No More Waiting, She Chooses Love

At that moment, I realized I had completely overlooked the Collins family. With Ernest being the fresh heir to the Collins estate, his long silence should have prompted the Collins to be the first on the move to find him. But they didn't. Instead, they turned up at Susie's place, trying to gather information through the back door.

Something was off, very off. Ignoring the gloom that hung over Susie, I asked her, "Susie, who from the Collins family came to see you?"

"A guy, about my brother's age. His name was...Quentin."

Jeremy Collins' face flashed through my mind. I pressed on, "How many times has he visited? Was he always alone?"

"Yeah."

Seeing Susie's reluctance to talk, I didn't push further. Instead, I offered, "Let me know when you plan on starting school, I'll drop you off."

"Sis, I was hoping you and my brother could both take me," Susie knew how to press my buttons.

I had no choice but to agree, "Alright, I'll tell him. Hopefully, he comes back soon."

Leaving Susie's place, my unease only grew. It was highly unusual for the Collins to lose track of Ernest and remain so quiet about it.

And if they were able to track down Susie for information, it would make sense for them to approach me too.

But they didn't...

Something was definitely off.

Of course, as far as they were concerned, Ernest and I were no longer an item, so not coming to me could be justified. But they should have at least approached Yolande Clark.

When Yolande saw me, her first comment was, "You seem to be holding up well."

"What else can I do? Drop dead alongside him?"

Yolande chuckled, "I honestly thought you might."

I looked at her squarely, "I came to ask you something. Did the Collins come to you?"

"Hm?" She paused, then nodded, "Yeah, they did. Asked me where Ernest was."

"And you told them?" I asked.

Yolande nodded lightly, "I did. It's not something you can hide, given his status in the Collins family." "But the Collins didn't believe it," I relayed how Jeremy had gone to Susie to probe for information.

Yolande wasn't surprised, "That's to

be expected. After all, Ernest

vanished without a trace, not

ashes for them to see. I wou en

believe it either."

I didn't pick up on her remark. Instead, Yolande looked at me, "What's wrong?"

"Yolande, don't you think rushing to cremate Ernest without anyone's consent was hasty, even overstepping?" I held her gaze.

Yolande smiled again, "Are you trying to settle scores with me?"

"I just feel something's off," I said, realizing had been too caught up in my grief to question the anomalies. Now, with a clearer head, things didn't add up.

"I've explained it to you. If you're still doubtful, there's not much more

can say," Yolande paused, "You took his ashes and buried them yourself."

Her words cut off any rebuttal I might have had.

Yet, I still insisted, "I never saw..."

Never saw Ernest being cremated.

But I couldn't finish the sentence.

"Felicia, are you suggesting Ernest might not be dead?" Yolande finally asked.