Madeline Crawford and Jeremy Whitman
Chapter 1875

Madeline thought about the expression in Shirley's eyes. Shirley had not seemed like someone who was delirious. Her gaze had been firm, and it had been evidently signaling for Madeline to leave Gray Villa a s soon as possible.

In hindsight, Shirley had pretended to be scared at that moment so she could manipulate Carter, creating a smooth exit for Madeline.

"Jeremy, is it possible that the effects of AXP6g's anti- toxoid test reagent differ between when it's ingested and when it's injected?" The question came from the depths of Madeline's heart because she felt that Shirley's symptoms differed from Madeline's during Madeline's flare-up.

Jeremy had a faint guess from Madeline's question. "Have you noticed anything wrong, Linnie?"

Madeline nodded. "You told me this before. When I went through the final stage of the flare-up, my memories were stuck at my most painful moments, and I could not even remember that we were in love. But Shirley seemed to be different."

"How was she behaving?" Jeremy continued to ask curiously.

Madeline could not help getting lost in thought. Her expression became increasingly solemn.

"Perhaps I'm overthinking it. For Shirley, the most tragic memory is losing her only relative in the world."

That was why Shirley kept seeing the hallucination of the fire in front of her. That was why she kept murmuring to herself that Adam and Cathy's bodies were buried beneath a sea of flame...

The thought of this felt like a knife stabbing through Madeline's heart.

Without Adam, Madeline would not have had the faith to live when she had been in prison without hope back then.

Jackson, who had been growing inside her womb at the time, was the final source of light during that dark period of her life.

It had been that source of light that had guided her till the end, and Adam had been the sole reason that the light had not burnt out.

It had been the same for Cathy.

Cathy had always stepped forward without hesitation whenever Madeline or Jeremy needed help.

Now, however, they had been burned to death. Madeline's heart still ached for them no matter how much she thought about it. In addition, she felt a deep sense of regret.

The funeral for Adam and Cathy was held three days later. All funeral-related matters were being handled by Madeline.

Cathy had very few friends in Glendale, and the only family members she had were her two young children. However, Madeline certainly would not tell them that their mother had left forever.

Adam, too, had very few family members, but his reputation as Dr. Brown had earned him quite a bit of influence.

After learning about the accident, Adam's colleagues and former patients began dropping by to pay their last respects.

By the time everyone had expressed their condolences and left, it was already evening.

The initially beautiful sunset suddenly turned gloomy as a drizzle began to fall without anyone realizing it.

Jeremy went out, saying he had an important task to handle. At that moment, Madeline was alone cleaning the house.

While cleaning, she saw Cathy and Adam's photos. Her actions came to an abrupt stop as tears began streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably.

“I used to think that we could remain friends for a very, very long time, that we could still arrange to meet for tea when we turned old and grey.

"You've helped Jeremy and me so much, but neither of us had done anything for you in return.

"Don't worry, Cathy. I'll take care of your children and raise them as if they were my own.

"This is the only thing I can do for you."

Just as Madeline finished her words, a gentle voice came from behind her. It was a voice she recognized from her memory.

"It'd be more appropriate to entrust this heavy responsibility to the biological father."

Madeline paused. Turning around, she looked behind her.

A man wearing an ink-black coat and a pair of wide-framed sunglasses stood before her. Solemnly, he took a step forward.