Jane looked surprised by my question, like she hadn’t expected me to ask about Viola right away.
“No, she hasn’t been here. What’s wrong, Mom? Isn’t she just ignoring us because she’s mad?”
Jane’s answer didn’t sit right with me. Something felt off.
I turned and left, my mind racing. I needed to find Viola.
“Mom, I’m taking over the fur company, and there’s a big deal coming up. I need a million dollars in working capital. Can you-
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+15 Bonus
“Then wait for your sister to come back–she’ll help you. I don’t understand any of this company business anyway.”
I didn’t care about the company or the business right now. I just needed to know where my daughter was.
When I turned to leave and closed the door behind me, I saw Jane’s face. It was twisted with anger, resentment, and something
else–disappointment.
But I didn’t have the energy to care about her right now.
I headed straight to Leo’s house.
“Mommy, you’re back!” Mark cried as he ran over to me. But when he saw it was just me, his face fell.
“Grandma, what are you doing here?”
“Is your mommy home?”
“No, she hasn’t been home for days.”
Mark slumped onto the couch, looking sad. “I wanted Mommy’s pancakes. She makes them better than Aunt Jane.”
Just then, Leo called me.
“Wendy, Charlie and I have been looking for Viola all day, but we haven’t been able to reach her. We suspect something’s happened to her, and now we’re going to the police station to report her missing. Could you bring Mark and meet us there?”
I hung up, my heart sinking deeper with every passing second. I grabbed Mark and rushed to the station.
When we got there, the officer asked, “Are you sure you’re looking for Viola Smith?”
We nodded, and the officer shook his head and said, “She passed away three days ago. Aren’t you her family? How could you not
know this?”
My legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed to the ground.
What? That was a lie!
“Dead? No–that’s impossible! My daughter can’t be dead!”
Leo’s eyes were bloodshot, his fists clenched as he said, “Check again. We’re looking for Viola Smith, who lives on Peace Avenue,
Unit 26!”
The officer’s expression didn’t waver. “Then I’m sorry to say, but she’s really gone. Her cause of death was Silverthorn Wolfsbane poisoning, which is a slow–acting poison. She took a potent painkiller for it, which led to organ failure and her eventual death.”
The officer shook his head again and added, “The doctors said she might’ve lasted months longer if she hadn’t taken the
painkiller. Or if she’d had access to a Miracle Elixir, that could’ve neutralized the toxin entirely. But it’s too late to talk about that
now.”
My world spun at the officer’s words.
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A Miracle Elixir.
A cure we could have gotten for her.
It was me. No, us.
We had starved her of hope. We as good as killed her ourselves!
Then-
Darkness.
