“Layla Watson from Room 26 passed away due to complications,” the nurse informed Maverick.
Maverick stood frozen as if he had been struck by lightning. It took him a long moment before he finally found his voice. “When did this happen?”
The nurse pulled up the medical records and checked. “She passed away on the night of June 28th at 9:00 pm. It’s truly
unfortunate that her daughter arrived just a little too late and didn’t get to see her one last time.”
Maverick recalled that June 28th was the night of Emma’s bar opening. That night, he had even threatened me with our wedding
to force me to work as a bar girl.
He thought it was no wonder I had been so desperate to escape that I had even been willing to jump from the third floor.
It was him
he was the reason I had missed my mother’s final moments.
He stumbled out of the hospital, dazed and lost. He drove to my place, but I wasn’t there. My phone remained unreachable.
He knew I must hate him now and that I would never forgive him.
I placed a bouquet of lilies–my mother’s favorite–before her tombstone. Then, leaning against the cold stone, I told her all
about how Maverick and Emma had turned on each other like wild dogs.
