Beyond the Divorce

I received a call from Lauren and got into her car.

As we set off, the gloomy weather intensified. There was only a small patch of white in the sky, creating a stifling and eerie atmosphere.

"Damn this weather. It looks like heavy rain is coming. We really picked the wrong day for this," Lauren said as she drove, glancing at the ominously dark sky. "It's been so long since it rained."

As I looked at the rolling dark clouds, I remarked, "When I was a kid, I used to be terrified of this kind of weather. I always dreamed of a black sky with only a crack of light on the horizon. I would be so scared that I'd wake up, and my mom would give me a hug."

Lauren looked at me strangely. Puzzled, I asked, "What's wrong?"

She scrutinized me and asked, "When you were a kid?"

I absentmindedly nodded. "Yeah."

Even I was surprised by my own answer.

When I was a kid?

Did I have no childhood memories?

But these were distant memories from my childhood. I closed my eyes, focused, and felt a sudden headache.

I quickly opened my eyes, looked ahead, and took a deep breath, feeling a bit panicked.

Did I just remember something?

I had said those words subconsciously.

Lauren looked at me, concerned, "Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "I'm fine. I feel like I've experienced this before."

"Don't dwell on it. Just go with the flow." She patted my hand reassuringly. "Let's not talk about this. You said you were going to see Melanie's child yesterday. Did you go?"

"Not yet. I was planning to go today. I don't know what Matthew wants. I can't just leave that child to be fostered by the Hyger family. I don't have a better solution right now." Lauren had successfully changed the topic.

"Melanie is really something else.

She claims to love Matthew, but she

else's

was pregnant with someone else's

child. I was pretty smug when I

heard

d the

news. Matthew is

infatuated with her, but she's turned

out to be just a slut," Lauren scolded indignantly.

I chuckled disdainfully. "I sensed that something was off about the child when she was showing off back then, but I didn't expect my intuition to be right."

"You're a jinx," Lauren teased, "But this is an important issue. Abby is really something else. Mother and daughter are quite the pair. Abby didn't disappoint me."

After Lauren finished speaking, we

both laughed. I remembered when

Lauren exposed this woman. She

wanted to stir things up with

Matthew. But it had unexpectedly

ended with mixed emotions.

"Abby's been caught," I said nonchalantly. "The stolen goods are untouched. Atlas's people have her in custody."

"Really?" Lauren looked surprised. "Atlas's men caught her?"

"Yes. If she were a decent person, the child might have suffered less. Matthew might want to take care of him, but he's currently overwhelmed and can't ensure the child's well-being."

I felt a twinge in my heart as I thought of him. "He's not just dealing with internal and external trouble. Things have become more complicated now."

"He brought it on himself. His entire life is a series of wrong steps, one after another." Lauren showed no sympathy for them.

Lauren looked at me suddenly. "It's strange. Stella has been unusually quiet lately. It's like she's vanished from Foswood. That's not like her at all."Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

I also felt that something was off.

"I feel the same. It's not right. Even if she isn't in Foswood, she's never been this quiet. It's odd that she's lying low like this. Is she brewing up some trouble?" Lauren speculated.

"An unusual pattern means that

there's something amiss. The more

normal something seems, the more abnormal it is. We've neglected her for a little while. I haven't seen her since we disembarked from the cruise."

I thought about the last time we had seen Stella.

I did feel a little uneasy, as if this was the calm before the storm.