Lennox's heart clenched in waves. Everything before her eyes was silently screaming that I had left. Left this house they called home.
She truly regretted it now. Why hadn't she forced herself to come back last night? Then Aaron wouldn't have left the house. Once she found him, she and Summer would apologize to him properly.
With that thought, she hurried to pull up yesterday's security camera footage, wanting to see what time I'd left. Then she saw it clearly. The moment mother and daughter had just left the house, I threw the cake straight into the trash, then went upstairs to grab the file folder and hurriedly left the mansion.
In Lennox's mind, my phone call from yesterday suddenly flashed. The file folder. Aaron said he'd prepared a gift buried under the banyan tree. There must be an address inside, hoping they'd come find it.
Hope rekindled in her eyes. Without another word she scooped up her daughter and rushed straight to the garage. "Summer, Mommy's taking you to find Daddy right now."
Summer wiped away her tears and nodded hard. "When I see Daddy, I'm going to hug him so tight and tell him I missed him so much."
Lennox stroked her daughter's head. "And Mommy will tell Aaron how terrified I am of losing him."
The car flew like the wind toward the old sanatorium.
Since I'd appeared ten years ago, helping her recover to normal, she had never returned to this place. Though the sanatorium had been abandoned, still Lennox easily found those familiar memories. Seeing the rusted swing, she remembered my figure strolling through the garden. Back then she hadn't known that the boy before her would pull her life out of darkness and become the person she'd love deeply for life. Seeing the rotted wooden bench, she remembered again that since I'd appeared, the lonely figure on that bench had gradually become two people.
Finally she carried Summer to the banyan tree from all those years ago. The place that witnessed our love.
Summer had never been here before. Seeing the unfamiliar scenery, she asked with confusion, "Mommy, aren't we supposed to be looking for Daddy?"
Lennox set her daughter down, one hand gently resting on the carving in the tree trunk, a tender smile on her face. "This is where Daddy and Mommy first met, and Daddy left us a gift here. We're about to bring Daddy home."
Summer cried out joyfully, "Mommy! Then let's hurry and find it."
Lennox followed what I'd said in that phone call, beginning to search around the banyan tree's base. But the ground was covered in fallen leaves, making it hard to see where I'd buried it, until she discovered a spot with signs of disturbed earth.
She couldn't hide her excitement, calling Summer over. Mother and daughter rolled up their sleeves and dug frantically. Before long they unearthed a crumpled file folder.
Summer was so nervous she could barely speak. "Mommy, open it. Let me see too."
After a long day of running around, Lennox just wanted to know news of me immediately. So without waiting any longer she opened the folder. But inside was only a ring and a stack of printed messages.
Today Lennox held me and called me honey. Probably won't be long now before your title of Mr. Whitmore has to be handed over.
Last night Lennox wrapped herself around me in the car again. That's never happened with you, has it?
Today your daughter even picked flowers for me herself. She said it was the first time she'd given anyone flowers. I honestly feel sorry for you.
Every word, every sentence was Becket Thorne's mocking boast. There were even photos too unbearable to look at, between him and Lennox. An unprecedented terror flooded through her entire body.
Lennox suddenly felt her heartbeat slow to a crawl. So Aaron had known everything about her and Becket. Yet she'd been completely oblivious. Exactly how long had I known?
She didn't have the strength left to think. Right now she just wanted to find me as quickly as possible. Whether I wanted to hit her or scream at her, even if I made her kneel and apologize, anything, as long as she could find me and bring me home.
Lennox was nearly losing her mind, flipping through each photo in the folder, hoping to find some clue. But there was nothing. I hadn't even left a single extra hint. Just left her with a ring.
This ring. When we got married, we'd hired someone to design and craft it together. We'd sworn that no matter what happened, we'd never take it off. Yet now it lay there alone in the file folder.
Lennox didn't dare think further. She was terrified of the conclusion she never wanted to face.
Summer, on the other hand, didn't understand any of it. The little girl only knew that her mother had clearly just been happy to find the folder, but now was drowning in something close to utter despair. Seeing this, the little girl panicked and threw herself at her mother. "Mommy, did something happen to Daddy?"
The papers fell from her hands to the ground. Lennox closed her eyes, finally forcing out those cold words. "Daddy... Daddy probably doesn't want us anymore."
Right at that moment, in her mind flashed the scene beneath this banyan tree years ago, when she confessed her feelings to me. Aaron, please stay with me. I'll love you forever.
The image shifted too. The moment she proposed to me, and that promise. Aaron Grant, you swear you'll only love me in this lifetime. You'll never betray me. Back then, the eyes of that twenty-two-year-old version of me were full of faith. Yes, we'll be together.
The final image stopped at my birthday. And now Lennox finally realized. When I talked about that friend with a troubled marriage, with feelings falling apart, the deep hidden pain in my eyes, that friend was actually me. So Aaron had known about Becket's existence all along. These past two weeks my abnormal behavior had been revealing itself bit by bit in front of her. Aaron had been planning to leave all along, and she'd been completely clueless.
Pain that pierced straight through her heart spread from her chest throughout her entire body.
Twenty-two-year-old Lennox had only one man in her heart, me. She believed absolutely that for her entire life she would never betray that person. Yet twenty-nine-year-old Lennox had personally shattered that vow.
Exactly when had it started? She couldn't remember anymore. She only remembered that after the first time something happened with Becket, her first thought was, Aaron is an orphan. He has no family. So in this world the only people closest to him are me and our daughter. Besides the Whitmore family, he has nowhere else to go.
With that thought, Lennox had gradually forgiven herself, sinking deeper into the mire. She never expected I could leave so decisively.
Hearing Lennox's words, Summer suddenly burst into sobs. "Mommy, I want to see Daddy."