Chapter 16 Her Nightmare
“Yolanda, they fired you for no reason. You can’t just swallow this; you should confront them or just expose them!” Kaylen was utterly indignant)
Yolanda took a big bag of snacks out of the drawer at the bottom and gave them to Kaylen.
Sometimes they’d be so swamped that they didn’t even have time to eat, so she always had snacks prepared.
But she, in fact, wasn’t a fan of snacks. They were mostly for Kaylen.
“Come on, Yolanda. Why are you acting like this doesn’t concern you at all? They treat you like this exactly because they think you’re a pushover!” Kaylen’s voice shook with outrage.
Shaking her head, Yolanda smiled, “The compensation proposal was fair. I signed after reading it.”
“Yolanda!”
“I was gonna quit anyway.” Yolanda shrugged. “The Navarro family owns Cloudview Hospital. Only by doing this can I make a clean break with Antwan.”
Hearing this, Kaylen calmed down a bit.
“So, what’s your plan?”
Yolanda said, “I’m gonna take some time off before finding another job.”
Curling her lip, Kaylen obviously didn’t buy it. “You? A workaholic? Rest?”
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“Yeah.” Yolanda exhaled. “I’m getting married and planning to give my new home a makeover.”
Kaylen widened her eyes. “What? You’re getting married? But… you just broke up with Antwan. Who are you marrying to?”
“Someone Gretchen set me up with.”
Saying this, Yolanda walked out while holding the box. The doctors and nurses from her department waved at her, looking sympathetic.
She smiled at them though she figured they’d see that as her playing tough.
Kaylen walked her all the way to the hospital entrance. “Don’t trust men. Anyway, let me know if you need help.
Yolanda nodded. “Of course. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
Kaylen stepped forward and hugged her. “Work suddenly becomes so tedious without you.”
Yolanda said, “I’ll invite you to my new home after the remodeling is done.”
“I’ll be there.”
Instead of going back to the villa, Yolanda went to the old house in the western district.
The western district had been developing rapidly over the years, and most houses here had been demolished, leaving only a few streets intact.
A road came into her view after she walked out of the subway station. On her east side were skyscrapers and bustling traffic, whereas on her west side was a quiet alley with decades-old houses, and elderly people taking walks slowly.
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She walked through the alley all the way up to a small house with two stories–this was her home.
The place seemed desolate because no one had lived here for decades. Mischievous kids had shattered the house’s windows with slingshots, the wooden balcony was peeling, there was a hole in the wooden door, and the courtyard was overgrown with weeds.
The only thing flourishing was the pomegranate tree in the yard. It was even covered with bright red, ripe pomegranates.
Yolanda borrowed a chair from someone; thankfully, the walks around her family’s house weren’t exactly high, and she climbed over soon.
Unable to resist, she eagerly picked one of the big, red pomegranates and broke it open. The seeds inside were plump, like rubies.
It was a sweet pomegranate tree. Since she loved pomegranates, her mother had planted the tree in the yard.
“Little foodie, are the pomegranates sweet yet?”
Every year, she always eagerly waited for the pomegranates to ripen. Early in August, she’d pluck one to taste, but the pomegranates weren’t fully ripe then.
But when her mother asked her this, she’d always reply firmly, “Yes. They’re so sweet!”
“So sweet,” she couldn’t help but blurt out though she wasn’t asked.
Shortly after she was born, her father died of a serious illness. She didn’t know what he looked like; her mother told her he was handsome, and she looked like him the most.
Her mother was a doctor, too, an emergency physician who worked late shifts. One night during that post–graduation summer, she went to the
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subway station with an umbrella to pick up her mother.
As they headed home, a truck behind them crashed toward them due to the slippery road. Her mother pushed her away but didn’t have time to dodge; the truck sent her flying, and then her body landed on the ground heavily.
It became Yolanda’s nightmare. When she came back to her senses, she ran over, only to see her mother lying on the ground in a pool of blood and rainwater, her body twisted.
J’Mom! Mom!”
She slumped to the ground, shrieking at the top of her lungs, but her mother no longer responded to her.
The truck driver drove away. Also, because of the heavy rain and the remote location, there was no one else present. Her phone didn’t work, and she waited for a long time before finally, someone drove by.
She stopped the car, and Antwan stepped out.
After knowing what had happened, he called an ambulance and then took out an umbrella from the car to shield her mother.
The ambulance arrived after about ten minutes or so. It was the most desperate, frightened, and helpless ten minutes of her life, and it was Antwan who was with her.
After they came to the hospital, he handled everything; too bad her mother passed away anyway.
He stayed with her till almost noon the next day and left after her uncle William Clarke and Gretchen arrived. Before leaving, he bought a bottle of warm milk for her and put it in her hand.
“My name is Antwan Navarro, and I’m a freshman majoring in the
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Department of Finance at the University of Eqifrora. After… you feel better, you can treat me to a meal anytime you want if you wanna thank me.”
She was drenched in sorrow the entire summer.
When the university began, she enrolled in the School of Medicine at the University of Eqifrora. One day, as someone was discussing the popular students on campus, she heard Antwan’s name. Only then did she remember him.
She then treated him to a meal. Soon, they started dating.
That was why her feelings for him were complicated. During those eight years, the reason why she forgave him again and again was that rainy night.
“Hey, Ma’am, are you stealing pomegranates?”
The sudden childish voice snapped her back to reality. Looking up at the door, she saw a few elementary school kids peering through the iron bars.
She smiled, “This is my home.”
One of the boys clicked his tongue. “No way. If it were, you would have opened the door instead of climbing over the wall.”
Instead of explaining, she pointed at the pomegranate tree behind her. “Do you want some?”
They all nodded, drooling over the pomegranate tree.
She plucked a dozen and gave two to each of them.
“Ma’am, you should run before the cops come and get you,” a boy reminded her with a grin.
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She ruffled his hair. “This really is my home.”
She had lost it for now, but she’d definitely get it back.
Then she took a photo under the tree before sending it to Brent. Only then did she realize how natural it felt, and she was stunned at the fact she
wanted to share everything with him.
She wasn’t to blame, though—he sent her photos every day at any time when he was in the company, on the streets, or eating. Plus, he even told her everything he did during the day, though it was mostly work–related.
After sending the photo, she put her phone back into her bag. She didn’t have to wait for him to reply, and nor did she bother to speculate the reason he wouldn’t reply. She loved such a rhythm.
By the time she went back to the villa, it was already dark. Kiersten was demanding the property manager at her door.
“Contact the villa owner now. I’m happy to rent it or buy it at a high price; anything to prevent them from renting it to Yolanda!”
