Chapter 457 - 466: Shocking Bad News
While they were talking, James Brown’s cellphone rang. It was Helen Wilson calling. Sarah Grandy immediately leaned in, eager to eavesdrop, but James flicked her forehead lightly with his finger. Standing up and stepping aside, he answered casually with a laugh, "Officer David Woods, long time no see."
Helen’s tone, however, carried a sense of gravity. She said, "Are you with Sarah Grandy right now?"
James was surprised and replied, "She’s at my house. What’s wrong?"
"You better prepare yourself. Sarah Grandy’s parents... they’re gone."
"What?" James exclaimed in shock.
"There’s a suicide note. Sarah’s mother had long been furious over her husband’s infidelity—his keeping a mistress outside the marriage—but had tolerated it for Sarah’s sake. Now that Sarah has performed well on her college entrance exams and is certain to get into a good university, her mother felt she had nothing holding her back anymore. She poisoned her husband with a highly toxic pesticide and drank the poison herself afterward. Both of them are... dead. You should bring Sarah home."
James was dumbstruck by the news. During Sarah’s college entrance exams, her mother had often looked like she wanted to tell him something but held back, even saying a couple of cryptic sentences about asking him to take good care of Sarah in the future. Who would have thought that’s what she meant—that she had already resolved to take her husband and herself out together.
"Uncle, what’s wrong?" Sarah stood before James, waving her small hand lightly in front of him with a mischievous smile.
Looking at her cheerful expression, James felt as though he’d been stabbed in the heart. He reached out slowly to hold her hand, drew in a deep breath, and said, "Charlotte, are you an adult now?"
"Of course I am! I’ve already turned eighteen. I’m absolutely an adult now. Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare joke around with you, Uncle," Sarah said, puffing out her chest as the grin on her face grew even brighter.
James sighed softly, but when the words reached his lips, he found himself unable to say them no matter how hard he tried.