Chapter Thirty-Five
Three Years Later
Lauren had grown more angelic but was quite a handful at three years of age. The last few years, Sammy tried his best to contact Laurence but he was always guarded by Antony Ramsden's men. Laurence had no idea of it. All his office calls were being tapped.
"If you call him or go to meet him, they'll whisk you away and kill you, Anna, " said Sammy. "I tried to disguise myself and go and meet him but couldn't get through."
"Maybe Lauren would never get to meet her dad," said Arianna, as a tear fell from her eye.
"I could retrieve his personal number from his facebook messenger, if he's active," said Sammy.
"He isn't," said Arianna. Laurence had no time for Facebook.
"But his sister is. Let's check her Facebook and message her for Laurence's phone number, " said Arianna. Sammy took out his smartphone and they searched for Lisa Lennard's profile page. She was very active so they easily found it. It seemed that Lisa hadn't updated her profile for a long time.
Arianna found Penny Lennard in her contact list. She clicked on her profile but what she saw made her jaws drop. She staggered to a nearby seat and sat down slumped over it. All her hopes were dashed to see Laurence's wedding pictures. His bride looked like some princess and his grand wedding was like a dream come true. There were pictures of the reception party, the wedding and everything. Arianna's world shattered around her. She had no wish to live any longer. She returned Sammy his mobile and staggered back into the house. Lauren had gone to a birthday party with the children. She would go and pick her up after an hour.
Sammy checked his mobile to see what she made her react. He was shocked to see Laurence's wedding pictures too. He messaged Lisa Lennard through her messenger introducing himself as a friend of Arianna Lennard and asked her for Laurence's personal mobile number. He paced the patio of Ben's house as he waited impatiently for Lisa to respond. Miraculously, she responded within ten minutes and provided Laurence's number.
Sammy rushed inside the house. He saw Arianna quietly making lunch while Jane chopped some vegetables. Ben was in the garage, oiling his tractor. Grandma was sipping her tea and chatting with grandpa.
"Anna, I've got Laurence's number," he said excitedly, picking up her phone. There was only one entry in her contact list. Laurence old number. Sammy quickly typed in Laurence's new number and saved it. He looked up to see a dazed Arianna not even looking in his direction. She seemed lost in her own thoughts as she worked like an automaton. Sammy sighed heavily. Maybe it was too late. Laurence had moved on already. He left as he had an important delivery to make.
Arianna didn't have any tears in her eyes. She finished cooking lunch and went to get Lauren. Ben would later get the older children after they had their lunch. Lauren was too small and didn't want to eat on her own. She refused to eat from anyone except Arianna and Sammy. Arianna walked in a daze. How could her Laurence forget her so soon? How could he get married to another woman? How could he move on?
She reached the house and Lauren rushed into her arms. Someone had pushed her and she had scraped her knee. Arianna hugged her and cooed to her. She would have to cross the road to go on to the other side but the cars and motorcycles were parked in such a way in front of the house that she couldn't squeeze through them onto the road with Lauren in her arms. It was a dead end and a free parking zone so it seemed that all vehicles of the vicinity were parked here. Before she could figure out anything, a van appeared out of nowhere loaded with goods coming down the road at a breakneck speed. It hit the motorcycles and cars right next to her and went and crashed onto the park at the end. Everything happened within a split second before she could realize anything. Arianna couldn't keep her balance as the heavy motorcycles fell upon her. She clasped Lauren to her bosom as she fell to the ground taking the brunt of the hit from behind, protecting her child with all her strength. Both lost consciousness. The pedestrians and neighbours immediately took them to a hospital nearby. They were immediately admitted. One of the nurses knew Arianna as she had seen her many times during her pregnancy and then for her delivery. She confirmed their identity as Arianna Lennard and her daughter, Lauren Lennard.
"Check her mobile phone's contact list and call her family members, " said the doctor in charge at the emergency ward reception desk. They found only the number of Laurence Lennard. They called him.
"Can I speak to Mr Laurence Lennard, please," said the man at the reception.
"Hello, yes speaking," answered a male voice sounding displeased.
"I'm Edwin Hutton, calling from Russellville Public Hospital in Russellville, Arkansas. Do you know Arianna Lennard and her daughter, Lauren Lennard?" Asked the man. Laurence sat down on the couch nearby before his legs would fail to support him.
"Aria?" He mumbled into the phone, his breath hitched and his eyes were wild with shock.
"Hello, Mr Lennard?" Prompted the man called Edwin from the other end.
"Yes, yes. I know them. Tell me please," Laurence insisted, almost pleading with him to know more about his lost family.
"They had an accident today at 2 o'clock and are admitted at our hospital. We have found your number only on her emergency call list with your name, Mr Lennard. Can you please come to the hospital to take care of the necessary formalities?" Said the man.
Laurence's face whitened at the news of the accident. He felt like he would faint any time. He just prayed that his family was alright, that nothing serious had happened to them.
"How serious are they?" He asked in panic.
"Arianna Lennard had held her child to her chest and had taken the brunt of the fall when a speeding van hit her indirectly. She was lucky that she wasn't directly hit else it would have been a fatal one. Lauren was unharmed but Arianna has a number of fractures. She's being treated," informed the man. Laurence took down the address of the hospital and bank details and disconnected the call.
Flashback (Nine months back)
Having got Arianna successfully out of their way Harry Lennard reunited with Eric Parker on his older son Lucas's wedding day. It was a very emotional moment for the Parker family and Harry and Penny Lennard couldn't think of a better opportunity to renew their friendship. The last few months they had been able to connect back with their son. Penny Lennard feigned a terminal illness and with her extraordinary theatrical skills staged a drama of being perpetually sick and dying. Her husband produced the necessary fake medical certificates to prove it.
So Laurence and Lisa knew that their mom's health was deteriorating fast since she was diagnosed with Diabetic nephropathy(DN) or diabetic kidney disease. Although treatment was ongoing, yet she showed very little signs of improvement. Under such conditions her last wish was to see Laurence married and happy. She apologised for what they had done to Arianna and wanted Laurence to remarry. After two months, seeing his mom on her deathbed, Laurence gave in with the condition that if he ever found his Arianna, he would give Serenity a divorce then and there.
His parents accepted since they were 100 % sure that Arianna would never return to their lives. Laurence took to drinking to keep himself sane and Lisa again left home when she couldn't put any sense into her brother's head.
"Bro, mom's acting. I'm sure of it. Don't get married to Serenity, please. Arianna will come back, bro. Just keep on delaying the wedding," she suggested.
"It can't happen Lisa. I don't want to live with the guilt that I didn't grant her last wish, " he said quietly.
"She poisoned Arianna, bro. How can you forgive her?" Asked Lisa with distress.
"We don't have any proof of that," Said Laurence. When Sandra told him, he was furious but then he realised that without any proof he couldn't make any accusations. His mom would never own up.
"I believe Sandra, " said Lisa .
"So do I but I need solid proof. She will deny all charges. Then what?" Asked Laurence. "Forget it Lisa, I have to grant mom her death wish."
"Death wish, my foot. We will die before her," said Lisa with a lot of malice. She had lost hope of any sort of happiness. The engagement was coming up and she had no say in the matter. She again left home and went to live with her best friend in frustration. Her life was doomed in such a family.
