Chapter 47
She didn’t know when the rain started, or how she even got back to her car. Staring at the hospital, her mind drifted back three years, to that day.
“Your mother came to see you. How can you not know where she is p>
She had been in and out of consciousness for days after the accident and had only just woken up. After the call from her stepfather, she frantically checked her phone. Her mother had messaged her five days ago, saying she was in Orenth to visit and was waiting at the park where they used to play when Penelope was a child.
Five days.
She tried calling her mother’s phone, but there was no answer. Panic seized her, and she threw off the blankets and ran.
“Ms. Laurier, you just woke up! Your wounds haven’t healed. You can’t get out of bed, and you certainly can’t leave the hospital! It’s pouring outside; this is dangerous p>
Ignoring the nurse’s pleas, she stumbled out of the hospital and hailed a taxi in the pouring rain. The park wasn’t large. She ran a few steps inside and saw her, sitting on a bench.
Despite the downpour, her mother sat perfectly still p>
“Mom, what are you doing? It’s raining so hard; why didn’t you find shelter p>
“If you couldn’t reach me, you should have gone home! I would have come to see you p>
“You thought I was still mad at you, didn’t you? I wasn’t, Mom. I just… I didn’t know how to come home p>
“Mom! Mom! Why are your eyes closed? Open them, please, look at me p>
Screech!
Penelope slammed on the brakes, her heart pounding in her chest. She grabbed the umbrella from the passenger seat and ran out into the park.
She’s still waiting for me! She’s still there!
She opened the umbrella and rushed to the bench holding it over her mother to shield her from the rain But the umbrella was small, barely big enough for one person. She angled it entirely mother over her
leaving herself to be drenched by the storm.
“You told me not to go to college in Orenth, but I did it anyway. You told me not to work here, but I stayed. You told me not to marry someone from here, and I found
a boyfriend from Orenth. When you got angry, I ran away p>
“Later, you said you were wrong, that you shouldn’t have forced your pain onto me. You called and apologized over and over, but the truth is, I wasn’t mad at you anymore. I… I was too ashamed to face you p>
“You messaged me, said you were waiting for me here. You must have waited a long time, thinking I was too angry to see you. That wasn’t it, Mom. I was… I was in a coma… I didn’t know you were here p>
“Mom, please come back p>
There was no one under the umbrella. The regrets of three years ago could never be undone.
When she had arrived that day, her mother was already gone. Because of the heavy rain, no one had noticed her sitting there for two days. Her stepfather later told her she had terminal stomach cancer and had come to Orenth for one last visit.
A visit that never happened.
“What are you doing here, putting on this pathetic show p>
A tall young man ran toward her through the rain and shoved her hard. Caught off guard, Penelope fell to the ground. The impact finally snapped her back to the present She looked up and saw the raw anger
in his eyes. She quickly looked
away, unable to meet his gaze.
“You have no right to be here!” he screamed. “She died waiting for you, full of regret! I hate you, Penelope. I’ll always hate you for what you did p>
Penelope scrambled to her feet and walked away, her head bowed in shame. She was wrong, she knew she was wrong, but there was nothing she could do to fix it.
Only when she was back in her car did she dare to look back at Timothy Anderson, her half-brother. They had once been so close.