Chapter 336: "Have You Forgotten Me?
Chapter 336: Chapter 336: "Have You Forgotten Me?
Victor Sawyer asked urgently, "Mom, what do we do now? Do we call the police, pretend we came over to Auntie’s and found she died from gas poisoning?"
"No." Tina Archer shook her head, a calculating glint in her eye. "We’re not calling the police. We should call an ambulance."
"Why?" Victor Sawyer looked confused. "But isn’t Auntie already dead?"
Tina Archer stared down at Danielle Archer. "She’s dead, yes. But if we call the police and they discover we tampered with the gas line during their investigation, we’ll have lost everything for nothing, won’t we?"
"Oh, right!" Victor Sawyer slapped his forehead. "Why didn’t I think of that!"
Tina Archer said disdainfully, "You take after your father—you’re an idiot. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been tricked into gambling and racking up a mountain of debt!"
Victor Sawyer pouted but didn’t dare to argue.
Tina Archer continued, "Once we get our hands on Danielle Archer’s inheritance and pay off your debt, I’ll break your legs if you ever gamble again!"
"I wouldn’t dare gamble again," Victor Sawyer muttered under his breath.
"Alright, I’ll call 911." Tina Archer had just keyed in the three digits when she suddenly thought of something. "Wait."
"What is it?" Victor Sawyer asked.
David Sawyer also looked at her.
Tina Archer said, "Shouldn’t we pretend we just found Danielle Archer unconscious on the floor and are completely freaked out? It would be even better if we could get the neighbors to come out!"
"I think that’ll work." David Sawyer nodded in agreement, and Victor Sawyer also had no objections.
Tina Archer immediately commanded, "Then take off your masks and open the door."
Just as Victor Sawyer walked toward the entryway, he saw a tall figure emerge from the kitchen. The figure was holding something Victor had only ever seen on TV, its dark muzzle pointed right at him.
He stopped dead in his tracks, frozen to the spot. His mind went blank as he stammered, "Mom... Mom!"
"What is it?" Tina Archer turned to look, and her expression changed in an instant, her eyes widening in a stare.
’How are there police here?’
"Who... who called the police?" David Sawyer was terrified too. Probably because of his guilty conscience, he started to tremble all over.
Danielle Archer sat up from the floor, her tone cold. "I did."
The family of three—Tina, David, and Victor—all whipped their heads around to look at her, their faces a mask of horror and disbelief.
David Sawyer, who was closest to her, was so frightened he stumbled and fell to the floor. "Are... are you a person or a ghost..." he stammered.
"You’re not dead!" Tina Archer snapped back to reality. Remembering the phone Victor Sawyer had been searching for that morning, her eyes filled with rage and resentment. "You were pretending?"
Another police officer stepped out from behind the curtains. His stride was firm, his expression grim. "You are under suspicion for the attempted murder of Ms. Danielle Archer. The facts are clear and the evidence is conclusive..."
Naturally, Tina Archer and her family refused to admit anything.
Danielle Archer gave a cold laugh and immediately played a recording on her phone. The family’s scheming conversation from that morning filled the room.
Tina Archer’s stout figure swayed. She couldn’t believe Danielle still had an ace up her sleeve!
Danielle Archer stared at her, fury burning in her eyes. "That’s your family’s conversation!" she said, her voice filled with rage. "You admitted to tampering with my gas line, and these two officers heard it all, loud and clear!"
For all her meticulous planning, Tina Archer had never imagined that Danielle Archer wouldn’t just survive, but would also have evidence and call the police.
’No, I absolutely cannot go to jail!’
With a THUD, Tina Archer fell to her knees. She shuffled over to Danielle Archer, her voice choked with sobs. "Dan, I was wrong. I wasn’t thinking straight. Can you please let me go just this once? I’ll be your slave from now on."
David Sawyer scrambled to his knees as well. "Dan, you’re the kindest person we know. You can’t have the heart to do this to us, right?"
"Auntie!" Victor Sawyer also rushed over, collapsing before Danielle Archer. "Auntie, you love me the most! Please forgive me, okay? I’m your only nephew!"
Danielle Archer sank into the sofa, listening expressionlessly to the family’s pleas. A chilling desolation filled her heart as she said calmly, "I was so good to all of you, but all you wanted was for me to die."
"Auntie, I’m sorry, I know I was wrong." Victor Sawyer was bawling his eyes out. "Auntie, I don’t know what came over me! You’re my favorite aunt, I love you the most. How could I bear to see you die? Look, you’re perfectly fine now, aren’t you?"
Danielle Archer stared at him, her expression blank. "I’m alive because I’m lucky, not because you couldn’t bear to see me die."
"Auntie..." Victor Sawyer threw himself onto her lap, pleading. "You always doted on me the most. You wouldn’t let me go to jail, right?"
Danielle Archer shoved him away, stood up, and said to the police, "Officers, take them away. I will not forgive them."
"Understood." The two officers nodded.
As the police led her away, Tina Archer turned back to stare at Danielle Archer, her eyes filled with overwhelming hatred and resentment.
Danielle Archer watched her go, and the sorrow and pain that had gripped her heart finally gave way to a profound sense of peace.
She wasn’t Tina Archer’s sister—not by blood. And Tina had never truly treated her like one.
From now on, they would have nothing more to do with each other.
**
The June weather was as fickle as a child’s mood—it could change in an instant. The morning’s scorching sun had given way to a torrential afternoon downpour.
By the time Renee Jennings parked, large raindrops were DRUMMING against her windshield.
It was a new car, and she’d forgotten to keep an umbrella in it.
Danielle Archer had contacted her yesterday through Rhea Dempsey to arrange a meeting, presumably to thank her in person.
Renee Jennings had agreed, but she hadn’t expected it to start raining the moment she left. There was still a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the restaurant.
If she got out now, she would likely be soaked and disheveled by the time she got there.
After a moment’s thought, Renee Jennings sent Danielle Archer a voice message. "Manager Archer, please wait for me for a bit. The rain is pretty heavy right now, so I’ll come in once it lets up."
The message had just been sent when someone suddenly knocked on her car window.
Renee Jennings turned her head to see a tall, slender figure. A man holding a large umbrella was bent over slightly, his gentle, handsome face peering in through her window.
She lowered the window a crack, asking uncertainly, "Can I help you?"
The man seemed taken aback. He pressed his lips together, a hint of hurt in his voice as he asked, "Have you forgotten me?"
"Do I know you?" Renee Jennings asked.
"...I’m Owen Dunn."
"Owen Dunn?"
"You don’t remember?" Owen Dunn asked.
Renee Jennings nodded honestly.
Owen Dunn took out his phone and tapped it a few times, then his gaze returned to her.
Renee Jennings felt her phone vibrate. Thinking it was a reply from Danielle Archer, she opened the message, only to see an unfamiliar name: Owen Dunn - Veterinarian, Wildlife Sanctuary.
She blinked, then looked up at him again. "You’re Owen Dunn."
"Remember now?" A smile touched Owen Dunn’s lips.
Renee Jennings lowered the window all the way. "I’m so sorry," she said apologetically. "I have a terrible memory."
"It’s okay." Owen Dunn smiled. "Are you leaving or just arriving?"
"I just got here," Renee Jennings said. "The rain’s a bit heavy, so I was going to wait for it to let up."