Chapter 89: Onwards

Addicus drifted back to reality with a smile on his face. Those good times he had with Sharon before she found out the truth filled him with happy feelings that he hadn't felt in years.

When he had first brought her to live with him, she called him **Sir,** and he always told her to call him Addicus. She couldn't pronounce the name properly, so he told her to address him by his middle name, **James**. She was the only one who ever called him that and he loved it when she did.

But, she stopped calling him James the day he started making advances towards her. She had felt uncomfortable and she awkwardly moved away from him.

That day, he decided to bury his newly developed feelings for her until she was old enough to handle it which was why he didn't hold back the day she turned eighteen.

"Oh, Sharon! If only you didn't find out the truth, we would have been so happy together. I would have given you the world. But, alas, it wasn't destined to be."

He got tired of sitting here, reliving memories that he could never have again, so he decided to leave. He went back to his car and his chauffeur took him to his house.

Addicus got out of the car after they reached the house. He looked around, and almost like he was realizing for the first time, he was all alone in this house. Martha had decided to continue working for him, but their relationship had become rigid and stale.

JJ was dead and Sharon was back in Jacksonville with her new lover. He wasn't happy about that but, he didn't have a choice but to move on and let her go.

**Onward to a fresh start!**

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Sharon stood outside the house with her hands shaking in anxiety. She didn't know how she would walk in and look at them face to face. She didn't know how they would react or how they would treat her after she told them the truth.

Peter held her hand!

"Come on! We'll go in together. I'll be with you every step of the way," he said to her.

She nodded in response and they both walked up to the door together. She knocked on it and waited for someone to open up.

Mrs Karen opened the door and saw Sharon standing right in front of her. She wasn't sure who was standing in front of her, but she knew that she looked very familiar.

"Hello, Aunty Karen! It's so good to see you again," Sharon said to her, already in tears.

Mrs Karen finally recognized her and walked closer to her.

"Sharon? Is it really you?" She said with tears of joy while cupping her face with her hands.

"It's me, it's really me."

"My child!" Mrs Karen cried out and embraced her with love and joy.

"I noticed that your parent's house was being rebuilt and I wondered who was rebuilding it. I'm so glad to see that it was you. Are you moving back to Jacksonville or are you just visiting?" Mrs Karen asked.

"I'm here to stay, Aunty! I'm not going back."

Mrs Karen hadn't seen her for almost eighteen years because, although Sharon always wanted to come visit her and Lily, Addicus always found an excuse not to let her come. He probably didn't want her to see that her father's land was now a factory with his company's logo on it.

"And who is this handsome young man you've brought with you? Is he your husband?" Mrs Karen asked with a huge smile.

"No, Ma'am! I'm not her husband, at least, not yet," Peter answered and gave Sharon a wink.

"Aunty Karen, I'd like to meet Peter, the man I'm in love with," Sharon introduced them and Peter hugged her.

"Please, come in, the both of you. Come have a seat."

They both went in and Sharon could feel the butterflies in her stomach. She was dreading revealing the truth about Lilly's death to her parents and her nervousness was now obvious, even to Karen.

"Are you okay, my dear? You look pale, and you're sweating."

"I, I, I'm uhh...I,"

"She's just feeling a bit ill, that's why she's sweaty! Right, dear?"

"Right, yes. I'm a bit ill," Sharon lied.

She decided to change the topic so she asked about Karen's husband and their son, Lilly's younger brother.

"Where's Mr Frederick and where's Douglas?"

"Douglas is in college. He's studying to be a mechanical engineer. Isn't that wonderful?" Mrs Karen said happily.

"It really is! And what about your husband?" Sharon asked.

Mrs Karen put a tray of snacks and some drinks on the table for Sharon and Peter. She took a deep breath and sat down beside Sharon.

"You probably didn't know this but, Lily... she died," Mrs Karen told her.

Sharon wanted to tell her that she already knew but she didn't know how to start.

"After we were told about her death, it hit us really hard but Frederick was the most affected. He broke down and when we took him to the hospital, they said that he was in shock and was now paralyzed," Karen said, now in tears.

She stood up and went over to the backyard and rolled her husband into the living room in his wheelchair. Mr Frederick was completely frozen and barely even blinked.

"He hasn't moved an inch since that day."

"Oh, Karen! I'm so sorry," Sharon said and started crying out loud. Peter held her shoulders and tried to calm her down.

"Oh, Sharon! I'm sorry that you had to find out like this. I know that Lily and you were so close," Mrs Karen said.

"That's not why she's crying, Mrs Karen," Peter said to her.

***She didn't understand what he meant by that.***

"I'm sorry, Aunty, but I already knew about Lily's death. I was there with her when she died and I'm the reason she's dead," Sharon said, barely able to look directly at Karen.

"What are you talking about, Sharon?"

She wasn't sure where exactly Sharon was driving at, but she hoped it wouldn't be as bad as it was starting to seem.

"I think you should take a seat, Ma'am. It's kind of a very long story," Peter told her.

***Author's Note: How will Mrs Karen react when she finds out the truth about her daughter's death?***