Chapter 936 What Happened After Violet Disappeared
After Violet popped the meds, it took a bit for them to kick in. She leaned on Lassie and slowly dozed off.
Charles pointed at Violet, looking like he wanted to ask, "Did she just crash like that?"
"Yep, she's out cold! We found her, but she's forgotten a ton of stuff. Every time she tries to remember, she gets these killer headaches. Regular painkillers don't do squat, and the strong ones knock her out." Lassie whispered, not wanting to wake Violet.
Carter bent down to scoop up Violet and said, "Charles, sorry for the hassle! Lassie and I will take her back now. Can you let Hannah know we won't bother you guys?"
Charles replied, "She's asleep now. You gonna carry her to the airport? Let me hook you up with a hotel first, and we can chat when she wakes up."
He still had a lot to figure out!
Even though he was dying to find Hannah, he knew if he didn't get things straight, Hannah would be more hurt.
Carter hesitated.
He could see Violet's sudden arrival had really messed things up for Charles and Hannah.
Charles had waited for Violet for seven years, which was long enough.
Now that he had finally found his happiness, he didn't want Violet to mess it up.
It just wasn't meant to be.
A missed chance was a missed chance.
Feeling bad for Violet, Lassie said, "Charles is right. Let's find a place to crash first. Violet needs at least five or six hours to wake up. It's not good to move her around like this. We're getting old, and carrying her around is a pain."
Carter thought for a moment and then nodded. "Alright then! Charles, sorry for the trouble!"
Charles replied, "No worries!"
Charles pulled out his phone and booked a suite at a hotel he had a deal with. After some hassle, they finally got Violet settled.
Carter, being old and worn out, was panting heavily after getting Violet to the hotel.
Charles, being polite but aware of the gender thing, could only help out a bit.
Seeing Violet lying quietly on the bed, Lassie's eyes filled with tears. She grabbed a hot towel from the bathroom and gently wiped Violet's face, silently crying. "My poor girl, you must've been through so much!"
Charles looked at Violet deeply, hesitated for a moment, and then signaled Carter to go to the living room, thoughtfully closing the door so they wouldn't disturb Violet.
Before coming to the hotel, Charles had asked Wyatt to prepare lunch and send it over.
Now, lunch was laid out on the table outside.
Carter had no appetite at all, but he felt bad for Lassie and personally brought lunch to the bedroom.
Unfortunately, Lassie wasn't hungry either, and when he came out, the lunch was untouched.
Seeing they weren't eating, Charles didn't feel right eating either, so he pulled Carter to the balcony. "The air out here is nice; it's more chill."
Carter closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It was almost winter, and the cool breeze on his face did help clear the stuffiness in his chest.
Charles leaned against the railing and handed Carter a cigarette.
He usually didn't smoke, and Carter didn't either, but when things got rough, Carter would light one up.
He figured Carter might need it now.
Seeing the cigarette, Carter couldn't help but smile and sighed, "Man, time flies. Never thought I'd see the day you’d be offering me a smoke."
In his mind, Charles was still just a kid!
"I'm twenty-seven now!" Charles said, sticking a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it for both of them.
Carter took a deep drag and slowly exhaled. "Yeah, you're twenty-seven! And I'm over fifty."
He was definitely feeling old.
His temples were already turning gray.
Charles took a drag and exhaled too.
The cold wind blew the smoke away, leaving no trace.
As he smoked, Charles asked, "When did you find Violet?"
Carter mimicked his posture, leaning against the railing and skillfully flicking the ash into the ashtray in Charles's hand. "It's been a while."
Charles stayed quiet, waiting for Carter to continue.
Carter closed his eyes, took another deep drag, and as he exhaled the smoke, he seemed to know what Charles wanted to hear and began to speak again, "You know, she called home herself."
Charles was a bit puzzled.
Carter continued, "She doesn't remember anything about what happened seven years ago! When she woke up seven years ago, the kidnappers were already dead. Seeing all those bodies freaked her out, so she bolted from the warehouse. But because she had a head injury, she forgot everything and never came back. She wandered the streets for a long time, though she can't remember exactly how long. Based on the time the people who saved her took her in, she probably wandered for two years. During those two years, she lived rough, sleeping under bridges at night and begging in underground passages during the day! She wandered aimlessly for a long time, not knowing where to go, until she ended up in a distant small town! After begging in that small town for a while, a coffee shop owner took pity on her and took her in to work in the shop, providing food and shelter and giving her a few hundred dollars a month as pocket money. She stayed in the coffee shop for five years. During those years, some fragmented memories occasionally appeared in her mind. One morning, she remembered my phone number and borrowed the boss's phone to call me. Maybe my voice scared her, so she hung up immediately after hearing it.
At that moment, I had a strong feeling that it might be Violet. She must have had some reason for hanging up, so I immediately called back.
The coffee shop owner answered the phone."
As he recounted Violet's experiences, his tone was unusually calm.
Charles knew that beneath his calm tone lay guilt, remorse, and shame. Guilt for not finding Violet all these years and letting her suffer for so long, remorse for not being a good father and for not protecting Violet from being kidnapped, and shame for finding Violet but not being able to cure her current condition.
Although Charles didn't have a daughter and couldn't fully empathize, he understood very well because he felt the same way when he learned about Violet's incident years ago.
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