Chapter 32
There was a faint scent of frankincense inside the quaint, ancient church
Lola stood quietly by the window and watched the sturdy trunks of trees standing at the base of the wall outside. Their branches extended over the courtyard wall and climbed onto the roof. There were also chisters of pink and white petals tightly grouped together, carrying the scent of spring. When a gentle breeze blew. It carried the light fragrance of flowers over.
“Lola, let it go,” Dominick urged as he stood beside her. His voice was deep and husky, even tinged with a heavy sense of helplessness,
“Let it go?” Lola sneered and coldly turned to look at him.
“Mr. Sinclair, are you pleading on behalf of the Moore family now?” she asked mackingly.
Dominick frowned, “Lola, I’ve told you, the incident two years ago had nothing to do with Jessica. She was a victim too. If it wasn’t for you she wouldn’t… Your miscarriage was my fault. If you want someone to pay, come after me, not the Moore Group.”
Lola sneered again as she looked at him, her eyes turning icy. “I might spare the Sinclair Group, but the Moore Group is definitely on my list!”
With that, she walked out of the church.
To the Sinclair family at Sinclair Manor, Lola was someone they could easily do without. If it weren’t for Jessica’s scheming and false accusations two years ago. Lola wouldn’t have become the target of public scorn Lola hated Dominick but bore no ill will toward others.
Meanwhile, a group of priests in sacred robes were reciting the Bible inside the church hall while Lola and Dominick stood aside.
Soon after, two candleholders of different colors were handed to her, one inscribed with her name and the other with Julian Sinclair’s.
“The child left us in July, so I named him Julian, Coincidentally, your name also contains the letter ‘L,” Dominick explained.
As Lola looked at the candleholder bearing Julian’s name, she couldn’t hold back any longer, and a tear dropped heavily onto it. Even though two years had passed, she still vividly remembered the wondrous sensation of Julian’s first movements inside her. At that moment, Lola had felt truly happy.
Bryce approached and said, “Please take these candleholders to the inner sanctuary of the church and light the candles on the altar dedicated to the deceased.”
The inner sanctuary was where the candleholders were placed, and there were two altars. One for the living and one for the deceased. Lola carefully placed Julian’s candleholder on the altar for the deceased and set her own beside it.
A church apprentice, who was responsible for the candleholders, quickly spoke up after seeing this. “This altar is reserved for those who have deceased. The living’s candleholders go on the other side.”
Lola gently caressed Julian’s candleholder and murmured, “He’s still young. He might be scared, so I want to stay with him.”
The church apprentice looked troubled and quickly glanced at Bryce for guidance. Upon seeing Bryce nod, the church apprentice didn’t press further. Dominick glanced at the two candleholders
on the altar and hesitated for a moment before whispering something to Bryce. Bryce was taken aback after hearing his words and quickly glanced at Lola. He appeared hesitant at first but eventually nodded slowly and instructed the church apprentice accordingly.
The church apprentice then nodded and hurried out of the sanctuary.
Shortly after, the church apprentice returned with a candleholder that was identical in color to Lola’s but inscribed with Dominick’s name.
Lola’s candleholder was placed on Julian’s left. Dominick took his own candleholder, stepped beside her, and put it on Julian’s right. From a distance, it looked as though a family of three was together, strangely harmonious and wamily comforting.
“Tather Murphy, how. The church apprentice at the side hurriedly tried to speak up upon seeing that, but Bryce interrupted him, “It’s okay.” Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g
Bryce smiled warmly and calmly uttered, “Everything in this world is predestined”
As Lola was leaving the church, Bryce called out to her.
He spoke gently. “Life and fate follow their own course, gathering and parting as destined by the heavens. I sensed that your path ahead may be filled. with hardship. I gift you this rosary, hoping they will turn misfortune into fortune for you in the times to come.”
With that, Bryce handed over the rosary.
“Thank you,” Lola responded gratefully and hesitated for a moment before accepting the rosary.
As the church apprentice watched the group descend the mountain, he looked puzzledly at Bryce, “Father Murphy, we light candles daily in the inner sanctuary for the names of the deceased. Placing the candleholder of the living there might be inappropriate, could it not?”
Bryce sighed softly, “For those nearing death, lighting a candle or not makes no difference.”
Remembering the rosary Bryce had given to Lola, the church apprentice nodded. He then thought of Dominick’s candleholder and asked, “It might be fine for the lady, but does this mean Mr. Sinclair is also neating death?”
“He’s n
not nearing death, but rather entangled by emotional debts!” Bryce replied and turned back to the church.
By the time Lola and the others came down from the mountain, it was already late afternoon.
The sun set behind the clouds, surrounding the area with a dazzling glow of sunset clouds. The land was draped in a thin layer of the sun’s afterglow, making it look dreamlike and surreal. As the wind picked up, it swayed the treetops and scattered cherry blossoms in the air.
Lola had thought Dominick would take her away. However, when the yacht docked, she realized they had returned to the small island.
As the glow of the sunset clouds faded, the sky darkened, and the wind continued to blow.
“Mr. Sinclair!” Two men in black immediately stepped forward upon seeing Dominick and Lola, among others, disembarking from the yacht. However, they hesitated to continue as they glanced at Lola.
Dominick coldly looked at them and asked, “What is it?”
One of the men stepped forward and cleared his throat before speaking. “Mr. Lewis came by two hours ago, presumably to see Mrs. Sinclair, Not finding Mrs. Sinclair on the island, he assumed you had left with Mrs. Sinclair earlier and had left not long ago, Mr. Sinclair.”
Upon hearing that, Dominick smirked and casually looked over at Lola
“Lola, it seems Mr. Lewis is not as smart as I thought,” he said,
“Shameless!” Lola spat out coldly.
With the Lewis family’s influence, finding her would not be difficult, but Ethan wouldn’t have guessed that Dominick would take her to a nearby town. He must have thought that Dominick had received a tip and taken her off the island ahead of him. It only showed how cunning Dominick was.
“Shameless?” Dominick repeated Lola’s words and then pulled her into his arms.
He continued, “Lola, it was you who contacted Ethan. You even went as far as to throw my phone into the soup to destroy the evidence. The island’s location was also found by Ethan himself. Since he couldn’t find you, he left on his own. From start to finish, I did nothing.”
Lola coldly looked up at Dominick. Before she could respond, Dominick spoke again. “However, I am curious. This island’s location is well hidden. It has never appeared on any satellite imagery. So how did Ethan manage to find it?”