Chapter 163: That’s Not Lana
Chapter 163: Chapter 163: That’s Not Lana
Elaine Rivers took the phone and glanced at it, only to drop it in fright.
The phone CLATTERED to the floor.
Elaine Rivers collapsed on the hospital bed, sobbing bitterly.
Sawyer bent down to pick up the phone from the floor. He watched her trembling body, his eyes filled with sorrow.
Levi Hollis lowered his head and sighed.
When Renee Jennings returned to the room and saw the scene, her slender brows furrowed tightly.
She opened her mouth several times, wanting to speak, but she didn’t know how to comfort Elaine Rivers.
They hadn’t experienced her pain, so they had no right to tell her how to feel.
Listening to Elaine Rivers’s repressed, agonized sobs, Renee Jennings and Sawyer’s eyes reddened again. They tilted their heads back, trying to hold back their tears.
After what felt like an eternity, the hospital room gradually fell silent.
Elaine Rivers’s crying had stopped.
Renee Jennings wasn’t sure if she had fallen asleep, but none of them made a sound to disturb her.
The three of them tiptoed out of the room and sat on a bench in the hallway.
That afternoon, Renee Jennings received a call from Michelle Fuller.
She said a quick word to Sawyer and hurried toward the emergency stairwell.
She had only gone down two flights of stairs when she saw Michelle Fuller holding Bubbles. "Renee!"
"Michelle, thank you for coming all this way." Renee Jennings took Bubbles from her arms.
After Renee had called her that morning, Michelle Fuller had immediately booked a flight and flew over with Bubbles.
"Don’t you dare be so formal with me!" Michelle Fuller feigned anger. "We’re best friends, aren’t we?"
"You’re right, babe. My mistake. It won’t happen again," Renee Jennings said, the tension in her nerves easing slightly.
"Alright, I’ll forgive you this time." Michelle Fuller grinned and linked her arm with Renee’s. "Let’s go see the Lana that Bubbles has been dying to see."
Renee Jennings looked down at Bubbles in her arms, sensing the cat’s excitement.
"Renee?" Michelle Fuller called out when she didn’t move. "Aren’t we going?"
Bubbles couldn’t hold back either and meowed, ’Renee, hurry up and take me to Lana! I miss her so much!’
Renee Jennings pressed her lips together, hesitating for a few seconds before saying, "Bubbles, you might need to prepare yourself."
’For what?’ Bubbles tilted its fluffy head up, looking at her with sparkling feline eyes. ’I’ve been ready for a long time!’
Renee Jennings let out a soft sigh.
Michelle Fuller suddenly realized something. She frowned and asked, "Renee, what’s wrong? Is Lana... not doing well?"
Renee Jennings replied, "To be precise, it’s very bad."
’What happened to Lana?’ Bubbles’s brow furrowed too, and it meowed anxiously. ’How could it be very bad?’
People were passing by on the stairs from time to time, so Renee Jennings found a quiet corner and recounted the torment Elaine Rivers had endured after she went missing.
’I don’t believe it!’ Bubbles shook its little head frantically.
Tears welled up in Michelle Fuller’s eyes. "I don’t believe it either," she choked out.
Renee Jennings was secretly glad she hadn’t let Bubbles see Elaine Rivers directly.
’If she saw Bubbles’s reaction now, she would only be in more pain.’
’You must have the wrong person!’ Bubbles couldn’t believe its once-cheerful owner could have become the person Renee Jennings described. ’That’s not Lana! Lana was a girl who loved to smile! She always said that girls who smile have the best luck!’
"I’m sorry, Bubbles." Seeing the cat’s distress, Renee Jennings reached out and stroked its fur soothingly. "It really is Lana. If you don’t want to see her, I’ll find a good reason to tell her."
"Renee, you don’t have to apologize. None of this is your fault," Michelle Fuller said, looking at Renee Jennings with concern.
Bubbles was silent for a long time before letting out a low meow. ’I have to see her. No matter what Lana has become, she’s still my owner!’
’I’m just so heartbroken.’
’Lana loved being pretty so much. If she saw herself like that, would she cry?’
**
The hospital room was silent.
Elaine Rivers lay in bed, her right eye staring blankly out the window.
Suddenly, she felt that nothing mattered anymore.
With great difficulty, Elaine Rivers climbed out of bed and supported herself against the wall as she walked to the window.
’It’s better to just die than to keep living this miserable existence...’
Elaine Rivers placed one foot on a stool, but a sudden meow from behind her made her freeze.
Her body went rigid.
"Meow~~" Bubbles ran to her side, still meowing.
’Lana, I missed you so much!’
Bubbles stopped at Elaine Rivers’s feet, rubbing its fluffy head against her pant leg. "Meow~~"
Elaine Rivers slowly looked down at it, her right eye instantly glistening with tears.
"Bubbles..." she murmured.
Seeing the little one’s glossy fur and chubby body, the corners of Elaine Rivers’s mouth curved up slightly.
Bubbles tilted its little head up to meet her gaze.
’Even though Renee Jennings had already described what Lana looked like now, seeing her in person was still a shock.’
Bubbles’s eyes went wide, its fluffy face scrunching up. It felt terrible, and very, very angry.
’Those monsters! How dare they do this to Lana!’
"Meeoww..." Bubbles started to wail sorrowfully.
Elaine Rivers couldn’t understand it; she could only hear Bubbles crying out, seemingly unhappy.
She took her foot off the stool and, holding the windowsill with one hand for support, sat down. She reached out to stroke Bubbles’s head. "Bubbles, do you still recognize me?"
"Meow, meow, meow!" Bubbles nodded vigorously and leaped onto Elaine Rivers’s lap.
’Lana’s gotten so thin...’
Elaine Rivers looked at the cat, her expression softening. She stroked its fur absently with her right hand. "Have I become really ugly? Are you scared?"
Bubbles shook its head like a rattle, nuzzling affectionately against her. "Meow, meow, meow~~"
’Not ugly at all! Lana is the prettiest!’
’And I’m not scared! I’ll love Lana no matter what she looks like!’
Seeing that Bubbles was still as clingy as ever, Elaine Rivers let out a soft sigh of relief.
Renee Jennings knocked on the door and walked over to Elaine Rivers’s side, her gaze warm and smiling. "Lana, do you need me to translate for you?"
"Yes, I want to know what Bubbles is saying." Elaine Rivers found it amazing that someone could actually understand what animals were saying.
Renee Jennings nodded and said softly, "A moment ago, you asked if Bubbles was scared, right?"
"Yes," Elaine Rivers asked nervously. "Did I scare it?"
Renee Jennings chuckled lightly. "Of course not. Bubbles is very loyal. It said it loves you no matter what you look like."
The smile on Elaine Rivers’s lips deepened. "Bubbles is so good to me."
"It really is," Renee Jennings agreed with a nod. "It’s been looking for you this whole time. We were only able to rescue you all this time thanks to Bubbles. If it hadn’t asked me to help find you, we might never have caught those scumbags."
"Thank you, Bubbles," Elaine Rivers said earnestly, looking at the little cat in her lap.
Bubbles’s arrival helped lift Elaine Rivers’s depressed and world-weary mood.
She finally found the courage to recall that darkest time.
Using the same tactics he had used against Evelyn Hollis, Herbert Lee had used the excuse of meeting his parents to lure Elaine Rivers to that remote village...
Every day after that was like living in hell.
She had escaped twice. The first time, she was dragged back to that man’s house. The second time, she was thrown into the tower, where she lived a life worse than death.