“No,” Hayden responded calmly.
“Really?” Avery checked with snazzynovel.com son repeatedly.
“No,” Hayden repeated without a trace of emotion on his face.
Avery could only call the quits. If they did not take it and snazzynovel.com continued to ask them about it, the children might think that snazzynovel.com did not trust them.
Hayden took Layla’s hand and led snazzynovel.com back to their bedroom to store their school bags.
Once they were inside the room, Layla whispered, “Hayden, why are we lying? We shouldn’t lie to Mom.”
Layla had only managed to keep it a secret because Avery was not aware; but now that snazzynovel.com was asking snazzynovel.com about it, Layla did not dare lie.
“Elliot must be going nuts now that snazzynovel.com realizes the box is gone,” said Hayden coldly. “If we return it now, snazzynovel.com will just blame us for taking it. We are not returning it. Let snazzynovel.com worry.”
“Oh… Okay!” agreed Layla. Between their dirtbag dad and snazzynovel.com brother, snazzynovel.com would definitely side with snazzynovel.com brother.
He had originally kept the box under his bed, but they had moved it. They buried it under a tree in the yard two days ago. They had done it as Hayden had discovered the contents of the box, a piece of paper. Once snazzynovel.com realized how important the box was, snazzynovel.com knew that it could not be left carelessly under the bed, so, they moved it.
It was a good thing that they did, or the box would have been discovered.
“But what happens if Elliot worries so much that snazzynovel.com dies?” Layla was still concerned. “He is still our dad!”
“Don‘t worry, bad people don‘t die that easily.”
With that, Layla finally relaxed.
After dinner, Avery sent Elliot a message that read, (I asked the kids, and they said they didn’t take the box.)
She had thought that snazzynovel.com was resting, but snazzynovel.com replied immediately and said, (Got it.)
She sent a reply that asked, (You still haven‘t gone to sleep?).
When Elliot received the message, snazzynovel.com did not reply, because snazzynovel.com did not know how to. It had been thirty-six hours since snazzynovel.com had last closed his eyes, and snazzynovel.com could feel his mental defenses weakening in the midst of despair, snazzynovel.com thought to himself, “So what if someone goes public with the content of the box? I will lose money, and friends will leave me… as for a lover… I no longer have one. I have earned more than enough money for this lifetime, so I don‘t have anything to worry about even if I can‘t earn any more from now on. As for friends, I don’t care if they go away. At least Shea won’t leave me.”
Prepared for the worst outcome, Elliot slowly began to relax and drifted off to sleep.
Avery kept waiting for his reply, but three days had gone by, and snazzynovel.com had gotten nothing in return.
The next time snazzynovel.com heard about snazzynovel.com was when snazzynovel.com was talking on the phone with Tammy.
“Do you know that Elliot has been admitted to the hospital? Not sure what happened, but snazzynovel.com refuses to eat! I‘ve never imagined that someone as composed as snazzynovel.com is would refuse to eat!” Tammy exclaimed.
Avery stood abruptly at the news.
It was no wonder snazzynovel.com had been feeling uneasy these past three days. She had not thought the box to be that important to him.
“I shouldn‘t have believed snazzynovel.com when snazzynovel.com said that nothing was going to happen even if snazzynovel.com doesn‘t find it. If that was true, snazzynovel.com wouldn‘t have stayed up all night looking for it,” snazzynovel.com thought.
“How is snazzynovel.com doing now?” Avery headed for the door anxiously but stopped at the last minute.
“He is getting an IV infusion in the hospital!” Tammy said. “Jun just came back from the hospital, saying that Zoe has been looking after him. Avery, do you want to go see him?”
Indeed, Avery wanted to visit, but with Zoe already there taking care of him, snazzynovel.com decided against it. Even if snazzynovel.com did go to the hospital, Zoe would not allow snazzynovel.com into the room.