**Beep beep beep!**
A car approached from the left, and Sherilyn remained completely unaware.
“Sherilyn!”
Gilbert felt his scalp tighten, his eyes wide with panic. Before Sherilyn could process what was happening, she was pulled back by a firm grip around her waist. Gilbert had lunged forward, drawing her back with him. As they collided with the brick wall of the yard, Gilbert’s hand shielded her back.
“Can’t you watch where you’re going?” the driver yelled from inside the car, his voice full of frustration, before speeding away.
Gilbert looked down at Sherilyn, still shaken and his heart pounding, but he spoke gently to reassure her. “It’s okay, it’s all right now!”
Sherilyn, however, seemed completely oblivious to the near accident. She pulled away from him and rushed to the gate. “She went in there!”
“Sherilyn!”
Gilbert, his brow furrowed, picked up the umbrella Sherilyn had dropped and hurried after her, holding it over her. “It’s pouring out here, and you’re soaked. Let’s go back to the hospital, okay?”
He reached out to hold her arm.
“Let go of me!”
Sherilyn suddenly broke free, looking up at him with eyes rimmed in red. “Does the rain matter? Do I getting wet matter?”
Her face was a blend of rain and tears, indistinguishable from each other. “I’ve been following her all afternoon! She visited Yuna, went to the supermarket… why won’t she go see Galen? Why?” Gilbert was momentarily stunned, then he understood.
Sherilyn was trying to follow Malvina to find Galen…
“I’m not leaving!”
Sherilyn, her eyes reddened, shook her head stubbornly, her emotions teetering on the edge of breaking. “I’ll wait here! She can’t avoid seeing Galen forever! I will see her, I will!” “Sherilyn!”
Gilbert’s heart ached for her. Holding the umbrella with one hand, he gently cradled the back of her head with the other, pulling her into his embrace. “You don’t have to wait, leave Jenna’s issue to me…” “Leave it to you?”
Sherilyn looked up at him, confused.
“Yes.”
Gilbert nodded. “Jenna is my daughter too, I feel the same way you do. Trust me, I’m working on a solution…”
His phone ringing interrupted him.
Gilbert tensed; it might be news from Nolan.
“Sherilyn, just a moment…”
He let go of her to check his phone.
Being so close, Sherilyn noticed the name ‘Caroline’ flashing on the screen.
She let out a barely audible scoff, her gaze turning cold.
A wave of desolation rose within her. “Gilbert, we’re not the same… Not the same!”
Gilbert froze, canceled the call, and reached out for Sherilyn. “Sherilyn…” “Sherilyn!”
Not far off, Edgar arrived, holding an umbrella against the rain. “Sorry, I’m late…” “Edgar…”
Gilbert’s expression darkened as his phone rang again.
This time, it was Nolan.
“Hello? Speak!”
“Mr. Nine, we’ve got a lead…”
Gilbert’s brows furrowed at the news. “Where?”
“The person might be in Ivy Hollow. We’re still verifying the exact location.”
Ivy Hollow?
Gilbert remembered the place; it was Sherilyn’s and
her
grandmother’s
mother was buried
“Alright, I’m on my way.”
He looked up.
swnote
Edgar had taken Sherilyn’s hand, handing her the umbrella, and draping his suit jacket over here shoulders.
Feeling a tightness in his chest,
Gilbert took a shallow breath and et
approached them with a composed expression.
Nodding toward Edgar, he said, “Take her back to the hospital!”
“I’m not going back.” Sherilyn shook her head stubbornly, repeating, “I’ll wait here.”