Chapter 37: Relapse of Depression
"Do you know how to make handmade noodles?"
Luke had always been around wealthy women since childhood, who only showcased their cooking skills by baking a small cake or making soup. So Elsa's skill surprised him.
Moreover, Elsa's appearance and personality made it hard to associate her with such a simple and ordinary task.
"It's just so-so, decent enough not to poison anyone anyway," Elsa's complexion wasn't great. If she knew he wasn't hungry, she wouldn't have gotten up so early.
Luke wasn't annoyed. Instead, he smiled, "Since you made it for me, won't you let me taste it?"
"Sure, have a little." Elsa reluctantly twirled some noodles on a fork, blew on them, and brought them to Luke's lips.
Luke ate them, holding her hand and eating a lot before noticing Elsa's expression improving.
From someone who always hid their emotions to now being completely outspoken, Elsa didn't realize she had changed so much.
Karen watched their intimate interaction and felt angry. Luke was polite to her, and she thought he was cold in nature, but he acted unusually warm in front of Elsa.
She couldn't ignore this anymore. She had to do something.
Early the next morning, Elsa got up from the hospital bed, ready to go home and prepare food for Luke.
As she arrived at the door, a black plastic bag hanging on the doorknob caught her attention.
Inside was a CD and a note. The words, Mrs. Leslie's Video, made Elsa's heart skip a beat.
Since Leslie's passing, she had been trying various ways to find photos and videos of her, but Leslie had left too little behind when she was alive.
She eagerly opened her laptop, inserted the CD into the drive.
At the moment she saw the video, Elsa felt her blood rush to her head.
The video showed Leslie on the day of her suicide.
Leslie had jumped from the roof of the Maplewood City Times Center on the day after Christmas, and the surveillance footage from the Times Center captured the dramatic scene, providing the police with enough evidence to rule out foul play.
Elsa had never dared to watch this footage.
She only knew about it from media reports, bits and pieces from others, and Leslie's suicide note.
What she saw was a vivid red, and Elsa felt like she could smell the scent of blood and perceive Leslie's injustice and unwillingness.
Leslie's leap from the 30th-floor rooftop, the bloody scene, the screams of passersby, the honking of vehicles, all mixed together. Elsa's mind went blank for a long time.
It must have been Karen's doing.
Leslie and Vincent were her only vulnerabilities in this world, and Karen did this to make her depressed again. Elsa couldn't let Karen achieve her goal.
Elsa abruptly closed the laptop, took deep breaths, and tried hard to forget that scene.
But the image of Leslie's bloody state deeply etched in her mind.
Elsa sat in front of the computer for a long time, finding it hard to breathe due to the pain in her heart.
Later, she even opened her email and found Leslie's last email to her.
"I can't do it anymore, so I gave the necklace to Phyllis. Luckily, the marriage certificate is still with you. You are thousands of miles away, so Phyllis won't be able to find you quickly. Elsa, my only regret is not giving you and Vincent a peaceful life. As for whether you really want to marry into the Taylor family, I will respect your wishes either way."
Due to the time difference, Leslie was afraid of disturbing Elsa's rest by sending a Facebook Messenger message, so she often wrote emails to her. Their last email was about the necklace.
Leslie was forced to commit suicide, most likely because Phyllis and Karen weren't satisfied with just the necklace and wanted to get the marriage certificate.
The long-lost dizziness and disorientation hit Elsa, and she hurriedly laid down on the bed.
"Calm down, don't let Karen achieve her goal, don't be lost again," Elsa kept telling herself.
The more anxious she became, the worse her state was. Finally, in a moment, the overwhelming sadness engulfed her.
Elsa was shocked; her depression had relapsed.
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