Chapter 115 THE LANCASTER FAMILY

Chapter 115 THE LANCASTER FAMILY
Kelvin's POV

While Nancy was talking with Linda, I took the opportunity to get my injuries properly treated.

“It's not that serious, but the fire did hurt your skin. If you notice anything else that seems unusual, I suggest you see your doctor as quickly as you can,” the female paramedic said. I nodded, thanking her.

I made my way toward Annabella, who stood by the edge of the farm, staring blankly at the devastating damage the fire had caused. Her inhaler was clutched tightly in her hand.

“I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't dragged Renna with me to fetch those scissors,” she whispered as I stepped up beside her.

“Thank God you did,” I muttered. My gaze met hers before her eyes traveled down to my injured arm.

“Are you okay?” she asked, concern bleeding into her voice.

I nodded. “Luck was on my side, I guess. It was just a minor burn.”

My eyes traveled down to my wristwatch. My flight was already delayed, and now I would have to book another one, at least for tonight.

“Let's head back to the front yard where the smoke isn't as thick. We don't want anything triggering your panic attack,” I said gently.

We made our way back to the porch, where Mrs. Carter was sitting with an already sleeping Renna cradled securely in her arms. My gaze lazily wandered around the property until it landed on the front gate. I could swear I saw a dark figure standing there, lurking.

“Anna, I'll be right back,” I said, adrenaline spiking as I dashed toward the gate, desperate to catch whoever it was.

But the moment I burst outside into the street, it was completely empty. The only sign indicating that someone had actually been there was the metallic clipping sound of the mailbox as it dangled shut.

Walking up to it, I slipped my hand into the box and retrieved a plain white envelope.

The first thing I saw was the phrase “I am watching” written boldly across the front. I immediately tore open the envelope, and what I saw inside turned my blood completely cold.

It was a stack of pictures. Pictures of Renna—at school, at the farm, and in her bedroom. Then there were photos of Annabella, and even Nancy's parents. Every single face was marked with a chilling red dot right on their head, with the word “Boom!” scrawled across each picture.

“What in the world…”

Nancy's POV

I hurried out after Kelvin the moment I saw him dashing outside like he desperately needed to catch up to something.

When I reached the gate, I let my gaze wander around the nearly empty street, where only a few random people were going about their business. Kelvin was standing rigid by the mailbox. Whatever he had found had completely paralyzed him; he didn't even notice me approaching from behind.

“What in the world…” I heard him breathe, his voice laced with a raw shock and panic that I couldn't miss.

Without bothering to call his name, I stepped right in front of him. My eyes instantly caught the pile of photographs in his trembling hands. The very first image that grabbed my attention was a shot of Renna standing right by her school gate.

“Nancy,” Kelvin choked out, his grip tightening around the edges of the paper.

But I was way too focused on my baby girl to care about his warning. A surge of protective panic drove me to violently snatch the pictures from his hands, frantically flipping through every single one of them.

Tons of photos of Renna. Then Anna. Then Mom and Dad. I looked up at Kelvin, my gaze burning with a furious, questioning glare.

“Who left this?” I demanded, even though I knew deep down he had no answer to give me.

“Nancy, you know very well I don't have an answer to that,” Kelvin pleaded, his voice rising. “But don't you find this whole thing suspicious? The second he appears in someone's life, absolute trouble follows.”

I knew exactly who he was talking about. He was referring to Jaxon, but I was in no mood to go around in this exhausting circle again. I needed to figure out which of my enemies was actively targeting and threatening my family.

I took a few steps back, away from Kelvin, suffocating. The air felt entirely too heavy for me to breathe.

“What else do I need to do to make you see that Jaxon is literally going to bring more of this to your doorstep?” Kelvin pressed, but I was done hearing that bullshit. It was completely messing with my head.

“You have no right to talk about him that way!” I barked at him, my voice cracking with rage. “You fucking have no right to judge him when you don't even know him! None of this would be happening if your mother hadn't stolen a life that was never hers, destroying everyone else's in the process!”

I saw pain and frustration flash across his features, but it didn't equal the agony twisting inside my own chest.

“Why do you trust him so much? Why do you believe his words so blindly?” he asked, his voice dropping into a cold, defensive tone.

“You still don't get it, do you? Well, if you must know, I was kidnapped alongside Jaxon twenty-one years ago! And you have absolutely no idea what that boy had to go through just because your mother couldn't accept her own life and decided to steal someone else's. So don't you dare stand there and question me. This time around, I am not repeating some story I was told. I lived that story, and I saw hell because of it.”

I made sure he felt every ounce of the anger and raw frustration vibrating through me. I waited for him to speak, to defend himself, but he just stood there, completely stunned, staring at me like he was starstruck.

“Can the both of you stop fighting!” Anna’s sharp voice cut through the heavy tension surrounding us.

As she approached, she stared into my eyes. I couldn't quite read the intense emotion in her gaze, but when she suddenly threw her arms around me, hugging me out of the blue, my entire body went stiff with shock.

“I never thought I would ever hear you talk about that incident,” she whispered against me before a broken sob escaped her. She pulled back slightly to look at me, her eyes red. “Do you know how scared I was for you?”

She wiped her face, stepping between us. “I'm sorry, Nancy. I'm sorry you had to experience that, but right now is really not the time for the two of you to be arguing.” She shifted her gaze from me straight to Kelvin.

“And as for you, Kelvin, I am so deeply disappointed in you. I can't believe you had that woman as a mother, yet you still can't even see right through her.”

The sheer authority in her voice made it sound like she already knew every dark secret about Kelvin and his past.

“Anna, what is going on?” I asked, my voice laced with deep suspicion.

“Well, I have finally pretended for too long, so it's time to reveal who I really am,” she said, her tone shifting into something remarkably dramatic.

“I might have safely run a Jaxon Lennox fan group over the years, where I happen to be the leader. And I already have close to half a million followers. My group and I have made it our absolute priority to investigate Jaxon's past, starting from the accident and the true story of the two daughters of the Lancaster family.”

I stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. Beside me, Kelvin looked just as shocked; we both thought she had completely gone nuts.

“The both of you should follow me inside. We have a lot to talk about,” Anna commanded, turning on her heel and marching back toward the house.

Kelvin and I exchanged a long, meaningful look before silently following after her.

I could only wonder what my crazy sister actually had up her sleeve this time.