What Was Meant To Be [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: DANGER AHEAD

It had been Kate’s undoing. The look that Aunt Abigail had sent her had touched her deeply. It had been the look of a desperate mother who had just lost her only son and wanted something from her. Something she could not give simply because she did not know the truth.

Feeling forlorn, she felt tears prick her eyes as she stepped back in an attempt to avoid the question being addressed to her. She stammered something unintelligible not knowing what to say. The plain truth was that she had no idea who the killer was and had only been bluffing.

Aidan and Ryce had known she had been faking it and they had protected her. Like they had always done. The killer could not be Ryce; it was simply not possible. Her heart would never believe that. Even if he had wanted revenge, he would have attempted to harm her in a different way. Ryce would never try to kill her; it was unthinkable.

All her instincts were telling her that it could be Nathalie since the hate she harbored for her was so intense that it was evident even from a distance.  But was it enough for a scorned woman to try to kill her? Or kill her brother in the process? The words the latter had spat at her had been laced with hatred even if Kate knew Nathalie had only been trying to break her.

But the words that Nathalie had lashed at her had affected her anyway. No matter what her protectors said, she knew she was the one responsible for the death of Edward. Deeply wounded, she finally acknowledged that she had been living in a cocoon till now always being protected by her loved ones while she was not that innocent like she had believed herself to be.

It was a revelation to her and she had wanted some time alone to face herself. Kate knew she was not supposed to stay alone especially after Aidan had warned her that the killer could be anyone now. But her mind had been too full of remorse for any rational thinking and she backed off silently while everybody had been busy trying to convince Nathalie that she had nothing to do with the actual murder.

But they were wrong. She might not have stabbed that knife but she was as responsible as the killer. Had Edward not been at the wrong place at the wrong time, he would have still been alive. And she felt bad for having been able to escape while he was dead. All because of her. She should have at least protected him but the fact was that she had no time to react. It had happened so suddenly that her first instinct had been to save herself.

Not for one second had she stopped to think of poor Edward lying wounded on the floor. Was she selfish? It was human nature to love oneself more than others she knew but now she was feeling so bad. Except that if she had stayed back, she would not have been able to save Edward as she would have been dead by now.

But like Nathalie said, it was only her words that were going to testify her innocence. She had no other way to convince anyone that she had only been following her instinct. It was what anyone would have done in her place but had it been her brother who had landed dead, she would have reacted in the same way too.

Finally realizing that she was walking without destination, she stopped walking and focused on her whereabouts. Her famous headache was back after a long time and she sat on the side of a fountain staring blindly at the way the water was splashing. It was so depressing to have finally faced the two Bigfoots. She now understood why Aidan was so reluctant for her to get back.

As usual, he had only been trying to spare her the worst. But she had been running from the truth; the truth being that Edward was dead. And she had not even been given the chance to mourn him. Even if she had never loved Edward, he had still been a good friend and had not deserved to die at such a young age. If it was not for him, she was the one who would have died on the spot. It was her lucky day that Edward had been present to bar her ill fate.