Maybe I had truly gone crazy. Or maybe, just maybe, that extremely selfish person was exactly who I used to be.
Ashton was no longer at the hotel. After I had washed up and was getting ready to leave, John knocked on my door.
Furrowing his eyebrows as he looked over my pale, sallow complexion, he asked, “You didn’t sleep well last night?”
“No.” I massaged my temples, shaking my head. “Is there any news about Summer?”
He made an affirmative sound, gesturing towards the room in a silent request to continue this conversation inside.
Stepping aside, I let him in and closed the door behind him, walking over to sit on the sofa.
He poured out a glass of water for himself, glancing at me. “Are you happy with Ashton?”
“John, I thought you were here to talk about Summer.” I narrowed my eyes, a little upset at the new topic.
Coughing awkwardly, he reached up to rub his nose. “It’s true that I came here to talk about Summer. But you are the most important thing to me right now. Summer has Ashton, the Crest family, and the Stovall family. So, let’s talk about you first, okay?”
I squirmed uneasily under his intense stare, licking my dry lips. “What do you mean?”
“Just answer me.”
“Ashton and I have always been fine.”
“I was asking if you were happy, not if your relationship with him is fine or not.”
Now he was just being nit-picky. Irritated, I rolled my eyes. “Tell me, John: what is happiness?”
Life was all a huge, long-winded story. Every story had to have its ups and downs.
What was the meaning of happiness? If happiness could only be defined by how cheerful you felt in your daily life, wasn’t that definition too narrow-minded?
John sat up straight, sighing. “Letty, I’m not sure that you understand happiness more than I do. You don’t want to answer my question because your relationship with Ashton is starting to make you feel burdened and depressed. Deep in your heart, you still hold a grudge against him and resent him, don’t you?”
I stared blankly at the glass of water in front of me. “What are you trying to say?”
“Either you cut off all contact with him, or you go to the hospital and receive psychotherapy before restarting your relationship with him. This ambiguous situation between you two is not healthy.”
Ambiguous?
I didn’t even know what was wrong with myself anymore. All I knew was there was something wrong with me.
I was often unable to control my temper and apathy.
Years’ worth of hurt and pain had never been once been healed properly. I’d only ever hidden my scars away and threw my nightmares to the back of my mind, leaving them for the future me to deal with. On the surface, I appeared fine, but one small poke at my wounds and you’d be able to see how rotten they’d become.
After a long pause, I spoke up, “I’ll go to the hospital. Just… Not now.”
John nodded, not pressing the topic any further.
I looked up at him. “By the way, John, this isn’t the time to be having a heart-to-heart right now.”
“I know. You’re worried about Summer, and we should go look for her.”
“So?”
“Hear me out first, Letty. Alright?” He placed the glass down, taking a deep breath before turning to me. “Can you promise me to stay calm?”
That sounds so weird…
Testing the waters, I asked, “So did you guys find Summer? Did you?”
He nodded, but his expression was grim.
The idea that something might have happened to my daughter abruptly dawned upon me.
Forcing my tone to remain flat, I asked again, “Did something happen to her?”
“Letty, I told you to stay calm.” He kept his gaze fixed on me, concerned.
“Stay calm?” I snapped. “She’s my daughter! How could you tell me to ‘stay calm’? Just tell me what happened to her! Do you think you’re being funny by leaving me on a cliff-hanger?”
He inhaled deeply through his nose, recomposing himself. “You’ll scare Summer if you go to see her like this.”
“Then why won’t you tell me what happened to her?”
I jumped to my feet, pacing restlessly around the room.
Pursing his lips, he was quiet for a while before finally saying, “Summer was taken by Kristina. Right now, the Crest family are all looking for Kristina, as are we.”
I looked at him, my mouth falling open. “So, technically, you haven’t found Summer yet?”
“We have some leads. It’s better than blindly looking for a needle in a haystack, right?”
“Right,” I scoffed. I didn’t want to talk with him anymore, fishing my phone out to call Emery.
She picked up after a few rings. “What’s up, Scarlett?”
“We still haven’t found Summer. Can you help me investigate Kristina’s recent movements in W City?”
There was a surprised pause on the other end. “She kidnapped Summer?”
