Chapter 301 Like A Walking Dead
Chapter 301 Like A Walking Dead
Charles' POV:
After hanging up the phone, I threw it on the bed. The moonlight peered through the window, slightly illuminating the dark, quiet room. Right now, my room was like a cold cage.
I turned around, staring out the window. There were many lights surrounding me, and yet I felt so lonely.
On the glass window pane, a blurry figure was reflected. To me, my very image had become pitiful and desolate.
I couldn't bear to stare at my reflection anymore, so I stood up and closed the curtains.
Now, the moonlight was gone and so was my reflection.
I lay back on the cold bed with a bitter smile on my lips.
"I am like a soulless walking dead," I murmured to myself.
Like reflex, I reached for the other half of the bed and soon found that it was empty.
My beloved wife used to sleep right here, but now she had begun a new life with another man.
Once again, my heart ached.
Only in this endless darkness could I tear off my disguise, and let myself feel the painful wound in my heart.
I curled up in bed, holding Scarlett's pillow as tightly as I could, sniffing the last bits of her scent left on it. Then, I buried my face on the pillow. The sense of suffocation slowly made me feel dizzy and a little drowsy.
During the second half of the night, I began to dream.
I dreamed of the woman whom I had longed for day and night. She was lying in another man's arms, speaking to him with a bright smile on her face.
"Honey, hug me."
The man lowered his head and I saw that it was William. He was sleeping in the spot where I once slept in, holding the woman I loved, and kissing her in my stead.
"Sure, honey!"
******
The following day, I woke up with a splitting headache.
The dream I had last night tortured me. Even now that I was awake, it still tore my heart apart.
Listlessly, I went downstairs and saw Janet in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.
"Good morning, Mr. Moore. Oh, my... what's wrong, sir? You look troubled."
Janet came over, intending to touch my forehead. However, I avoided her hand and responded, "I'm fine. You may go now."
"But you look really terrible. You'd better take your temperature just to make sure."
Not long after, I went to the sofa and sat down, feeling light-headed. I touched my forehead and it indeed felt hot.
I did have a fever.
Janet fetched the thermometer and took my temperature for me, anxiously waiting for the results to show up.
"102 degrees?! You're burning up! Mr. Moore, we need to get you to a hospital right this instant!"
Janet was panicking as she held the thermometer in her hand. Truthfully, aside from feeling a little dizzy, I didn't feel anything that bad.
"Take it easy. Just get me a glass of water, please," I said.
"Right away, sir!" she replied.
After taking the glass of water from Janet, I took a sip. She was standing next to me, visibly worried.
"Mr. Moore, I really think you need to go to a hospital," she remarked.
"It's not that serious," I answered.
"But..."
"Do not make me repeat myself," I said sternly.
Janet didn't dare to say another word after that. At long last, the room quieted down.
I put down the glass of water, closing my eyes to rest. But the second I closed my eyes, Scarlett's and James' faces appeared in my mind again.
A bitter smile appeared on my lips. 'I really don't deserve a moment of peace.¹
Janet's POV:
Mr. Moore was having a fever, but he wouldn't take it seriously. He just sat on the sofa with no intention of having himself checked up at the hospital.
With no other choice, I decided to call Alice for help while looking for some medicine for the boss.
"Madame, Mr. Moore is burning up. I need your help," I said over the phone.
"What? Charles has a fever?" Alice sounded really worried. "Take him to the hospital the soonest that you can!"
"I've been telling him to go to the hospital, but he insists that he doesn't need treatment. That's why I called you, ma'am; to see if you can persuade him."
A long silence ensued on the other end of the line. All of a sudden, I heard a deep sigh, riddled with pity.
"His illness is caused by stress. There is only one way we can fix things. It seems that it's time for me to pay Scarlett a visit," said Alice.
"Madame, have you decided on what to say once you meet her?" I asked.
"I can only act according to the circumstances. If I don't do anything now, I'm afraid Charles might become terminally ill. I've already lost a grandson. I can't lose my only son as well!"
'I pity her...' I remarked inwardly.
When I heard Alice's hoarse voice, tears welled up in my eyes.
"I understand, ma'am. Is there anything else I can do to help?"
"You're a good girl, Janet. I know you're really good friends with Tracy. Can you get in touch with her and find out what she thinks about this whole situation?"
"Understood, ma'am!" I agreed to Alice's request without hesitation.
After hanging up the phone, I asked Spencer for the address of William's villa in Kitsap and drove all the way there.
Once I was there, I waited outside the villa for a while. After William's car had left, I rang the doorbell.
"Who is it?"
Tracy's voice resonated from the monitor. My eyes turned red and I almost burst into tears.
"It's me, Janet," I cried.
A brief silence ensued. Soon, the door opened and I saw Tracy's face appear before me.
Her eyes were widened in surprise and she was covering her mouth with her hands. I took the initiative to give her a big hug.
"Long time no see, Tracy!"
"Long time no see, Janet," Tracy said as she sobbed.
Both of our faces were covered in tears.
"Gosh, I missed you so much!"
"Yeah, me too," she replied.
******
Tracy and I went to a cafe nearby.
Even after we had sat at a table, she was still weeping. I handed her a tissue while chuckling. NôvelDrama.Org owns all content.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. There's no need to cry anymore. We met again, didn't we?"
"It's been far too long!" Tracy cried even louder.
'Yeah... it's been a year since we last saw each other,' I replied in my heart.
"Where is Scarlett? How is she doing?" I asked.
"Scarlett is doing much better, and she has babies now!"
"Babies?"
"Yes, she... urn..."
Tracy was about to say something, but she stopped midsentence.
"What happened to her?"
"Scarlett... she's with William now," said Tracy.
"How is that possible?" I looked at Tracy, visibly shocked.
"Scarlett has lost her memory. All she remembers is that she was once married and there was only one man in front of her during that time, and it was William. So, she mistook William as her husband."
Tracy was saying the same things William said before. But for some reason, something about this whole thing sounded fishy.
"Tracy, look at me."
"Huh?" Tracy panicked and averted her gaze from me.
"Tracy, if what you've said is true, then Mr. Moore and Scarlett can never be together again. Do you understand that?" I gazed into her eyes and asked, "So, are you telling the truth?"
"Why would you think that I'm lying?" Tracy flared up with anger. "Janet, do you honestly believe that they can still go back to how they used to be?"
Like a deflated balloon, I lost all my will in an instant.
'Tracy is right. The truth doesn't even matter anymore. They can't go back to the past,' I remarked inwardly.
"This is all our fault. We failed to protect James. If he were still alive, Mr. Moore and Scarlett wouldn't have ended up like this."
As I thought of the past again, tears streamed down my cheeks, and my heart was drowned by regret.
Tracy slammed her fist on the table. "No! It's all that bitch, Rita's fault! She's the one who killed James!"
"You're right... that woman deserves to die!" It suddenly occurred to me that William was the one who took Rita away. "Tracy, did William really kill that lunatic bitch?"
"He did. I followed William in secret that day, and I personally saw him order the doctor to dig out Rita's heart. How could a person survive without a heart?"
I breathed a sigh of relief. "It's better for her to die. That way, she won't be able to harm anyone ever again."
I talked to Tracy for over two hours before I went back to report my findings to Alice.