“Mr. Snearl, Miss Powell, Miss Powell, she’s dead, she died from drowning…”
A deafening roar in his ears, his mind went blank, for a long time… Finn couldn’t react, it was as if he was in a hallucination, no matter how hard he tried, how much he hurt himself, he couldn’t wake up.
Feeling uncomfortable and sticky in his hands, Finn looked down and saw that he had squeezed his bubble tea, drenching himself, his hands trembling violently.
He opened his mouth, struggling to speak, “What did you say?”
“Mr. Snearl, Miss Powell is dead, you need to come back…” Linda’s voice on the phone was intermittent, filled with urgency and sobs.
“How is that possible? The garden pond is empty, you were all watching, how could she have drowned! Tell me, what happened to her? Are you trying to deceive me? Comfort her, treat her like a child, if she cries, give her candy and say Ethan will be back soon, sing to her, hold her, I’m on my way back, I bought her favorite bubble tea…” Finn’s voice choked up, he felt Linda was lying to him, but a subconscious voice told him that Aoife was really dead…
They wouldn’t joke about Aoife’s life, it’s just that he didn’t want to admit it, even with a little thought, his heart would ache unbearably.
“Miss Powell, she was found in the bathtub, filled with water, suffocated with a wet blanket…”
Before Finn could protest, he vomited a mouthful of blood, the crimson blood splattered on his hands, making his nails look pale, he couldn’t close his mouth, unable to control the choking sensation in his throat, blood gushing out in torrents, coloring his lips red.
The carriage reeked of blood, Finn trembled violently, his upper body went weak, and he fell forward from his seat.
The driver, who was about to drive, stopped immediately at Finn’s sudden movement, and when he turned back, Finn, who had just been fine, was covered in blood.
His pupils shrunk in fear, as if struck by lightning, he fell to the ground, clutching the half cup of bubble tea tightly in his arms.
“Mr. Snearl!”
Finn couldn’t hear anything, he felt as if he had lost consciousness and was isolated from this world. In his world, his life, heartbeat, breath, everything had stopped, he could sense time passing, but he couldn’t feel his life flowing, he felt as if he were dead, unable to feel warmth.
The driver helped Finn back to his seat, he couldn’t hear the voice on the phone, but he heard what Finn had just said, that Miss Powell had drowned.
How was that possible? Aoife had been standing at the door seeing them off before they left, how could such a young person die? Aoife was only 22 years old.
Twenty-two, the age of blossoming youth, the most beautiful age for a woman, how could she die?
Finn grabbed the driver’s hand, blood kept flowing out of his throat, trying to suppress it, but the bloody taste choked him, making him grimace in discomfort, his eyes turning bloodshot.
“Drive, go back, I need to go back… drive faster, I need to go back to see Aoife, the bubble tea will get cold if I don’t go back…”
The bubble tea was room temperature, so it wouldn’t get cold, but Finn felt a chill seeping into his heart along with his blood, the half cup of bubble tea in his hand turning icy cold.
“Go back, I need to go home, drive faster, faster, please…” Finn begged, the word “please” escaping his lips, his mind clouded, not even sure who he was begging, consumed by the thought of getting home to see his Aoife.
“Mr. Snearl, please sit tight.”
“Okay…” Finn’s voice trembled, leaning against the seat back, “I’ll sit tight and won’t fall again.”
The driver, seeing Finn sitting tightly, returned to the driver’s seat and drove quickly, luckily there was no traffic, and they arrived at North Bankshire without delay.
Finn wiped the blood from his face, his eyes dull, as if trapped in a hallucination, cleaning the blood on his body, including the bubble tea stains, his hands dirty, getting dirtier as he wiped them, only getting clean with his sleeve.
Upon reaching home, even before the car had stopped, Finn rushed to open the door, his legs lame as he tried to walk out, but he stumbled and fell, all his attention still on the bubble tea in his hand, protecting it with all his might, failing to protect himself, falling flat on his face, scraping off a large piece of skin, his lips also injured.
With his left hand holding the bubble tea, and his right hand supporting himself to crawl forward bit by bit, the driver got out of the car and helped him up. Finn’s feet were practically dragging on the ground, he would have fallen again if not for the driver’s support.
Standing at the door were the butler, maids, chef, and Linda… looking at each of their faces, Finn seldom paid attention to them, but today he noticed that their faces were all pale or tear-streaked.
Why were they crying? It was as if someone had died.
Aoife couldn’t possibly be dead, she must be waiting for him at home, sleeping in bed, or singing with the two children.
How could she, who was afraid of pain, die like that? Linda’s description of her death was unbearable for anyone, it was quicker to cut your wrists.
And why would Aoife commit suicide, even if she had recovered her memories, she had two children… she loved children so much, would she abandon them?
“Where’s Aoife?”
Everyone lowered their heads, only the butler croaked out, “She’s in the upstairs bedroom.”
“Take me up there.”
They could have used the elevator, but with every step Finn took, his knees hurt more, slowly making his way upstairs, he saw her lying on the bed.
He chuckled softly, his voice hoarse as he said, “I told you they were lying to me, you see, isn’t Aoife fine? She’s just taking a nap, she just slept a bit longer today, everything’s fine. I’ll stay here with her, and when she wakes up, I’ll give her the bubble tea I brought back, she loves sweet drinks, but don’t drink too much, the bubble tea is already five parts sugar, too much sweetness can cause cavities.”
He muttered to himself, as if speaking to the driver, but also to himself.
The driver looked at Finn and could only see before him a man who had gone insane.
Using the driver’s hand for support, the crazed Finn slowly made his way to the bed, carefully placing the half cup of bubble tea on the bedside table. He wanted to sit on the edge of the bed, but then realized how dirty he was.
Finn gazed deeply at Aoife, her eyes closed tightly, her face pale, lips chapped, her hair still wet, spread out on the bed like seaweed.