"Hey Doc, what the heck happened to her forehead? Why are there so many gashes?" Martin asked, pain etching his voice.
"There’s a bunch of glass shards in Serena’s forehead. doesn’t look like they just splashed on her,seems like she was banging her head against sothing."
Martin was in disbelief, "You’re telling she did this to herself?"
"If she had just fallen face-first, the cuts wouldn’t be so deep, cover such a large area. It looks like she repeatedly hit her head to embed the glass deeper into her skin. So of these wounds look like she
tried to dig out the glass herself, which only made the infection worse. Mr. Cooper, brace yourself, if she pulls through, these scars might be permanent."
And such scars couldn’t be removed by laser treatnt.
At those words, Martin’s heart clenched with agony, unable to fathom the helplessness and pain she must have felt.
Serena always cared so much about her looks, whether in life or death, he couldn’t bear the thought of her being scarred.
"Plus, if there’s glass in her knee that’s been there for a while, even surgery might not spare her from walking problems."
The doctor hadn’t finished when Martin’s shocked gaze stopped him.
"What did you just say?" Martin’s heart took another hit. Did he an that his Serena, even if she survived, might be left limping? Or worse, confined to a wheelchair for life?
"Is it really that bad?" Martin asked, struggling to believe it.
"We’ll need a comprehensive exam at the hospital to be sure."
The doctor couldn’t offer a definitive diagnosis.
While the RV was equipped with dical gear, it was no match for a hospital. All they could do was tend to her wounds and try to keep her alive.
Martin longed to hold Serena’s hand, but only then did he notice, her palms and the backs of her hands were a bloody ss, with glass shards embedded in the flesh, catching the light.
How on earth did her hands get so badly injured?
Did she fall into the glass, or?
Cutting away her clothes, the doctor revealed bruises and cuts all over her body.
"Looks like she was beaten with a bat or sothing."
Shoulders, arms, chest, back - no part was spared.
Martin’s tears fell anew, unable to fathom what she had endured.
How utterly desperate she must have felt.
Back at Reflections Villa.
Louisa ordered every trace of Serena to be wiped clean, not a single item left.
She even called the decorators, planning to repaint Serena’s old room, the walk-in closet, even the basent, changing everything.
All the staff knew that the lady of the house wanted to erase every last trace of Serena, like rubbing out a misspelled word, completely, utterly.
"Dig up all her favorite flowers in the garden."
At Louisa’s command, the staff uprooted the precious plants, once imported at great expense and rushed over by plane because Serena had taken a fancy to them.
But now things had changed.
Louisa returned to her bedroom and glanced at the crystal chandelier. She and Serena had picked it out together years ago at a lighting store. Serena had adored it, said it would suit her room perfectly,
even wanted to buy it with her own money as a gift.
Although Louisa didn’t let her pay in the end, the chandelier always reminded her of the tis they’d spent together, shopping for lights, ho decor, all sorts.
"Take down that chandelier," she ordered.
The remnants of Serena’s presence in the bedroom had been discarded, piece by piece, until now there was hardly anything left.
The servants hadn’t expected Louisa to order the removal of even that lamp.
They dared not disobey, so they quickly took it down and replaced it with an old one from the storage room until they could get a new one.
Louisa’s gaze drifted towards the master bedroom, now completely purged of any trace of Serena.
Later, Hunter arrived at the gates of Reflections Villa in his assistant’s car. He couldn’t help but notice the nearby trash bins overflowing with items associated with Serena.
Recalling the tumultuous events at the abandoned construction site, he could imagine his parents’ anger and disappointnt.
He had planned to catch a flight back ho the very day the security footage was exposed, but urgent matters abroad had forced him to stay. Now, three days later, he was finally here.
The lights at Reflections Villa had dimd, signaling that most had retired for the night.
The security guard at the gate hurried to open it for him, "Welco back, Mr. Collins."
"Yeah," Hunter nodded in acknowledgnt, "Thanks for staying up."
"No trouble at all," the guard said with a smile, bowing slightly as he welcod Hunter inside.
Hunter noticed the servants packing up plants and flowers to be thrown out, all once favorites of Serena.
"Mr. Collins."
"Good evening, Mr. Collins."
"Mr. Collins, welco back."
Hunter nodded to each greeting, "Has Rose gone to bed?"
"It’s that ti, she should be in her room."
Whether she was asleep or not, they weren’t sure.
"And what about the other person?" Hunter inquired further.
The servants caught on quickly, bowing their heads, "Mr. Cooper has already taken her back."
Hunter was surprised. His parents had actually handed Serena over to that kid?
"It was Mr. Cooper who brought Erik over, in exchange for Serena," one servant hastily added. "And Serena had less than half an hour left."
Hunter finally understood, nodding, "You all should get so rest."
"Yes, sir."
Once inside, Hunter saw the living room was deserted and chilly.
He took out his phone and instructed the household security to stay alert, in case Erik’s n attempted a rescue that night.
"Don’t worry, Mr. Collins," they assured him. "Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have already instructed us. We’re on rotating watch tonight. Any sign of trouble, and we’ll inform them and you imdiately."
"Thanks," Hunter replied, heading upstairs. He saw Rosemary’s room was dark now. Then he glanced at what used to be Serena’s room, now empty as if she had never been there.
Back in his own room, he decided to wait till morning to talk with Rosemary.
There, in his room, were still a few items Serena had given him.
Like a drawing she had given him when they were kids.
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