Chapter 507
That night felt like it would never end. Charles spent the entire evening on his knees outside Evelyn’s door. Every second dragged on, each one a fresh wound to his heart.
The following morning, Evelyn woke up to find a recent message from Brooks on her phone. “Are you awake, Evelyn?” it read. A tiny, almost invisible smile touched Evelyn’s lips as she replied, “Morning.”
Brooks quickly followed up, “I’ve got a little video for you.” “Sure,” Evelyn texted back.
While the video was downloading, Evelyn noticed a slew of notifications from her smart doorbell that had piled up overnight. She’d been living in this place for a while, but she’d never seen anything like this before. She was about to delve into them when Brooks’s video finished downloading.
She opted to watch the video first. As soon as it started, she recognized the location-Greenrose. A familiar car was parked outside the Dahlia residence. It was Charles’s car. Seeing it made Evelyn’s expression harden instinctively. The previous day had been Charlie’s anniversary, a day that coincided with Sandy’s birthday. Knowing how much Charles doted on Sandy, it wasn’t surprising that he’d visited Charlie’s grave and then hurried to celebrate Sandy’s birthday. Yet, seeing it unfold still made Evelyn’s heart ache for Charlie, feeling the injustice of it all.
Brooks hadn’t explained why he sent the video, but she trusted his judgment and kept watching. Charles appeared on screen, striding to his car, opening the door, and getting in. As he drove off, another familiar figure emerged-Sandy. In her flimsy pajamas, barefoot, she chased the car, crying and calling out for her father. Charles didn’t stop; he just kept driving. Sandy ran after him, tears streaming down her face as she apologized. The car never halted until Sandy fell, causing the car to slow. Covered in dirt and tears, Sandy crawled toward the car, but Charles didn’t exit. Instead, he drove off, leaving Sandy behind, never once looking back.
Sandy lay on the ground, watching him leave, sobbing uncontrollably. Her cries of “Daddy, come back, I know I was wrong, please forgive me,” were heart- wrenching. Her face was streaked with tears and dirt, but no matter how pitiful her cries, Charles never turned back.
By the end of the video, Evelyn understood why Brooks sent it. The video didn’t show what happened the previous night, but it was clear Sandy had pushed Charles too far. Seeing Sandy in such a state and Charles ignoring her brought Evelyn a strange sense of satisfaction, not sympathy. It wasn’t out of cruelty. Sandy was facing the consequences of her own actions. She had once schemed against Charlie, leading Charles to punish him. Now, she was tasting her own medicine. Evelyn could tell Sandy genuinely cherished having Charles as her father. Losing his favor and gaining his disdain was the harshest punishment for her.
Just as Evelyn was about to text
Brooks back, another notification
popped up. Someone was lingering at her door. Recalling the
notifications from earlier, shoal no
navigated away from the chat to check them. There, on her screen, was Charles, kneeling motionlessly at her doorstep. The notifications all pointed to him, with the earliest timestamped just before 3 AM. This meant Charles had come straight to her after leaving Greenrose and had been kneeling for nearly four hours.
Evelyn felt no emotional pull from this. Her thoughts drifted back to the video, guessing that Charles was kneeling at her door because he had finally seen Sandy’s true natur She exited the app, her mood already uplifted, and chatted with Brooks for a bit. He mentioned he hadn’t had breakfast yet. Picking up on his hint, Evelyn didn’t play coy. She offered to make an extra serving and invited him over. Brooks replied instantly, “I’m already on my way.”
Evelyn couldn’t help but smile as she sent back, “Drive safe. See you soon.” Ending the chat, she slipped into her usual morning
routine getting up, washing changing clothes, and heading to the kitchen to make breakfast. She took out the oats she’d prepared the night before and set them to cook. Only then did she decide to deal with Charles at the door.
If Brooks weren’t coming, she wouldn’t have bothered with Charles. To her, if Charles wanted to kneel, he could kneel. For all the harm he’d inflicted on her and Charlie, even if he knelt until he couldn’t anymore, she wouldn’t budge.
Hearing the door open, Charles looked up quickly. After a sleepless night, he appeared worn out, his eyes bloodshot yet filled with guilt as he faced Evelyn. His voice was gravelly as he spoke, “Eve, I’m sorry.”
“I was blind and naive, unable to see Dahlia and Sandy for who they really are, becoming their pawn.”
“I let them use my trust to hurt you and Charlie over and over, even helping them
do it.”
“I was wrong, and I’ve failed you and Charlie.”