Chapter 612

Liora looked at Sanford. The anger he once showed when talking about Jonathan was gone. She could see he had grown up a lot. She took his hand gently.

She said, “I hope you won’t keep living in the past. You have a long future ahead. Live your life happily.”

Sanford didn’t say a word. He just squeezed her hand and gave it a soft pat. Liora kept staring out the window. Memories from the past came to her like vivid pictures. In that moment, she felt a deep happiness.

At the Lynn residence, Irene came by and started searching through a storage room. After a while, she found an old box that had been tucked away for a long time.

She opened it and saw photo frames, her marriage certificate with Yorick, a handwritten letter from Yorick promising he wouldn’t blame her, an audio tape, and a medical report.

Seeing all these things brought back a flood of memories. Clutching the box, Irene broke down and cried out loud.

“Yorick, how am I supposed to accept anyone else? People call me a widow. I want to move on, but how could I, when you’re gone like this?” Her voice echoed through the quiet house.

She heard footsteps behind her and slowly turned around. Jonathan was standing there. He had come back earlier on a different flight.

Now he was right there. Irene didn’t try to hide the box. She wiped her tears and stood up. “These are your father’s things. I kept everything in this box.”

Jonathan stepped forward slowly and took the box from her. The first thing he saw was a photo of his parents. Irene’s pregnant belly was clear in the picture. She was happily holding Yorick’s arm.

Irene sighed and said, “This was taken when I was eight months pregnant with you. My belly was huge, almost ready to give birth. It was your grandpa’s birthday, so we took this picture.”

Jonathan said, “You both look so happy in this.”

“Yes, that was the happiest year of my life. Your dad was a good man. Everyone who knew him had nothing bad to say. He was honest, kind, and devoted to his family.

“When he found out I was pregnant, he was so happy. He told me he wouldn’t let me suffer during pregnancy. And he kept his promise.

“He treated me so well all through the pregnancy and even after you were born. He was grateful that I gave birth to you. He promised to raise you right. But…”

Irene’s voice cracked and she sighed deeply. “If only your dad had lived longer, it would have been so much better.

“He could have watched you grow up instead of leaving you without a father’s love from the start, leaving just the two of us in this world.”

She knew better than anyone how tough it was for a woman to raise a kid alone, the money struggles, the emotional pain.

Jonathan looked at Irene. “You said that was your happiest year. What happened after that?”

Irene didn’t answer. She furrowed her brow in pain. Jonathan took a deep breath. “You still won’t tell me? Then Liora will have to say it. I’m ready to listen.”

Irene lifted her head. Her worn face showed worry. “Jonathan, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you. I’m just scared you’ll be disappointed in me. I never wanted to let you down. I’ve worked so hard raising you all these years.”

“Stop.” Jonathan cut in, saying, “Raising a kid is a huge responsibility. How could I not recognize that? Those are two totally different things. You still need to tell me what I need to know.

“Maybe if you’d told me sooner, I could’ve found out who Sanford was earlier. We wouldn’t have all this confusion or dragged so many people into it.”

But Irene stayed silent, not ready to speak. Jonathan gave a bitter laugh. “Liora may have hidden the truth, but she was willing to be honest for Sanford’s sake. I envy Sanford for that. At least his mom cared about how he felt.”

Jonathan had to handle rumors at work and calm Irene down over the whole mix-up that Sanford was Yorick’s son. But nobody cared about how he felt.

Nobody cared about his pain. Feeling disappointed, he turned and started to walk away. “Wait,” Irene finally called after him. She took a deep breath.

“Okay, you want to know. I’ll tell you. You’re right. Since it all has to come out, it doesn’t have to be Liora who tells you.

“I don’t want her to make things worse between us.” Irene took the box from the storage room and sat down on the couch.

She emptied everything onto the table until it was full. One handwritten letter caught Jonathan’s eye. He picked up the yellowed paper; Irene said it was written by Yorick himself. Jonathan began to read.

After a few lines, his brow furrowed. He asked, “My dad said you poisoned her. That can’t be right. What does that mean?”

Irene pressed her lips together and said slowly, “I was stupid enough to think about killing Liora.”

“What?” Jonathan asked.

Irene recalled the past. When she and Yorick got married, and when she was pregnant and gave birth, she was really happy. But everything fell apart when Liora showed up.

After Werner’s birthday party, Yorick told Irene that a rich young woman was interested in him. She kept asking him to dance. He said no.

She demanded his phone number. He told her he already had a wife and a kid. Only then did she back off.

Irene always felt a little insecure. Even though she and Yorick grew up together, he was smarter and worked harder. He had more admirers.

Irene came from a humble background. When she found out a rich woman liked Yorick, she panicked. She was scared she’d lose him.

So she kept pressing Yorick about the woman. Yorick insisted many times that nothing was going on, and he didn’t even know the woman’s name.

Irene warned him, “I just had Jonathan. Don’t hurt me or I’ll hold Jonathan and die to prove it.”

Yorick said seriously, “Don’t you trust what kind of man I am? If I really liked her, I wouldn’t have told you.”

Irene felt a little better. But she never imagined that the rich woman wouldn’t just give up. One day, Irene got a call. A soft voice said she’d dialed the wrong number.

A few minutes later, the same number called Yorick’s phone while he was in the shower. Irene answered and asked, “Who is this?”