Her skepticism was palpable as she exclaimed, âYouâre supposed to be Holden.
How can you be Theodore? Please! Five years ago, the entire Anderson family perished.
I personally collected Theodoreâs remains.
I watched him being cremated.
Are you seriously telling me that youâre Theodore? Then what on earth did I see five years ago?â
Shaking her head, Sonia tugged at Arianaâs sleeve and said, âQuick, pinch me to see if Iâm dreaming.
â
Ariana sighed and pinched her hard.
âOuch, that hurts! Okay, okay, so now I know Iâm not dreaming.
â
Soniaâs realization was accompanied by a swift withdrawal of her hand.
She scrutinized Holden, suspicion etched in the furrow of her brow, examining him from head to toe.
This was not a dream.
This person really was Theodore.
Sonia stood there, completely gobsmacked, her mouth agape as she looked at Holden in amazement.
âItâs a crazy world we live in.
Youâre right here in front of me, alive and kicking! But then, who did I see being cremated back then? That body even had a complete autopsy report, and trust me, I double-checked everything.
I couldnât have screwed up something like that, right?â
Holden pondered for a moment, recalling the missing pieces of his fragmented memory.
When he had awakened five years ago, only his grandfather and Devin had been handling his affairs.
During that time, through the initial stages of his return to consciousness, he hadnât encountered anyone else, interacting solely with those close to his grandfather.
If Sonia had truly overseen the collection of Theodoreâs remains, there was only one possibility.
His mind racing, Holden inquired Sonia, âCan you recall who tasked you with picking up that body five years back? Were there any other people around who mi
ght have seen or heard something?â
Furrowing her brows, Sonia pursed her lips and thought long and hard for a while before shaking her head.
âHonestly, itâs all a blur now; itâs been a long time ago.
â
âThe whole scene back then was a total mess.
I stumbled upon Aria and got her to the hospital as fast as I could.
While I was taking care of her in that chaos, I had a bunch of other things to handle.
Out of the blue, I got a call asking if I was Ariaâs friend and if I could sort out claiming Theodoreâs body from the hospital.
At the time, I was the only option since Aria was still unconscious, and I had no idea when she would wake up.
The hospital couldnât keep the body for long.
So, I just went ahead and claimed it,â she added.
Sonia recounted the circumstances at that time.
âThe Anderson familyâs situation was also a high-profile news event that was bringing in a lot of heat.
I already had too much on my plate at the time.
When I swung by the hospital, I focused solely on verifying the body and the autopsy report.
I didnât pay much attention to other details or remember who else was there.
I was a bit overwhelmed since Iâd never done body retrieval work before, so I do remember a kind old man guiding me through the whole process.
â
A kind old man?
Holden considered her description for a moment, retrieved a photo of Devin from his phone, and placed it in front of Sonia.
He asked, âDoes this person look familiar to you?â