He bowed his head and pressed a tender kiss against her hair. “This tragedy has nothing to do with you. If anyone bears blame… the fault lies entirely with me!”
Ayla had obsessively claimed that Hadley had stolen Eric’s affections from her. “This entire nightmare began because of me. You played no part in creating this mess!”
Hadley retreated into troubled silence. His words carried logical weight, yet could she honestly release herself from all culpability?
The answer remained beyond her reach.
“Ayla has lost all connection to reality!” Eric cradled her face between his palms. “No romantic connection ever existed between us! Her feelings spring from pure delusion and dangerous obsession!”
Hadley understood this truth with painful clarity. The supposed romance between Eric and Ayla had existed solely in Ayla’s fevered imagination, nurtured by her desperate fantasies.
“How did everything spiral into such chaos?” Hadley struggled to comprehend the devastation.
This horrific catastrophe had struck like lightning, leaving everyone defenseless against its fury.
“That deranged woman… how dare she inflict such cruelty on innocent Elissa!” The violence had been both sudden and merciless.
The sharp trill of Hadley’s phone cut through the heavy silence.
Consumed by her overwhelming sorrow, Hadley remained oblivious to the sound.
Eric gently touched her shoulder. “Your phone is ringing.”
He slipped his hand into her pocket, retrieved the device, and activated the speaker function.
“Hello?” A mature male voice emerged from the speaker, carrying the refined tones of a cultured foreign accent. “Am I speaking with Miss Hadley?”
“Yes!” Hadley managed through her tears, fighting to maintain composure as she looked toward Eric. “It’s Elissa’s stepfather,” she whispered to him before addressing the caller. “Mr. Brown, what news do you have about Mrs. Brown’s condition?”
g?ν.k? – ? ?
“Her condition has stabilized,” Neville responded with cautious relief. “However, she remains unconscious… I’m calling to inquire whether you’ve located Elissa?”
Hadley’s throat constricted with emotion as she battled to form words. “We haven’t… not yet…”
Neville absorbed this devastating news in silence before murmuring, “So much time has passed already. Poor Elissa…”
From somewhere behind him, a nurse’s voice rang out clearly. “Family members of Savannah?”
“Yes!” Neville called back immediately, then spoke rapidly into the phone. “I must leave now. I’ll contact you again soon!”
“Of course.”
When the call ended, Hadley gripped the phone with white knuckles and squeezed her eyes shut against the crushing despair. She desperately hoped this entire ordeal was nothing more than a horrific nightmare. That upon opening her eyes, she would discover the world restored to its former peace—that this living hell would finally release its grip on their lives.
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