“And it was all because I came to K City that I got to know Jared and Joe. Naomi got to know them as well. She became interested in Jared and I didn’t expect it at all. She always had a weird personality since she was young but she was never a scheming person. Besides, Jared was interested in someone else back then, he wasn’t interested in her at all. Naomi shamelessly pursued him for two whole years, and for some reason, Jared finally agreed to date her. Nonetheless, she took the initiative and broke up with him not too long after that. She probably found out that Jared likes someone else, so…”
“Why did she commit suicide then?” Naomi was an optimistic person. Even if her heart was broken, it shouldn’t have been the reason she chose to end her life.”
Ashton kept silent but I noticed that there was something wrong with his hand. It was the first time I saw him so anxious and uneasy.
He was trembling!
I reached out to take his hand but he managed to hold mine first. He looked up at me and I noticed that his eyes were getting watery. His voice choked as if he couldn’t get his words out all of a sudden.
“You don’t have to say it, Ashton. It’s okay,” I said and didn’t try to pursue the matter anymore.
A moment later, he sucked in a deep breath and he grew noticeably calmer. “I was the one who lost her that night. She called me so many times but I didn’t pick up. I didn’t do it on purpose. I just thought that it was one of her usual tantrums but I didn’t expect her to go to a nightclub herself. K City ten years ago is so different from the K City now. Naomi was destroyed that night.”
My heart skipped a beat when I recalled his conversation with Zachary at the hospital.
I stared at him and asked uncertainly, “Did Zachary’s men do it?”
Ashton nodded. “By the time Jared and I found her, she had already been left in the alley beside the nightclub. Her body was covered in blood and was filthy all over.”
He looked up and locked eyes with me. His eyes were icy cold as he said, “Those ten men ruined her face after they did such a disgusting thing to her. Naomi stayed in the hospital for a month but her injuries were too serious. Her reproductive system had been destroyed.”
I felt goosebumps all over my skin as my body trembled. The fear I was feeling made it hard to breathe.
So the reason Naomi committed suicide was that she had been gang-raped and her face was ruined…
No wonder Jared wanted to use sulfuric acid to hurt me. He wouldn’t stoop so low as to use the same way to hurt me, he just wanted to kill me.
“But there is no bad blood between you and those people. Why were they so ruthless?” Even if they had done it for revenge, just what kind of grudge did they hold that they had to do something this bad?
Ashton shook his head and sighed, “K City was in complete chaos back then. Many other women were innocent just like Naomi was. Zachary was a powerful person and he kicked out most of the shady characters who were under him because he wanted to clear his guilty conscience as soon as possible. These people wanted to taint the Moore family. And when they found out that Zachary’s daughter who had been missing for years was about twenty years old, they specifically sought out girls around that age and were extremely cruel with them.”
It was ridiculously unreasonable and I spat in anger, “How could they do that?”
“It’s all because of what happened back then that Zachary is so low-key when it comes to searching for his daughter now. He would inquire about her privately and wouldn’t do anything relating to finding her so openly anymore.”
I could somewhat understand the situation now. So Jared blames Ashton for not answering Naomi’s calls. Otherwise, both of them could’ve managed to save her in time.
Every woman who suffered through something like this, even if they were fortunate enough to survive, wouldn’t have had the courage to continue living anymore. Not to mention, her face was even ruined.
And it was because of this that she chose to commit suicide. To her, ending her life meant that she could be free.
However, to Ashton and Jared, it became a suffering that couldn’t be overcome in a lifetime.
Both of us kept quiet the whole way back to the hospital. Once we arrived, the doctor gave him a check-up and told us that there was no problem at all.
After that, Zachary booked air tickets to K City. Cameron was extremely happy and had made lots of delicious food for us, probably because we were about to head back to K City soon.
Both of them ate with us in the next few days.
In Cameron’s words, “Food tastes better when people eat together.”
It was probably true because I had been eating more than usual. I even felt as though I had fattened up a little.
While we were eating, Cameron said, “It’s new year’s eve the day after tomorrow. I had Mrs. Jenkins prepare everything and even bought all the stuff needed. I heard that those in the R Province like to eat egg rolls stuffed with meat and braised pork to celebrate the festive season. They’re both Mrs. Jenkins’s specialty.”
Here, she stopped and looked towards Ashton. A smile was still on her face as she asked, “What do you people in J City normally eat, Ashton?”
He froze for a second. Perhaps it was because he had met Jared earlier in the day but his emotions weren’t as stable and he was silent the whole time.
He seemed out of it and most likely hadn’t listened to a single thing Cameron had said.
I nudged him with my elbow and he finally snapped back to his senses to look at me. He then asked dumbfoundedly, “What’s wrong?”
