Falling For My Ex's Uncle - Chapter 240: Chapter 240

Bonnie clutched my hand tightly, her expression tense. "What happened?"
I patted her hand reassuringly and let out a soft sigh. "Kailyn originally wanted to marry Alex..."
At my words, Bonnie's face darkened instantly. She opened her mouth as if to say something but ultimately remained silent.
She didn't need to say it—I already understood.
Like daughter, like mother. If Melody could steal Maddox from my mother back then, there was no way Kailyn would back down so easily.
"But isn't she about to marry Austin now?" Bonnie asked, her brows knitting together as she looked at me with concern.
"And what about Rosemary? She was the Herrera family's adopted daughter, and now she's dead. Will the wedding be postponed?"
I paused for a moment, caught off guard by the question.
Then, shaking my head, I answered, "I don't know, but probably not."
I didn't want Bonnie to worry, so I kept the details of Rosemary's death to myself.
I didn't mention the kidnapping either. She had already lost my mother; I didn't want her to lose sleep over me too.
Bonnie didn't know everything about my mother's past. Or maybe she did but had chosen not to tell me.
Still, before I left, she gave me a serious warning. "Laurel, I know you've always been strong-willed, but I have to warn you—there aren't many good people in the Parks family."
I understood what she was implying. Even though I had a brother by blood, after all these years, he might not be the person I imagined him to be.
After all, he was raised by the Parks family.
The people who raised him had more influence over him than the mother who gave birth to him. And when my mother left, he was only three years old.
A child that young wouldn't even remember. He had probably spent his entire life believing Melody was his real mother, that Kailyn was his biological sister.
Even if he ever learned the truth, there was no guarantee it would change anything.
There was no way to know.
From what Bonnie told me, Melody must have done everything she could to force my mother out of the Parks family. She must have used threats and intimidation.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have left the Parks residence and chosen to raise her child alone rather than return home.
I could remember how she used to be. My mother was always on edge, always afraid. At night, she would wake up in a panic, trembling from nightmares.
Willow had once told me that my mother's heart attack was caused by Melody.
That meant something must have happened before she left the Parks residence—something Melody did to her, something that left her with no choice but to run.
Even after leaving, she had lived in constant fear that Melody might come after her. That was why she took me and hid, always looking over her shoulder.
But as time passed, those fears seemed to fade.
Now, for the first time, I looked back and realized something—if Melody had truly wanted to find us, it would have been all too easy.
So it seemed that Melody had achieved her goal and no longer saw any need to waste her energy on my mother.
But even so, my mother had still been terrified that the Shepherd family would find me.
That was probably why, when I chose to go to Newton City instead of Guardvard City, she never tried to persuade me otherwise.
Sophina saw the sorrow on my face as I stepped out of Bonnie's room. She immediately walked up and gently supported me.
She was worried—I could tell. Too much had happened over the past few days, and I had gone through more than enough shocks.
She didn't try to comfort me. Maybe she didn't know what to say.
Instead, she led me back to our room and ran a hot bath for me.
After I finished, she hesitated for a long time before finally speaking. "Laurel, I'll sleep here tonight. If anything happens, just call me."
I took a deep breath. "I'll be fine on my own."
She shook her head. "Please, Laurel. Let me stay with you. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep at all."
Looking at her exhausted, swollen eyes, I patted her shoulder gently. "Go sleep in the guest room. If I need anything, I'll call you."
"Okay." She nodded quickly. "Get some rest, Laurel."
Once her footsteps faded away, I let out a long sigh. Still, no tears came.
My eyes remained dry, but the ache in my chest felt like someone had carved out a piece of me. Every breath hurt.
Because my mother's death was so sudden, I asked Marvin to have a doctor perform an autopsy, but they didn't find anything unusual.
A heart attack had taken her.
But the more normal it seemed, the more uneasy I felt.
Just two nights ago, when we video-called, she had seemed fine.
Bonnie had mentioned that my mother's memory had been inconsistent lately, but she had never shown any signs of heart issues.
I suspected that she had run into someone while she was out.
Maybe she had, but because of her memory issues, she hadn't recognized them at the time.
Then, after coming home, the memories resurfaced.
The shock must have triggered her heart attack in the middle of the night. Or perhaps, it had simply been a cruel twist of fate.
Outside, the rain started to fall, the steady patter of raindrops tapping against the window. I lay on the bed, completely devoid of sleep.
My chest ached as if something was gripping my heart too tightly.
The phone on my nightstand vibrated.
I reached over and glanced at the screen. It was a message from Marvin: [Are you still awake?]
Without hesitation, I picked up my phone and called him.
If he was messaging me at this hour, it had to be something important.
The call connected in three seconds.
"What happened?" I asked.
Marvin's voice was low. "Leon is dead."
For a moment, my heart skipped two beats.
"How did he die so suddenly? Wasn't he in custody?"
There was a pause on the other end. I heard the flick of a lighter as Marvin lit a cigarette.
"The night he was brought in, he got beaten up. They put him in solitary confinement.
"Somehow, he got hold of a nail and drove it into his own skull. When the guards found him, they almost passed out from the shock."
Leon had admitted to killing Rosemary, but he was diagnosed with a mental illness.
According to his statement, Rosemary had infuriated him when she tried to leave, which ultimately led to her death.
The lawyer would argue that during the attack, he had lost all self-control and acted in a state of complete mental collapse. This would be used as a defense, significantly reducing his chances of receiving the death penalty.
"Have they ruled out foul play?"
"He was in solitary. No one would dare to make a move inside the prison." Marvin's voice turned cold.
"But I still don't think Rosemary's death was his doing. We just don't have any proof. And at the crime scene, only three sets of fingerprints were found. No one else's."