NOVEL WEB Chapter 598: A missing page.
Saying that, Becca didn't stay there for long. Tuning away, she left. But just when she was about to step out of the house, she stopped and glanced back at Catrin over her shoulder.
"Catrin, I have always known you weren't a good mother. But I never expected you to turn out to be the worst one," she said, her tone sharp with disappointment and quiet disapproval.
And then she walked out without another word.
Catrin watched her silhouette disappear, and the arrogant nonchalance of her face shattered. Her lips quivered with suppressed rage, and her fingers curled into fists. Her eyes burned with fury.
"This … all of this … it's because of that brat, Arwen," she hissed, her voice low and setting. "Over the years, I thought I had control over her. I thought she had learned obedience. But no … she simply couldn't let go of her innate trait of rebellion."
Her chest heaved as anger stormed through her, and she staggered slightly, her breath growing shallow and uneven. A sudden wave of dizziness washed over her, and her hand gripped the edge of the sofa to steady herself.
"Madam!" The butler exclaimed, rushing to her side. Alarmed, he gestured quickly to a maid. "Fetch Madam's medicine —now."
The maid dashed off and returned moments later with a small box. The butler opened it swiftly and pulled out a few pills, handing them to Catrin along with a glass of water.
"Your blood pressure seems high again, Madam. Please take these."
Catrin's breathing was heavy, her chest felt tight in pain and fury. But without a word, she snatched the pills from his hand and swallowed them.
After a few tense moments, the heaviness in her chest slowly began to lift. Her breathing evened out slightly, though her eyes still burned with restrained malice.
She leaned against the couch. Although her demeanour looked weak in that moment, her expression, however, remained unchanged —cold and calculating.
"I am her mom," she muttered as if assuring herself. "I don't believe I can find a way to make her obedient." Her gaze darkened, and it became hard to tell what ideas stirred beneath that darkness.
***
Late at night,
Arwen finally opened her eyes and turned to look at the other side of the bed. The lights of the room were turned off, but the natural light of the moon was beautifully streaming in.
It wasn't very difficult for her to catch a glimpse of Aiden sleeping right next you her.
She had been waiting for him to sleep.
Carefully, sitting up, she slowly got out the bed. Walking to his side, she adjusted the blanket for him before straightening up to give a last glance at him.
In a usual circumstance, Aiden would have woken up at her very moment she had stepped out the bed. But since he had taken the meds and partially slept under the influence of them, he didn't sense her movements.
Walking out of the room, Arwen closed the door behind her. She wasn't hiding from him. It was just that she didn't want to disturb his sleep.
"Madam, do you need anything?" Mr. Jones's voice halted her, and she turned to look at him.
"Mr. Jones, you haven't left yet?" she was slightly surprised.
The butler smiled and shook his head. "Sir hasn't yet recovered, so I stayed a little late."
Arwen nodded, understanding. Then she looked towards the study and said, "I have some work to do. So, I would be staying up late. You can return and rest. If there is something that I need your help with, I will let you know."
Mr. Jones nodded and then quietly left.
Meanwhile, in the study, Arwen sat behind the desk and opened the diary again. This was all she had to find the clues from.
As she flipped it open, the page that opened was what she had last closed on.
[He watches clouds like they are secrets.
I named one after him.
He rolled his eyes. (But he looked again, muttering the nickname under his breath —Ide.)]
Her fingers moved to brush over the writing, remembering watching a similar incident unfold in her dreams.
Could it be that the dream she had wasn't really a dream but the memory of her past?
But if it was then … she also saw Aiden there. Could he also not be her imagination, but reality?
She wasn't sure, but she knew she would find the clues about it in the diary. So, she quickly turned over to read the next page.
However, her brows knitted in a frown when she saw the unevenness in the hinge. Her fingers moved to feel it, and sure enough, there was a page missing. The rough edge of the missing sheet was very clear.
"Who tore it away?" she questioned, and the only name that popped into her head was Catrin's.
Her gaze darted to look at Ryan's sketch on the left side, and her frown only deepened.
"Could I have drawn his image here?" she asked herself, knowing well that she would receive an answer. But given the quote she wrote on the right side gave an obvious idea that she could. She might have drawn a sketch —one that could have revealed the boy she had been writing so much about.
The thought of having such a possibility made her desperate. But she knew if her mother destroyed it, she had no chance of getting her hands back on it.
Disappointed, she turned to read the next page. Each one is telling about the little experiences. The more she read, the more she felt getting herself familiar.
But she halted again when something caught her attention. Another sketch —not of a person, but a scene.
The lake, the tent, the lights —all these details just reminded her of the place Aiden took her to the night he fainted.
"This … how is this possible?" she muttered to herself, not knowing what to decipher from it.