“I just met an old acquaintance, so we chatted a bit,” I answered. “Come on. We have to go to Uncle Louis’ later tonight, too!”
Summer clung to me during the entire car ride. The poor thing had become so fragile that she was nearly just skin and bones, and it felt slightly unnerving when she hugged my arm. “Mommy, are you guys going out on a business trip again? Can you take me with you this time? I don’t wanna be alone again. You’ve been so busy that you never come to visit me. Do you not want me anymore, Mommy?”
Her words reminded me that she was still an innocent and naïve child. Running a hand over her smooth scalp, I smiled wryly as I responded, “I will never abandon you, Summer. It’s just that I still have a lot of tasks left unfinished. When everything is over and done with, we’ll stay in K City with you every day, okay?”
Puffing her cheeks out indignantly, she nodded in acknowledgment and tightened her grip on my arm. When we arrived at the Moore residence, her caregiver helped bring Summer into the house before Ashton and I left for the Stovall residence.
“Did Jared get out of jail early?” I asked while on the way there.
“Why do you bring him up so suddenly?” Ashton was stunned as he looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “What happened?”
“Nothing. He just randomly came to mind.” I shook my head. “Knowing the Crest family’s influence, I thought that they’d try to get him out as soon as possible. After all, he’s one of them.”
Ashton didn’t seem as sensitive regarding the topic anymore. Perhaps he would feel relieved and even happy if Jared could get out of jail sooner rather than later. After all, they used to be best friends. Even though there had been some arguments, he had likely chosen to forgive and forget and let time heal his wounds.
“I’m sure the Crest family will take care of Jared’s situation,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road. “Besides, he might be going to W City in the future, so we’ll probably fall out of contact with each other.”
I pursed my lips. Ashton’s resentment and hatred towards Jared had all disappeared by then.
I turned and fixed him with a solemn stare. “If I didn’t want him to come out, and prefer him to stay in there forever until he dies alone, would you be against that?”
I wasn’t even sure what my own answer to that question was. “Is it because of Summer’s illness?” He glanced at me in confusion. “You resent him and don’t want him to come out because you want him to suffer more?”
“Yes, but not completely.” If I had only felt shocked by Jared initially, those feelings had all turned to detest by then. Everyone had a dark side to them, even the most angelic and righteous of people. Some were just better at hiding it from others.
Jared was especially despicable because he appeared to be a good person, but there was not a single trace of kindness to be found in his heart at all. If Summer’s illness was an accident, then Kristina’s couldn’t have been an accident too.
He was clearly out to commit murder. I didn’t know what he did to Kristina to cause her to be diagnosed with lung cancer, but I was absolutely sure that he had placed Summer in the chemical plant with the intention to make her sick.
It couldn’t be a coincidence that Kristina and Summer had both stayed in a chemical plant before, and both had gotten sick. That meant that the rest of the employees at that plant also had to be suffering some side effects from working there in order to earn money for their families. Unfortunately, those employees might now have to live with a crippling sickness for the rest of their lives.
The blatant disregard for other people’s wellbeing was exactly why I resented Jared so much. After leaving the hospital, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I wanted him to remain in jail forever, and about how I would never let Summer near him ever again.
Ashton’s eyebrows knitted together as he stayed silent for a minute. “What do you want to do?”
“Have you ever thought about investigating the chemical plants in W City registered under the Crest family name?”
He frowned. “Exactly who did you bump into today?”
“It’s Kristina. She is diagnosed with terminal stage lung cancer!” I was aware that my way of handling this problem might have been a little extreme, but I couldn’t think of any other methods to go about it.
Ashton wasn’t dumb. He understood what I was implying, deep in contemplation before saying, “I’ll instruct someone to go and investigate for you. If Jared really has something to do with this, I’ll contact the police and get them involved. You don’t need to get your hands dirty or think about matters that have nothing to do with us anymore, Scarlett. We’re just normal people now. All we can do now is protect those we hold dear to us, you understand?”
His words took me aback, causing a wave of unrecognizable emotions to rise within me. It was as if I had suddenly realized the true nature of the person I was in love with. He had a point—we were all just a small part of this huge world, and being able to care for those around us was good enough. We didn’t have an obligation to sacrifice our time and energy to interfere with other people’s lives.
