Filed To Story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Unfortunately, as Flossie was too focused on reading, she didn’t realize that she had walked into a dangerous zone..
The cemetery was rather remote. Not only were there large thickets around the area, the paths were quite rocky as well.
The thick smog enveloping the area could easily affect one’s sense of direction as well. If headed in the wrong direction, the forest would seem like a confusing maze, which would make the journey even more dangerous than it was.
Flossie was completely immersed in her phone, wondering if she should tell Leia about William’s complicated past with Jessanna. Then, suddenly, she felt her entire body falling forward…
Flossie screamed as she tumbled down a cliff. She hit her head on a large rock going down, and instantly faded into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, Halston and Jessanna had already arrived at the child’s tomb. A small gravestone stood there forlornly, with the baby’s name and death date engraved on it.
“Hi, baby! Mommy and Uncle Halston are here to see you again. How are you feeling today? The weather’s getting kind of cold, so I prepared lots of warm clothes for you. Do you like them?” Jessanna mumbled as she knelt in front of the grave, placing some bags of clothes onto the ground.
Halston was no longer feeling guilty, and instead looked slightly annoyed. However, knowing that Jessanna was mentally ill, he remained silent, allowing the woman to live in her delusions for now.
Under normal circumstances, a fetus wouldn’t be considered a person, and in their culture, those who set up a tomb for the unborn would be besieged by bad luck. However, this child was considered a special case, as it was the late Tristan and Jessanna’s only child.
Halston had only agreed to bury the fetus after the woman’s constant begging. They had placed it in an expensive coffin, and found a powerful shaman to safely bury the child in this secluded area.
Halston was starting to space out as Jessanna continued muttering in front of the grave. He would occasionally glance at the cemetery entrance, his brow furrowed.
‘Hmph, why isn’t that woman here yet? I left her only a mile away from this place, and the path is a straight one too. It shouldn’t take her more than twenty minutes to arrive, but it’s been over an hour! Where is she?!’
Once Jessanna was finally finished, she looked up and asked, “Halston, where is Miss Ellsworth? I’m done talking to my baby now. Should we keep waiting for her?”
Halston checked his wristwatch and replied tonelessly, “Let’s wait a little longer.”
They waited for another thirty minutes, but Flossie was still nowhere to be found.
Jessanna wiped her tears, her voice quivering with sadness. “Let’s just go, Halston, I don’t think she’ll be coming anytime soon. I can tell that Miss Ellsworth doesn’t regret hurting me back then, nor does she think she is responsible for my child’s death.”
“Maybe she still sees me as the horrible mistress who destroyed her marriage. Maybe she thinks I deserve to lose my baby and end up this way! She’s probably gone home by now. I mean, she’s no saint, so why would she visit the grave of my child? Let’s not force her to if she doesn’t want to…”
Halston fell silent, his expression growing colder.
Jessanna continued, “And she kept talking about that artificial uterus procedure back in the car, urging us to have more children too! She was just mocking us, wasn’t she? It was like she was trying to add insult to injury! If she’s not genuine in visiting my baby’s grave, I don’t need her here, and my baby doesn’t need her here either! Let’s just go.”
The man clenched his fists tightly, as he had thought the same. He had no idea what Flossie was thinking by urging him to have more children when they were on their way to visit a dead baby’s grave.
‘She definitely had bad intentions!’
“You’re right, I was too naive. She’s always been a cold-hearted and selfish person; if she really was feeling guilty about her actions, she would’ve come to visit the child’s grave a long time ago. She wouldn’t have just disappeared for four whole years.”
Halston took a deep breath, telling himself to keep a clear mind and to stop hoping the woman would change. Thus, as dusk approached, he drove out of the forest with Jessanna in his passenger seat.
Under the dim moonlight, Flossie had finally regained consciousness. Her head was spinning, her left leg was fractured, and she was unable to move.
Looking around, Flossie finally found her phone nearby, only to realize that it was broken. She couldn’t turn it on at all.
“Agh, that useless Halston Guajardo! I knew he was bad luck!” Flossie cursed as she scanned her surroundings. It was pitch black, with no one remotely near.
Flossie immediately felt scared. “Is there anyone out there?! Somebody, please help!” She screamed, her voice echoing alongside the caws of crows.
The pain in her head and leg was overwhelming, and she was finding it difficult to even scream for help at this point.
“I won’t die here, right?! That’d be too unfair…”
In the old Guajardo manor, the family had gathered around the dining table to have a nice dinner together, but the atmosphere felt rather odd for some reason.
Francine was trying to ask Halston over and over again if he had contacted Flossie. She had just found out that Flossie, who’d disappeared for four whole years, had returned to Beach City all of a sudden.
The woman felt conflicted when it came to Flossie. She couldn’t help but hate Flossie’s guts for murdering Jessanna’s child, and had even hired some people to find the woman so that she could pay for her crimes. However, in those four years of her absence, she watched as her poor son lived in misery… It had been a very long time since he smiled.
She knew that Halston still loved Flossie very much, and that Flossie was the only person who could return Halston’s smile. Hence, as time passed, her resentment faded, as she only wished for her son to follow his heart and find true happiness.
“Halston, there’s no pressure, alright? As your family, we will support all of your decisions no matter what. We should let bygones be bygones… The most important thing now is to live life to the fullest!” Francine said enthusiastically.
“I have my plans.” Halston continued eating, clearly hoping for this conversation to end.
Everyone noticed how annoyed he was, and decided to keep their mouths shut, focusing on their meals as well.
Suddenly, Francine remembered something and said, “Halston, have you been visiting that cemetery a lot recently? I already told you how off-putting that place is – you should go less often. A few days ago, I saw on the news that a few influencers went adventuring there, and all of them died because they fell off a cliff! You-“
“Fell off a cliff?” Halston’s expression shifted instantly.
“Yes. The area is very confusing, and it’s always surrounded by fog! It’d be dangerous if you ever got lost in there. Ugh, this is all because of that shaman… Why did he have to choose that secluded cemetery of all places? ■
Timothy chimed in as well. “It was an untimely death, so he had to choose a secluded place to bury it. Halston just needs to go there less often.”
“Halston doesn’t even want to go, it’s all because of Ximenez…”
Just as the conversation was getting heated, Halston stood up abruptly and said, “I need to head out for a bit.
The man then got into his car and sped towards the forest as fast as he could. Francine’s casual chit- chat during dinner had reminded him that the cemetery indeed had complex terrains, with smog all around it. He was worried that something might’ve happened to Flossie.
Although the possibility was extremely low, he still had to personally investigate the area to ease his anxiety.
The car continued racing through the night, with its headlights being the only light source.
Halston was gripping the steering wheel tightly, scanning the area with his sharp gaze, all while loudly calling out to the woman.
’Flossie!”
Night time in the forest was exceedingly quiet. Any sudden sounds would echo through it loudly, startling the birds nearby.
Soon, he had reached the area where he had kicked Flossie out, and he got out of the car right away.
“Where are you, Flossie Ellsworth?! Answer me!” Halston yelled louder than before, his voice turning hoarse.
However, all he received in response was either crows cawing or endless silence.
As he continued to shout, Halston found the whole thing rather foolish. He thought to himself, ‘Ellsworth is probably at home, sleeping soundly in bed right now. However, I’m here acting like an idiot, just because of that small possibility that she might be stranded here. Look at me, yelling over and over again in this eerie place… If someone saw me right now, they’d think I’m possessed!’
Halston balled his fists up slowly, telling himself that he had to stop this silly behavior if no one answered after three more attempts.
“Ellsworth, if you don’t respond, I’m leaving!” Halston shouted dejectedly.
Flossie, who was still at the bottom of the cliff, was semi-conscious at that point. Fatigued and in pain, she was almost out of energy. More importantly, she was starving, to the point she felt like she was going to faint.
Suddenly, she could somewhat hear someone shouting her name, and realized that the voice belonged to Halston.
At first, she was rather excited, thinking that she was finally going to be saved. However, she realized that it’d be embarrassing to be saved by that man, and she would be owing him a favor if he did.
Hence, she purposefully refused to answer. It was only until she heard Halston saying that he’d be leaving, that she felt alarmed enough to let out a soft cough.