Goodbye, My Mate

Chapter 97

Leah's POV

One of the 50 bedrooms in the lake house was changed into a treatment room, where Dr. Monk kept all of his expensive medical equipment.

The door had been shut for the past 2 hours.

I put down the third cup of coffee on the table and asked the maid to bring me the fourth one. She looked hesitant.

"Miss Lewyn, can I bring you some lemonade instead?" she whispered.

I stared at her. My brain wasn't functioning after what happened to me in the SPA room of my office.

I must have looked terrifying because the expression on her face was like she saw a ghost.

Jalin showed up and saw me confronting the maid. He waved his hand at her and said, "Leave us."

The maid nodded and quickly disappeared.

"I'm sorry for showing up late. It took me a while on the way." Jalin took his seat next to me and said.

I leaned against his shoulder, feeling like I was about to collapse.

"Leah, you're trembling. Are you OK?" Jalin took off his coat and put it on my shoulders.

"He bought me a ring and I killed him..." I said in a trembling voice. The weight of my actions bore down on me like a thousand stones, each one heavier than the last. It was as if the guilt had taken on a physical form and settled deep within the pit of my stomach.

Jalin took my hands and said, "Leah, listen to me. You've done nothing wrong. I found his suicide notes in his bag. It clearly stated his death wish. He's a fucked-up monster, trapped in his own hell. He confessed that he wanted to drug, rape, and murder you before taking his own life. You've done the right thing to protect yourself."

"A suicide note? I want to see it." I lifted my head and said.

"I'm afraid that's not necessary, Leah," Jalin said, holding me in his arms. "It's long and dull, loaded with crap of a self-centered ego of a fucked-up man. He"

I pushed him away and said with anger, "Don't decide what's necessary and what's not for me!"

Jalin sat there without saying anything, looking hurt. His face was slightly contorted in agony.his brows furrowed and his lips pulled tight into a grimace.

I recognized that look. When I told him that I was about to get married to Lucas, he had exactly the same look on his face.

I immediately felt remorse, which made me 10 times worse than I used to be.

Jalin sighed and wrapped his arm around me.

"Leah, I'm so sorry for not being able to be with you when you needed me the most. The thought of a man trying to hurt you is literally killing me. You are a strong, independent woman. I understand and I admire you for being who you are. But sometimes even a strong, independent woman needs a little bit of support, especially when she's in great danger." Jalin drew himself closer to me and said, "I've been doing this job for more than 30 years, and I have never met anyone who would sneak into our Headquarters without being detected. Trust me. You need all the help you can get for now."

"You mean Gaspard?" I asked.

"No. I mean the shadow in the darkness you saw at the SPA." Jalin said. "The surveillance camera in your office captured him on tape, but it seemed it just magically evaporated in the thin air. Have you noticed anything, Leah? What exactly happened?"

Jalin's speech made me terrified. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being constantly watched by a mysterious creature floating in the air.

"I... I really can't remember..." I mumbled and shook my head to clear my thoughts. I was still dizzy because of the drug residue remaining in my blood. I guessed it would take another hour to be fully detoxed.

"Try to recall something. Anything. There was no surveillance camera in your SPA room. We need your help to figure out what really happened," Jalin said.

I took a deep breath to calm down. As I tried to recall the elusive memory, my head felt like a jumbled mess of wires that refused to connect. I closed my eyes and tried to focus, but everything was blurry as if I was looking through a foggy window. I strained my brain to remember with my thoughts swirling around like leaves in a storm.

"I... I went into the bathtub... And then I closed my eyes. The only thing I could hear was the sound of waterfalls outside the window. Then, when I opened my eyes, all the lights were gone. I saw Gaspard. He told me that he came here for the delivery of the dress. Then, I heard a rustling noise and I saw it... It was a figure in the dark. I couldn't make out any details about it, but I knew something about it made me feel... being pressed. It stood there, motionless, staring at me with eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness..."

My head was filled with lead and I struggled to lift it up. Jalin was so thoughtful and he let me lay my head against his broad shoulder.

"And then what happened?" Jalin asked.

"And then Darren called me..." I whispered.

"Darren?" Jalin frowned.

"Yeah... He was in a fight, but somehow he decided to call me." I murmured.

"What did he say on the phone?" Jalin asked.

What did he say? I covered my head. I couldn't recall. That part of my memory was particularly vague. Every time I tried to grasp the memory, it slipped away like sand through my fingers. It was as if my mind was playing a cruel game, taunting me with fragments of the past that refused to coalesce into coherent thoughts.

"Take your time, Leah," Jalin whispered and held me more tightly. "You don't have to recall it right now. Drink more fluids. You'll be fine."

My mind was a blank canvas, until finally, like a ray of sunshine piercing through the clouds, the memory came back to me.

"He... He asked me to say his name..." I mumbled in a quiet voice. "As soon as I said his name, that shadow was gone."