Home / Silent Goodbye on a Summer Night / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Silent Goodbye on a Summer Night: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

16 Chapters

Chapter 1

Three Years EarlierAt a private club in the capital, Lily Yates struggled as she scrubbed a toilet, her oversized work uniform making her thin frame look even smaller. By the time she finished, she was so exhausted that she sank to the floor and pulled out a photograph of herself with her father and younger sister."Lily! Someone threw up in the Heaven on Earth suite. Go clean it up."She carefully tucked the photograph away and got to her feet.It had been three months since her release from prison. The first thing she'd wanted to do was bring her younger sister, Yvonne Yates, home from the orphanage, but with a criminal record, she needed to find steady employment before she could take custody of her.Unfortunately, finding work had proved nearly impossible. Between her high school diploma and her criminal record, she couldn't even get hired as a waitress. The club, at least, attracted all sorts of people and didn't care about her past.Inside the private suite, a dozen or so young

Chapter 2

The sound of Mason's voice sent a chill through Lily's entire body. It was like hearing something call to her from the depths of hell, and every instinct screamed at her to run.Before she could move, a warm hand closed around her throat."What's wrong? Gone deaf? Can't you hear me?"His breath brushed her skin, the intimacy of his touch making it feel all the more sinister. Lily's heart twisted painfully as the truth finally sank in. The explosion that had cost her the hearing in her left ear hadn't been an accident after all. Mason really had been behind it.Sensing her trembling, he spoke in an even sweeter voice. "Why are you shaking? Is that any way to greet an old classmate? I even arranged this job for you. Aren't you going to thank me?"What?Lily parted her lips, overwhelmed by a despair so crushing she could barely think.She'd worked hard to earn an early release from prison, hoping that if she found a job at some obscure club and kept her head down, Mason would forget she e

Chapter 3

Lily really was dying.She'd been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer while she was still in prison, and she had less than six months left to live.All that effort she'd put into finding steady work and getting proof of employment hadn't been about bringing Yvonne home. She simply wanted to see her little sister one last time. And if she could earn a little more money to leave Yvonne before she died, all the better.So Lily returned to the club and accepted every filthy, exhausting task the manager assigned her without complaint.She worked as though she never got tired, never fought anyone for food at mealtimes, and swallowed cheap painkillers whenever her stomach became unbearable. Even when people deliberately gave her a hard time, she simply lowered her head and endured their complaints.Eventually, even the manager began to feel guilty about mistreating her.When Lily once again asked him for proof of employment, he sighed sympathetically."Lily, you need to stop thinking about

Chapter 4

That one word, "please," crushed what little remained of Lily's pride.Mason stared at her in disbelief. After all the suffering he'd put her through, she'd never once bowed to him.Throughout the hell of her senior year, she hadn't shed a tear, not even when those boys accidentally stepped on her arm and broke it. She hadn't cried when he tore up the college acceptance letter she'd been so thrilled to receive after placing among the top fifty students nationwide on her entrance exams.When he ruined every chance she had of finding respectable work, forcing her to beg and sing on the streets for money, she'd refused to give in. Even when he sent her to prison, all she'd said was, "Leave my sister alone. I'll pay for what I've done."Yet now she was kneeling at his feet, her bony fingers clutching his pant leg in a desperate attempt to please him. There was something worse than humiliation in the way she held herself. It was downright degrading.Mason should have been thrilled to finall

Chapter 5

In the Heaven on Earth suite, Lily lay sprawled in the middle of the stage, surrounded by empty liquor bottles. Her once-clean clothes were soaked with alcohol, the faded white fabric of her shirt clinging to her painfully thin frame.She'd already been forced to drink more than ten bottles of liquor."Come on, drink up! What's with that miserable face? Feeling sorry for yourself?""Seven years ago, you nearly killed Mrs. Whitmore with your vicious schemes. Now you're throwing yourself at Mason, trying to become his mistress!""Trying to seduce him into cheating on his girlfriend? Have you no shame?"Earlier, Mason had summoned their former classmates and forced Lily to stand onstage and publicly admit that she'd tried to seduce him. He'd also made her bow to Grace one hundred times.Yet Grace still wasn't satisfied. She insisted that Lily drink one hundred bottles of hard liquor before she'd consider forgiving her.Lily had dropped to her knees, desperately slapping herself."Ms. Walk

Chapter 6

After calming Grace down, Mason found himself writing out the employment contract Lily had begged for and heading back to the Heaven on Earth suite.For some reason, he couldn't shake the memory of the lifeless look in her eyes. It left him with an uneasy feeling he couldn't explain.When he pushed open the door, Lily was kneeling on the floor, her emaciated body trembling as she tried to gather the scattered pieces of her photograph. Mason's sharp eyes caught sight of several bloodstained tissues in the trash can nearby.He scoffed to himself. What a cheap trick.Lily had finally collected all the pieces and was struggling to her feet when she turned and saw him. She immediately wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, but Mason had already noticed."Going to all that trouble to make yourself look like you're bleeding? Who are you hoping to get sympathy from? Some other man?"Lily froze. Another spasm of pain twisted through her stomach, making her chest ache as well. She gave a

Chapter 7

Mason threw Lily to the ground so hard that she crumpled into a heap."You never learn, do you?"She curled up in pain, unable to recover even after several moments. Mason watched her with a flicker of surprise. Why did she look like she was in so much pain when he'd barely used any force?He was about to go over to her when Grace spoke in a delicate, trembling voice."Mason, she's obviously jealous because I'm your girlfriend. That's why she attacked me. What if she puts me in a vegetative state too, like she did your mother?"Mason's expression darkened. The hand he'd been about to offer Lily instead grabbed her and hauled her roughly to her feet."Stop playing dead and apologize to Gracie!"Too weak to stand, Lily sagged against him. "Mason, you hate me, don't you?" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Then just kill me."With Yvonne gone, there was nothing left for her in this world. Everything around her seemed to lose its color, leaving her in darkness.Mason was overcome by a surge

Chapter 8

Three Years LaterThe private hospital suite in the capital fell deathly silent the moment Margaret declared that no one had pushed her down the stairs. Every visitor who'd been talking so animatedly just moments ago suddenly had nothing to say.Mason remained silent for a long time before letting out a disbelieving laugh."Mom, you must still be confused from being unconscious all those years. The security footage clearly shows Lily pushing you. Are you saying the cameras got it wrong?"Yet even as he spoke, a dreadful thought struck him.What if the footage had been tampered with?His assistant promptly pulled up the surveillance recording from ten years ago. On the screen, Lily and Margaret were talking when Lily appeared to reach out and push her down the stairs."Look, Mom." Mason pointed at the screen. "You can clearly see Lily reaching out to push you. How could you possibly have fallen on your own?"Lily couldn't be innocent. She just couldn't.Because if she was, what did that

Chapter 9

Richard's words were dripping with contempt."A girl from an ordinary family actually thought she could worm her way into the life of the heir I've spent so many years grooming?"Mason, what have I taught you since you were a child? Never let anyone or anything become your weakness. If there's someone you love or something you value, you keep it to yourself."His voice grew louder with every word."Yet you made no attempt to hide your feelings! You nearly threw your life away to save some doctor's daughter! Is that how you repay everything your mother and I have done for you?"With every accusation, Mason felt himself sinking deeper into despair."If you hadn't valued that girl more than your own life, I never would have gone after her in the first place. When you think about it, you're the one who destroyed her."Mason's legs threatened to give out. He stared at Richard with undisguised hatred.Of course. How could he have forgotten what kind of man Richard Whitmore was?Richard Whitm

Chapter 10

For the first time in his nearly thirty years, Mason understood what true despair felt like."After Lily was sent to prison, Richard arranged for her to receive 'special treatment' in your name," Tobin explained. "She was bullied every single day. The beatings and having her waist cut were the least of it. The worst was a workplace accident Richard deliberately arranged. Lily lost the hearing in her left ear because of it."No wonder.No wonder Lily had always seemed unable to hear him properly after she got out of prison. Back then, he'd found it irritating. Now, the thought of what she'd endured made his heart ache.Mason stopped refusing food. He began wolfing down the meal Tobin had brought, questioning him between mouthfuls."Have you found out how Lily's doing now? Where is she? Is she okay?"Surely, without his revenge hanging over her for the past three years, someone as resilient as Lily would have managed to build a decent life for herself and Yvonne.Tobin said nothing. He s

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