Veronica surrendered herself and she felt as if she were floating up to the sky, intoxicated and dreaming. She didn’t know when, but she flinched against his chest and let her eyes drift closed. “Matt.”
“Hmm?” The man held her in his arms, his fingertips caressing her cheek, a faint smile on his lips.
“Hmm…”
Veronica made a barely audible noise out of her nose, but she didn’t have anything to say other than to call his name. “Be good for me and get some sleep.”
The man reached behind him and pulled over a blanket, covering Veronica and patting her back like a child. Exhausted, Veronica fell asleep in his arms for a while.
Her insomnia had gradually improved since meeting Matthew, which surprised Veronica. In Bloomstead, Shirley arrived home exhausted and went straight to the bathroom to turn on the water for bath.
She felt an immense sense of shame and grievance when she thought about what happened in the bathroom in Brennan Manor, and tears fell from her eyes. She continued to soak in the bathtub without realizing how much time had passed or that the water had grown cold.
Soon, she passed out from exhaustion after crying On the other side, Skyler, after finishing his work, felt guilty when he saw Shirley’s desolate and sad appearance.
After leaving Brennan Manor, he went to a bar by himself and got drunk. But no matter how much he drank, all he could think of was Shirley’s pitiful and tearful appearance. He felt restless, so he picked up his phone and called Shirley.
He made a call, but no one answered. Skyler then made another call, but still no response. By this point, he had made five or six calls in a row, but there was still no answer. Skyler panicked, his heart sank with a pang of pain, and a bad premonition flooded his mind.
Then, he raised the drink in front of him, downed the last sip in one gulp, and walked out of the bar. First, he went to the company, but couldn’t find her, so he went to the hospital where Wade’s mother was, but Shirley wasn’t there either.
Afterward, he proceeded to Shirley’s rented apartment. Because he had lived here before, Skyler knew that Shirley’s spare key was under the carpet.. He found the key, opened the door, and rushed in.
“Shirley?” No one was in the living room, so he went to the bedroom, but no one was there either. He saw the bag and phone left on the sofa so it was obvious that Shirley was home.
Eventually, he turned his attention to the bathroom and moved a step forward. The bathroom door was partially open, and he called out ‘Shirley,” but there was no response.
At that moment, he felt a throbbing pain in his heart that swept through his entire body, and his fingertips trembled slightly.
“No, it can’t be.” Skyler’s mind drifted to a bad thought, but he quickly shook his head to dismiss it. He pushed the door open quietly and walked in, his every movement resembling a slow-motion scene. He didn’t notice a person floating in the bathtub until he went into the bathroom.
Zzz…
Skyler’s face abruptly turned pale as his eyes grew fixated on the tiny woman idly floating in the bathtub. ‘Sh-Shirley?”
He shouted Shirley’s name with all his might, but to his surprise, the sound that came out was hoarse and low, so it was too soft to be heard.
Skyler tried to take a step forward, but his feet felt like they were filled with lead, too heavy to lift. He tried to call Shirley’s name again but soon realized that he couldn’t make a sound.
Images from Brennan Manor’s bathroom flashed through his mind one by one, turning the jumbled memories black and white. For the first time, Skyler felt a sense of remorse overwhelming him. Had he gone too far?
“Shirley?” After a long while, Skyler regained his composure and hurriedly reached out to pull Shirley out of the water.
