Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
BACK TO JANEL'S POV
Outer Banks, the Chateau July 21st, 2020 10:08am
I woke up, the feeling of dazzling lights hitting against my closed eyes. For a second, maybe half a second, I forgot how sad I was, and this was the best feeling on Earth. For this very short amount of time, my body didn't weigh 3 tons, my eyes weren't filled with tears and I didn't feel like throwing up of sorrow. I looked next to me and frowned when I realised Rafe was already gone, which didn't really look like him.
I sat up and grabbed a small note he had left on my nightstand, before I tried to understand what he had written. Maybe he was rich, but his handwriting didn't look fancy at all, I struggled to read the words he had written for me.
"I'm sar-sorry dawi- darling, I had something imperf- important to do with my father," I read out loud, struggling to read the letters he wrote, smiling a little.
I stretched and made my way to the bathroom, where I noticed the bags under my eyes and decided to do something about it. I showered, as if it could wash all of my dark thoughts away, and then put on some makeup, just a little, so that I'd look less like a monster. I picked some nice clothes, which made me feel good, and then, as I was about to leave and go surfing, someone knocked at the front door.
I went to open it and when I caught glimpse of Susan, standing next to my brother, I frowned. If they were here to announce more awful things, I didn't want to hear them. "Hi," I greeted.
"Hey, I picked your brother up, I have news to tell you," she voiced.
"Good news?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Yeah, I think so," she said.
I let them in and we all made ourselves comfortable in the living-room, as I watched John B and wondered if he was still as sad as he was on the previous day. Being with Pope had probably helped him going through it all, because somehow Pope always found the right words to use, and I was glad he had been there for my brother.
"So what's going on?" John B asked.
"Once again, I'm not supposed to be telling you this already but I want to be the one telling you before you learn it from someone else," Susan began. "So, the DNA tests were successful, we are now sure who killed Big John"
My eyes went wide and I sat up more properly as if it could help me understanding her words better. After spending most of the night crying, plotting revenge or ways to find my father's murderer, I would finally get to know who had ruined our lives. It was reassuring and quite satisfying to know that thanks to Susan, the rest of their life would be ruined just like mine.
"So, who is it?" I inquired.
She sighed. "Ward Cameron," she announced.
It was like being stabbed again, ran over by a train a second time, reliving it all. My heart hurt me so badly that I couldn't even feel my body anymore, it was just pain, sorrow and despair. I was sitting on the sofa, but I wasn't really there, my soul was with Rafe, I kept thinking about the night we had spent together, and how I had cried in his arms for hours, not knowing his dad was the cause of my sadness.
