clearly what it meant. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes.
Her heart, which was filled with various worries and anxieties the entire night, sank into a bottomless pit at that moment.
After all these years, Jolene had actually put their past conflicts behind her. She simply saw Preston as a relative now.
Still, they had known each other for more than ten years. For a while, Jolene felt a bit short of breath after receiving the news of Preston’s sudden death.
Instead of feeling sad, the emotions she was experiencing leaned toward those of confusion and helplessness. There was a sense of powerlessness regarding an acquaintance’s death and a fear of fate’s unpredictability.
After the funeral ended, Cedric shared the findings of the investigation with Jolene.
“The police said it was a case of homicide. However, they haven’t found any clues concerning the perpetrator. The car had no license plate. The police suspected that the car was probably stolen from a scrapyard. Everything’s still under investigation…
“Also, Preston was holding a necklace tightly in his hand from the time of the accident up to the point the doctors had announced the time of his death. We’re not sure whether it’s something left behind by the perpetrator or if it has any special meaning.”
Jolene furrowed her brows. “A necklace? What necklace?”
Cedric produced a photo that was taken at the hospital and showed it to her.
Jolene recognized the blood–stained necklace at first glance. It was the coming–of–age gift Preston had given Jolene.
The day before she and Cedric got married, Jolene had yanked off the necklace and returned it to Preston. She never thought Preston was still keeping it after all this time. Various emotions surged through her at that moment.
In addition, she kept getting this vague thought at the back of her head. Yet, Jolene could not quite put her finger on what it was just yet.
