Chapter 143
Veronica, who loved porridge, was actually reminded of the porridge prepared by Matthew as she ate the porridge she cooked.
Although porridge was the only dish the jerk knew how to make, Veronica had to admit that the porridge he made was very tasty.
After she was done eating, she packed her stuff and went online to check the train tickets. She then pondered about it and ended up purchasing a ticket to go back to her hometown––Cabot Town, Lothian––three days later.
By the time Veronica settled everything, it was almost 10 o‘clock.
At that instant, she picked up her phone and was about to call Elizabeth to tell her that she did not wish to be involved in planning Matthew and Tiffany‘s wedding, but her phone rang as Elizabeth had beat her to it.
“Grandma, I was just about to call you, but you actually beat me to it!”
Veronica smiled as she thought, What were the odds?
“Haha, really? You cheeky girl. If I don‘t call you first, there‘s no chance we‘ll be in a call together.”
Elizabeth laughed heartily from the other end of the line as she was in a very good mood.
“That‘s not true. I legit was about to call you to talk about something.”
“What is it?”
“Grandma, well… I‘m heading back to my hometown in a few days, so I can‘t help to plan Tiffany and Matthew‘s wedding anymore. So sorry about that.”
Veronica felt apologetic as she genuinely felt she had let Elizabeth down,
Though Elizabeth had saved Veronica‘s life multiple times, Veronica just wasn‘t capable enough to repay her kindness.
“Oh! I actually called to discuss this matter with you too. Where are you now? I‘!! come and find you,” Elizabeth replied.
“Oh, please don‘t. Where are you? I‘ll come and find you instead.”
“Im at the park where you saved me last time.”
“Alright, please wait for me. I‘ll be right there.”
After hanging up the call, Veronica changed into a sports attire and went straight to the park with her motorcycle.
20 minutes later, she met Elizabeth beside the lake in the park.
Veronica walked up to Elizabeth and greeted the latter with a bright smile. “Hello, Grandma!”
“Hey, Veronica. You‘re so quick to arrive! Haha…”
Catching sight of Veronica making her way toward her, Elizabeth smiled kindly and reached out her hand to hold Veronica‘s. Then, she sighed and said, “I asked you out to tell you something… My brain is not working as well these days compared to last time. That‘s why I said something silly like asking you to help plan for Tiffany and Matthew‘s wedding. Please don‘t be unhappy with me.”
At once, regret and guilt spread across Elizabeth‘s aging face as she continued holding Veronica‘s hand tightly.
Veronica alertly noticed something was not right. Then, she recalled Elizabeth suddenly asking if she knew where her youngest daughter was the last time they met. While putting the pieces together in her head, Veronica asked, “Grandma, do you…”
Do you perhaps have Alzheimer‘s?
Veronica did not dare to ask the question as she was afraid to hurt Elizabeth‘s feelings.
However, Elizabeth shook her head and heaved a deep sigh. Then, she held Veronica‘s hand and went to sit on a bench at the side. “Yeah, I couldn‘t believe it at first too. But now, my brain is getting worse day by day, and I could easily forget things, so I have no choice but to accept the fact that I have Alzheimer‘s. Sure enough, one‘s greatest fear will come to pass.”
Now that the doubt Veronica had all this while was cleared, she was not too surprised but accepted the truth calmly.
“When did you find out about this? Does Matthew know?”
“I found out about it a few months ago, but I don‘t have the guts to tell Matthew.” Staring at Veronica with her gray eyes, Elizabeth patted the back of her hand, “Promise me to not tell Matthew about this lest he will be worried. This child has already gone through a lot of suffering.”
Elizabeth and Veronica sat in the park and had some heart–to–heart small talks.
Veronica played the role of an attentive listener while giving Elizabeth some responses from time to time.
After chatting for quite a while Veronica asked, “Grandma, where‘s Mrs. Coleman? Didn‘t she come along with you?”
“Nah, I sent her back.”
“I see. Then please accompany me to buy some drinking water from the store in front.” Veronica was worried about leaving Elizabeth alone here—especially now that she knew the latter had Alzheimer‘s disease, all the more she had to take care of her.
“Don‘t worry. My brain is still working, so I won‘t go missing. Go ahead. I‘ll wait for you here.”
“Uhmm…”
Veronica hesitated, but on second thought, Elizabeth was just diagnosed with Alzheimer‘s disease a few months ago, so her condition shouldn‘t be so serious that she would forget her way around.
As such, Veronica thought she shouldn‘t be overly worried about Elizabeth too lest it hurt her dignity.
“Alright. I‘ll go buy a bottle of water now.”
After exhorting Elizabeth to sit at the spot and wait for her return, Veronica went to the store at the park‘s entrance to buy water.
While on the way, she received a call from Daniella. So, they had a small chat, but Veronica did not mention anything about her plan to go home a few days later as she wanted to give them a surprise.
However, when she returned to the bench where she and Elizabeth sat after buying water, Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen.
Veronica‘s heart jolted as she freaked out and immediately looked around the park,
bui Elizabeth was nowhere in sight.
She look out her phone and called Elizabeth. Almost immediately, the call gou connected.
“Grandma, where did you go?”
“Miss, do you know the owner of this phone? I just picked this phone up. Can you come and collect it?”
“What? Okay, okay. Where are you? I‘ll come and find you now.”
Frightened, Veronica placed the two bottles of mineral water on the bench and quickly ran to the northeast corner of the park to meet the old man who found Elizabeth‘s phone.
After expressing her gratitude to the man, she took the phone and continued searching for Elizabeth.
Nonetheless, she still failed to find Elizabeth after going through the entire park, so she went to the park‘s management office to check the CCTV footage. In the end, the only evidence found was that Elizabeth was last seen at the southeast corner of the park.
The surveillance camera at the corner was malfunctioning, so they could not see where Elizabeth was heading to at all.
Veronica knew this matter was getting serious, so she immediately called Matthew.
Beep... Beep...
The call was not answered after quite some time.
Thereafter, she made another three calls to Matthew, and it was only then did he pick up the call. “What is it?”
“Matthew, Grandma has gone missing. Earlier, she requested to meet me at Rivereast Park, but she went missing while I went to buy water, and I can‘t find her now.”
At this moment, Veronica was on pins and needles.
Matthew, who was originally cold, was perplexed upon hearing Veronica. “Call Grandma if you can‘t find her.”
“Her phone is with me. You mighu not know this, bui Grandma… Grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer‘s disease a sew months ago. I‘m afraid she‘s lost.”
Worrying about things that might never happen could actually increase the chance of it lappening
Veronica was almost driven crazy while Matthew‘s heart jolted as he recognized the seriousness of the matter. Instantly, he replied, “Wait for me over there. I‘ll come right away.”
“Alright. I‘ll wait for you here.”
Veronica let go of the personal grudge with Matthew and walked out of the park to ask the passers–by if they had seen Elizabeth.
She described Elizabeth‘s appearance and features to tens of passersby, but no one had seen her
