Plum Blossom | Completed

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Note: Mellisa is going away for a few chapters, so we're shifting the point of view to some other characters. You will be hearing from Emily, Caleb, and the whole Adams clan!

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As soon as Mellisa left the room, Emily broke down, almost losing her balance and crumbling onto the floor. Fortunately for her, Trey was at arm's length from her and he quickly stepped forward to steady her before she fell.

Charlotte immediately offered Emily some water, which she graciously accepted. The group courteously waited for Emily to gather her bearings before Jackson broke the silence.

"What was that all about?" he nearly spat.

"You might want to call your lawyer and ask him to meet us here immediately," Emily told him. Jackson did as he was told without a word, but Kyle couldn't seem to abstain from asking the question on everyone's mind – "Why did Mellisa leave?"

Before Emily could answer, Eleanor walked into the room and made a beeline for Amanda's bag, everyone's eyes on her. Just as Mellisa had said, Eleanor found the document she was looking for enclosed in the side pocket.

"Jackson is Mr. Bui meeting us here?" she asked her grandson who nodded.

"Good. It's about time we get to the bottom of this," she said, throwing down the piece of paper onto the table.

"What's this?" Kyle asked, picking it up.

"See for yourself," Eleanor told him, motioning to the paper in his hand.

Kyle seemed to carefully read every word, sometimes skimming over the same sentence twice. "What the hell?" he said when he was done.

"This is what has kept your sister away from you all these years," Eleanor told both her grandsons.

"Did she really believe that we would do something like this? She's our sister, for god's sake. She raised us. Granted, we weren't close to her in our teenage years, but we still love her," Jackson exclaimed.

"Why did she never talk to us about this? Or fight the order?"

"Why do you think? This order restricted her from contacting you."

"It can't be legally binding. We never sent it," Kyle added.

"Did you never try to reach out to her?" Emily asked curiously.

"We tried. We called incessantly. But her boyfriend told us that she didn't want to talk to us. We gave up trying after a while."

"Why didn't you go see her?"

"We tried, She wasn't living in our home anymore. She'd moved out, and there was no forwarding address either. Whatever happened to that guy anyway? I haven't seen him around, and I heard Dr. Smother profess his love for Mellisa the other day."

"Really?" Emile asked, gleefully. Kyle simply nodded.

"Alex is dead. We shot him," Emily deadpanned, sending a wave of shock through the room. Seeing their expressions, Emily realised that they absolutely no clue about the ordeal Mellisa had been through. So, over the next three hours, she painstakingly recounted everything that had happened – who Alex really was, what had happened to Mellisa' parents, how she ended up in Boston, how Amanda came to be and how Alex had died.

The group listened intently, making muffled noises every now and then.

"Wow," Jackson was the first person to react when Emily had finished her story, but even be couldn't get many words out. Emily observed that the women in the room had been crying. Jackson, Kyle and even Trey had turned pale.