Chapter 389 Unlucky in Love
Debra stayed quiet for a long time after hearing those words.
Finally, she shattered Shirley's bubble. "Mike probably ain't coming for us anymore."
Shirley looked all puzzled, her voice shaky. "What do you mean?"
"The Wright family's car gets checked every month, and there's never an issue. Shirley, before the accident, the driver said the brakes failed. But we had it checked just two days before we left. How could it fail?"
Shirley's mind was racing. "You don't mean Mike did this, do you? That's impossible, Mom!"
Debra's words hit hard. "Then why didn't Mike come with us?"
Shirley mumbled, still confused. "Mike said if we all left, there'd be no one to manage the company."
"With his skills, do you really think he can manage the company well? And you believe that excuse?" Debra's tone was sharp.
She thought, 'At the moment of the car accident, Kenneth must have realized it wasn't an accident but a setup.'
"Time will tell if I'm right," Debra said. "It's simple. If Mike didn't do this, he'd be searching for us. But it's been a month, and he hasn't found us. Doesn't that tell you something?"
Shirley's eyes filled with tears. She had considered Debra's words but tried to ignore them.
"Dinner's ready," a cheerful voice broke the tense atmosphere. A simple middle-aged woman walked in, wearing plain linen clothes and a straw hat, her healthy complexion beaming with a genuine smile.
She placed the food on the table. Debra thanked her and called Shirley to eat. Shirley sat down, visibly upset. Debra picked up a piece of meat for her.
Before the woman could stop her, Shirley smelled the greasy meat and started to retch.
Debra's eyes narrowed. "Shirley! Don't be so rude!"
She had thought Shirley found the food unappetizing.
The woman hurriedly picked out the meat, gesturing frantically. "You... belly, baby, can't... eat light food!" She kept pointing at her belly and the meat.
After a month together, they understood more of her words.
"That's impossible!" Debra's chopsticks clattered to the ground. "She can't be pregnant!"
The woman thought for a moment and gestured a three. About three months, perhaps.
Debra's heart sank. She thought, 'Yes, Shirley and Mike have been married for some time.' Then she asked, "Didn't you notice you missed your period?"
Shirley bit her lip. "I'm always irregular. It's not unusual for me to go two months without it, so I didn't pay attention."
Debra closed her eyes in frustration. "So what are you going to do?"
Shirley didn't respond.
The woman continued, "Rest well; don't move around too much."
Shirley finally got why the villagers wouldn't let her help—they must've known she was pregnant when they rescued her.
She needed to see it for herself. Her belly kept growing, and by the seventh month, she was done waiting and wanted to leave. But everyone stopped her.
"The road over the mountain is under construction. What used to be an hour's drive now takes four or five hours."
"The road is bumpy. How can you handle it in your condition?"
"If you hurt the baby, you'll suffer, too!"
Debra chimed in, "Let's wait until the baby is born."
Three months later, Shirley gave birth to a daughter. She named her Luann Weaver.
Debra heard the surname and kept quiet.
Even when Shirley suggested going back to the Wright family to find Mike, she didn't stop her.
But when Shirley got back to the company, she saw the Wright Group's sign had been swapped out.
She walked in wearing a mask, and it seemed like all the employees had changed; she didn't recognize even the receptionist. "Is Mike Weaver here?"
The receptionist glanced at her, a hint of suspicion in her eyes. "Yes, do you have an appointment?"
"I'm his..." Before she could finish, the receptionist's face lit up with a cheerful smile, completely different from before.
"Mrs. Weaver, you're here! You're a bit late today. Mr. Weaver has been waiting for you, always talking about how delicious your cooking is!"
Shirley's body stiffened, and she was unable to believe it. She turned around and saw a young woman, about her age, standing there with a lunchbox, beaming with happiness.
Brianna smiled and said, "The traffic was a bit heavy. I'll head up now."
"Okay!"
Shirley couldn't hold up. She hadn't felt so tired after the long journey, but now all the exhaustion hit her, as if it would crush her. She stumbled.
Brianna quickly caught her. "Miss, are you okay?"
Brianna looked at the masked Shirley with concern. "Come sit here and rest for a bit. Get this lady a glass of water. Is it too hot? Are you having a heatstroke?"
Brianna took out a tissue from her bag, wanting to wipe the sweat off Shirley's forehead.
Shirley hastily stopped her. "No, thank you."
After saying that, Shirley hurriedly fled. She reflected, 'So, the Mike who claimed to love me has already married another woman. My choice was wrong. The man I thought I could spend my life with is a complete scoundrel. I trusted the wrong person, causing my father's death. Dad could have lived a long, healthy life with Mom, but because of my foolishness, his life ended early. Even in his final moments, he was protecting us.'
Shirley's tears fell in large drops. Sitting on the dirty ground, masked, she cried her heart out, utterly devastated.
Passersby couldn't help but glance at her. Who would have thought that this was the once-famous, envied Shirley from the Upper West Side a year ago?
"Dad, I'm sorry," Shirley cried.
However, Kenneth could no longer hear her.
