Chapter 19

During the journey back, Jackson sat in the backseat with his eyes shut. He seemed to be resting his eyes, but only he knew that he was not resting at all. His thoughts were muddled. It had been three years. She had returned after disappearing for those three years. However, instead of bringing good surprises, she had only caused more trouble for him. Where had she disappeared to in those three years? Why was she together with Zachary Quimby now? He thought that she was with Yosef Turner for the past three years, but it seemed that things were a little different now. He could not help but recall that fateful day from three years ago. That morning, he had noticed the eerie silence in the house when he pushed the mansion’s doors open. After standing in the living room for a while, he walked up the stairs and entered the bedroom. The person he was expecting to see was not there. He guessed that she must have gone grocery shopping. So, he sat down by the bed and quietly waited for her to return. Two hours passed quickly. The supermarket was near the mansion, and she would not need to spend such a long time grocery shopping. It was then that he realized that something was not right. He took his phone out quickly and dialed her number. The melodic ringtone from her phone could be heard from one of the drawers of the bedside table. He was momentarily stunned before dashing out from the bedroom toward the study. The study was empty. He then checked the guest rooms, but there was no one there as well. Jackson was panicking. He checked every room on the first and second floor before finally returning to the bedroom. When he opened the closet doors, he saw that their clothes hung neatly in them. Jackson started grabbing clothes from the closet and chucking them on the floor. He then realized that her red dress was avoiding. Wesley bought that dress for Yvonne back when she got married. He had never let Yvonne wear that dress as it looked old-fashioned. Her clothes were always kept in the closet, and no one would ever touch them. How come only this particular dress was missing from the closet? He rushed over to the bedside table and pulled the drawer open. Everything was in order, except for Yvonne’s documents, which were no longer there. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He wandered dazedly around the house, hoping that he was not dreaming. His eyes caught sight of two papers on the vanity table. It was a list of jewelry written with elegant handwriting. There was a remark at the bottom of the page: 'The jewelry will be returned to its original owner. Please sign for them. Also, please mail a copy of the divorce papers and the ring I bought to Wesley Yates back to me if you have the time. Thank you!' The remark in the familiar handwriting seemed to be mocking Jackson. He opened the drawer of the vanity table and discovered jewelry boxes of different sizes placed neatly inside. He was familiar with these boxes. Each of them held jewelry pieces that he had spent time and effort picking out for her. He even remembered the designs of these pieces and the dates he had given them to her. Jackson opened the jewelry box at the top and noticed that it contained the wedding ring he had bought her. They bought wedding rings for each other. She had once said that she wanted to use her savings to buy him his ring so that she could keep him by her side and never let go. He remembered what she had said back then. “You’re not allowed to take it off after you’ve put it on. You have to wear it for the rest of your life!” It seemed like only yesterday that he heard her make her wedding vow to him, that they would always be together in sickness or health and to death do they part! Hah! So, the vows were all lies. Their love had fizzled out after only three years of happiness. Jackson stood up abruptly and swept the jewelry in the drawer onto the ground. Nothing was missing from the mansion except the red dress. Yvonne had put on that red dress and left without saying a word. She left with nothing! She left without taking a single penny with her! Yvonne Yates, you were crazy indeed! A void was left in his heart, and blood bled from within.