Chapter 303

Chapter 303

On the drive to the cemetery, Julien gripped the steering wheel, turning to Julie, “No wonder it wasn’t found abroad. Turns out, Rankin’s final resting place is right here at Whispering Pines.”

It seemed they had been searching for quite some time. After the incident with Davina Field, Julie had asked Julien to help locate Rankin’s grave. Unexpectedly, even with Julien’s capabilities, it had taken this long to find it.

A light drizzle misted from the sky as they passed a florist. Julie asked Julien to pull over, then walked inside the shop.

She lingered among the blooms, contemplating her choice. The florist, eager to help upon learning Julie was visiting a friend’s grave, suggested an array of vibrant flowers, each more beautiful than the last.

Yet Julie’s gaze settled on a secluded corner.

The owner hurried over, “Ah, this is the Bird of Paradise. It’s also known as…”

“Strelitzia,” Julie finished with a smile, and then turned to a bunch of light pink gypsophila nearby. “Could you wrap these up for me?”

Her eyes had been on the Bird of Paradise, but in the end, she asked for the gypsophila to be wrapped. The owner handed Julie the neatly packaged flowers and then watched as she picked a single Bird of Paradise, settling the bill.

Back in the car, Julie placed the Bird of Paradise amidst the gypsophila.

Julien nonchalantly inquired, “What flower is that?”

Julie knew she wasn’t asking about the gypsophila.

“It’s Bird of Paradise, also called Strelitzia. It’s said to be the bird that flies to heaven, carrying all sorts of emotions and yearnings with it. If there’s a heaven, then a good soul like Rankin is surely there. The flower’s message is: No matter when, no matter where, never forget the one who waits for your love. It just… felt right for him.”

Julien remarked, “A flower is just a plant. All those nice and sad meanings, we attach them ourselves.” After saying this, noticing Julie’s expression, Julien quickly added in a softer tone, “But if there really is a heaven, he’s probably there.”

For Julie, hearing such words from Julien was nothing short of miraculous. She knew it was just an attempt at comfort.

“Julien, can I ask you something?” Julie asked tentatively, wary of broaching a sensitive topic.

“Go ahead,” Julien replied, unfazed.

“You mentioned earlier about Hayden and Adeline…”

“I don’t know.” Before Julie could finish, Julien’s curt reply cut her off.

Julie wasn’t embarrassed by the interruption, but there was a silence that followed.

Having spent more time with Julie, Julien’s temperament had softened. She would have once been indifferent to cutting Julie off, but now she regretted her abruptness, sensing it might have upset Julie, and she explained further, “I mean, I haven’t figured out what’s really going on between Hayden and Adeline. I’ll tell you once I do.”

Julie was surprised by the additional explanation, a flicker of excitement crossing her face.

After a moment, she asked, “How’s your investigation into the murder case going? You’re not working for the National Security Agency at the moment, right? So why are you still looking into a murder case?”

“Murder case?” Julien was momentarily lost, her mind sifting through memories associated with the term.

Seeing Julien’s confused expression, Julie gently reminded her, “You know, the time you took a bottle filled with vitamins to QuadDylan for analysis, suspecting something else was inside, only to find out they were indeed just vitamins. He asked what was going on, and you mentioned you were on a murder case. Don’t you remember?”

As Julie elaborated, understanding dawned on Julien, who realized Julie must be jumping to conclusions. Julien quickly interjected, “Don’t get the wrong idea; it’s not what you think.”

“And what do you think I’m thinking?” Julie teased, her gaze playful.

Julien remained silent.

Julie prodded, “So there was no murder case, right? The pills in that bottle…”

“Yes, that’s right, they were from him,” Julien admitted, knowing Julie had seen through the facade. There was no point in hiding the truth from her.

Julie ventured a guess, “Hayden?”

“Can you imagine anyone else?” Julien asked back.

Holding the bouquet, Julie shook her head. No one but Hayden would dare such a bold move.

“So, you and Hayden, you guys…”

“It’s exactly what you think; there’s nothing more to it,” Julien stated.

Julie’s smile grew suggestive, “Aren’t you going to tell me about the vitamins in the bottle?”

“There’s not much to say.” After a pause, Julien added, “Quad Dylan has a big mouth.”

At this, Julie couldn’t help but laugh. The idea of Julien accusing Hayden of being ‘lacking in virtue’ was too amusing to contain. She could only imagine the look on Hayden’s face if he heard it. Concerned, Julie asked, “So, those vitamins from the bottle, did you take them? I mean, the birth-control…”

“I did,” Julien answered bluntly, signaling an end to the topic. But Julie just couldn’t stop herself, and what had started as a playful banter turned serious as she locked eyes with Julien and said, “You know, Julien, you and him, you’re both pretty tough. But when two tough people get together, it can take a lot longer to work things out. Like you said that night, have you ever thought about why you actually care about Adeline?

The way Hayden acted before wasn’t right, I agree. But it’s like you two never really sat down to talk about the elephant in the room. And yeah, I’m not the best at this stuff either. Even my relationship with Kieran got pretty messed up sometimes. But we complement each other’s personalities, and we do sit down and talk things out, every once in a while.” Julie had known since she met Julien that her experiences were more complicated than most, which made her way of thinking quite unique.

She had the toughness and stubbornness often attributed to boys, yet lacked the dependency and softness expected of girls. She was used to solving problems on her own, rarely shared her feelings, and had spent a lot of time in solitude growing up. So, whenever she had the chance, Julie tried to communicate with her as much as possible.

At first, Julien acted as if she couldn’t care less, as if she didn’t even hear Julie speaking, sometimes even threatening to shut her up. But over time, Julie noticed that Julien could be influenced by others and become more compassionate.

Just like Flavia had said, Julie was a friend Julien cherished deeply-someone who would tell you the hard truths even if it meant risking the friendship. And that was truly rare.

Julien didn’t respond to Julie’s words. Instead, she parked the car at the base of the hill and simply said, “We’re here.”

11.40

Chapter 303

Julie got out of the car and saw a long flight of stairs stretching upward.

Julien handed her an umbrella, “The car can only go so far, and I won’t be joining you up there.”

Julie took the umbrella, took off the watch from her wrist and handing it to Julien, “I was so busy last night, I forgot to return this to you.”

“Keep it. If you’re in danger, just press it,” Julien said as she helped open the umbrella. “I’ve got to run an errand over there. If you come back and don’t see me, give me a call.”

“Is there only one umbrella?” Julie asked.

Wearing a hoodie, Julien simply pulled up the hood, turned, and walked off into the rain.

Watching Julien’s retreating figure, Julie smiled wryly, clutching the bouquet as she started climbing the steep stairs.

It was a long and daunting ascent. The rain fell, the sky a blanket of gray, and a thick mist obscured the stairway to heaven, making it seem never-ending.

After what felt like an eternity, Julie finally reached the top.

Finding Rankin’s gravestone was easy. On the black headstone, etched with the name ‘Rankin,’ was a photo of a bright-eyed, smiling young man, whose grin seemed to bask in the warmth of sunlight, even on a rainy day.

In front of his grave lay two neatly wrapped bouquets of ivy, their wrapping paper of different colors, suggesting recent visitors.

Two identical bunches of ivy.

Julie placed her bouquet of Gypsophila and bird of paradise beside them, squatting down to be level with Rankin’s photo, a tinge of regret in her smile, “So, you liked ivy, huh? Sorry…”

The vivid smile on the young face made her heart ache. A life that should have been in its prime was now at eternal rest.

Blinking back emotion, she covered the photo with the umbrella and whispered softly, “I thought you didn’t reply to my emails because you’d found new friends, gotten used to life abroad, and wanted to start a new adventure. It never crossed my mind that…”

Her voice trailed off. She bowed her head, gently pulling out a single stalk of Bird of Paradise, and said, “You told me you were studying in LA, that this is the city’s flower, and you sent me a picture. I still remember, Rankin, it’s really been so long…”