Chapter 37 : Burning The Notebook
That night, Nigel came home in high spirits and even asked Ella to prepare extra dishes.
At the dinner table, he turned to Allison with a smile. “You don’t like spicy food, so these milder dishes were made just for you.”
Ruth beamed as she scooped some vegetables onto Allison’s plate. “Sherrie closed a big deal today. We’re all benefiting from her hard work.”
Sherrie smiled modestly. “Mom, don’t praise only me. I did well because my brother taught me.”
“You’re both wonderful,” Ruth said happily. “You’re my greatest blessings.”
Allison ate the food Ruth had served her, but every bite tasted bland.
No matter how much time passed, she still could not adjust to this environment.
She knew she was the outsider, yet she remained caught between numbness and silent resistance.
She lowered her head and ate faster, hoping to fade from their sight.
But fate did not allow it.
“Allison,” Nigel said, “that notebook you dropped earlier looked like Dad’s handwriting. Can I take a look?”
Ruth was stunned when she heard it. Her expression darkened as she turned toward Allison. “You told me you didn’t have any of your father’s things. Were you lying to me?”
“Lying?” Nigel looked back and forth between them, clearly confused.
Ruth kept her eyes on Allison, and she was filled with disappointment. “These past few nights, I’ve been dreaming of your father. He kept telling me he left important notes with you. He begged me to protect them. But when I asked you, you said you didn’t have any of his things.”
She pressed her temples, as if a headache were coming. “I haven’t honored your father’s request. My head has been aching nonstop ever since.”
“How could you?” Nigel slammed his hand on the table. “Allison, those were Dad’s things. They should have been given to Mom. What right do you have to keep them for yourself?”
The last bite of rice turned to ash in Allison’s mouth. She put down her chopsticks and said calmly. “Dad didn’t leave me anything. And if he did, it’s not with me.”
“That’s not true!” Ruth retorted. “I searched every corner of this house and couldn’t find those books. Who else could have taken them?”
She let out a dramatic sigh and pressed a hand to her chest. “I’ve tried to be tolerant of you. You didn’t have a proper upbringing, yet I still treated you kindly. And now, now you’re lying to me? Even to me?”
She clutched her chest again, as if the betrayal had stolen her breath.
Sherrie anxiously rubbed Ruth’s back, trying to calm her breathing. Her eyes were filled with tears.
“Sis, look what you’ve done. You’ve made Mom this angry. Just apologize to her already.”
Nigel slammed again his hand on the dining table. “Allison, are you really refusing to bring out Dad’s things? Do you want to push Mom into the hospital before you’re satisfied?”
Sherrie was secretly pleased.
Earlier at the hotel, Gabriel had asked Allison several times about where that notebook came from. It was clear he was very interested in the Rogers family’s ancient texts.
If those texts ended up in her hands, there was nothing she could not trade them for. Even overseas hospitals had been trying to obtain the doctor’s methods.
While Ruth cried and Nigel seethed, Allison stared at them seriously.
That reaction only made their anger burn hotter.
Before they could erupt, Allison turned to Ruth and asked, “Didn’t Dad tell you where I hid the texts when he came to you in that dream?”
Nigel slammed the table for the third time. “Watch your tone, Allison!”
Allison looked at him. “Dad really did leave the texts to me. But three years ago, I was dragged straight from the living room to the psych ward. I didn’t take a single thing from the house. It’s been three years. How would I know where the texts are now?”
Nigel was stunned for a moment, his bluster fading. “Then where did you put them three years ago?”
Allison glanced at Sherrie. “In my room, of course.”
That room now belonged to Sherrie.
As everyone turned to look at her, Allison added, “But it’s been three years. Who knows if they disappeared, just like my old agarwood bracelet did?”
Sherrie instantly denied it. “I’ve never even seen those texts—”
Allison cut her off with a cold laugh. “Exactly. No one took inventory of my room back then. Who’s to say what went missing or what got added later?”
Sherrie was on the verge of tears. She clutched Nigel’s sleeve with both hands. “Nigel, you believe me, right? I didn’t steal anything.”
Allison spoke before Nigel could burst into another fit. “There are security cameras in this house. Ever since I came back, I haven’t gone upstairs, have I?”
Ruth seized on her words. “But I saw you digging something up in the yard the other day.”
Allison replied, “You already checked that box. It was just my childhood doodles.”
Ruth’s tears gathered on her lashes. She hesitated, then sighed. “I know you can’t bring yourself to give the texts back to me. But what about the notebook Nigel mentioned? Can you at least let me see that?”
Her eyes drifted to the crossbody bag Allison always carried.
Allison tightened her grip on the strap. With all three of them sharply looking at her, she forced a stiff smile and swallowed the irritation rising in her chest.
She reached into her bag and took out the notebook.
Just as Ruth reached for it, Allison opened the notebook herself and showed them their father’s handwriting. “This is his collection of medical notes. He never let it leave his side when he was alive. If he really came to you in a dream, then I guess he wants you to burn this and send it to him.”
Ruth seemed satisfied with the suggestion. She nodded with a smile. “I’ll offer it to him right away so he can finally rest…”
She reached out for the notebook, but Allison drew it back slightly.
Holding one corner of the notebook in one hand, Allison flicked a lighter on with the other. Before anyone could stop her, she touched the flame to the edge of the pages.
Sherrie’s smile disappeared in an instant. Just moments ago, she had been imagining trading that notebook to please Gabriel. Now, it was burning right in front of her.
She lunged for it, but Nigel was faster.
Allison let go before either of them could grab it. Flames shot up from the notebook, burning fast and fierce.