BTW, yes, it was intentional for Elizabeth to speak of herself in third person last chapter in the last scene. I did that to show that she was separating herself to the little girl who suffered such an unfortunate circumstance and that she could tell it better using "little Lizzy" because the use of "I" is much more hurtful for her, at least in my perspective.

So, I know I've told you many times to "bear with me" and to those who did, thank you so much. I just wanted Lizzy and Darcy to become closer before the secrets were revealed because it would certainly affect them both. To show my gratitude for your patience, from this chapter onwards will be full of revelations. *cheers* I can only say that I'm sorry it took this long.

RECAP:

Chapter 20 – Lizzy and Darcy spent the morning together, they encountered Mary and Kitty, and there is more to Jane than meets the eye.

Elizabeth had a peaceful and relaxing day yesterday – that must be the reason why she was having a most unpleasant time today. She knew that when her mother forced her to go to Longbourn today, it was because Mrs. Bennet wanted to throw her into Mr. Collins's way… But Lizzy didn't expect that her mother would use drastic measures to accomplish her goals.

Lizzy could only be thankful that even though Mama had pushed her into the drawing room and closed the door, Mr. Collins made sure that there was more than proper distance between them as he began a speech of why he couldn't think of Elizabeth in a potential match, but only after he stated the first three reasons why he was looking for a wife in the first place.

"My esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, advised me to search for a partner who will make me happy and who I can make happy in return. Her kind daughter, Miss Anne de Bourgh, I believe, is an acquaintance of yours, cousin. It was she who told me that we share very little interest and that we would not make a good match. Of course, Miss de Bourgh is wise beyond her years so I must concede to her advice. I do hope that you take no offense in this matter, cousin. I am only doing what I think would please me and the people who helped me."

After the verbosity of his speech, Mr. Collins tried to open the door, only to find out that it had been locked. He called out for help but it was of no use. When he grew tired, he settled on standing on the farthest corner of the room away from Lizzy. Not really comfortable staying alone in the room with Mr. Collins, despite his disinterest in her, Lizzy tried to open the door too and called for assistance. When that did not work, she also tried the same on the windows.

But it seemed that no one would help them so Lizzy tried using her hair pins to pick the lock, trying to remain calm despite the anxiety that was starting to creep in her veins. Now, she regretted making Alexa promise not to come with her and only follow her after an hour of her departure.

Unbeknownst to Elizabeth and Mr. Collins, this day had been planned by Mrs. Bennet most diligently. First, she made sure to send Lydia, Kitty, Mary and Jane to her sister, Mrs. Philips. Then, she sent Hill and every one of Longbourn's servants into different errands that would take them away from the estate for at least an hour and a half. That way, that pesky Lizzy's fate in becoming Mrs. Collins would be secure. Longbourn would still be theirs and she need to fear for the hedgerows. She and her family would not lose their home.

The matron smirked inwardly as she directed her husband to the drawing room. "See, Mr. Bennet? They are in there for more than half an hour!" Mrs. Bennet exclaimed by the door, gesturing at Lizzy, who was standing right in front of them, and Mr. Collins who was at the far corner of the room. "You must make them marry immediately!"

Mr. Collins was quick on his feet to explain. "Nothing happened behind the close doors, Cousin Bennet, I assure you. You see…" He then began telling a long narrative of how he found himself locked alone with the second Miss Bennet.

Miss Anne de Bourgh had asked him a favour not to choose Miss Elizabeth as his potential wife and Mr. Collins would grant her request. In fact, Mr. Collins was happy to grant Miss de Bourgh's wishes. It was such a small thing compared to what Lady Catherine had done for him.

His father, the elder Mr. Collins, was not really a good father to him. He received a blow for every wrong action he did. As a result, Mr. Collins learned to always throw good compliments to his father to at least, soften the punishments allotted to him. Despite this, he was still in a delicate condition, with a new bruise every day and his father denying him food from time to time. When he had encountered Lady Catherine on the farms near Rosings at that time, she had asked where he lived.

Even though he had left his father's care at the age of ten, Collins was still unsure of what had happened to him. He never asked either. All that he knew was that Lady Catherine visited their house in the afternoon that same day that he had met her and took him under his wing. Lady Catherine ensured that he received proper education and when the old curate had died, Lady Catherine gave him the vacant position.

He owed it to Lady Catherine, this new life he was experiencing and by extension, her daughter. Unlike his father, Mr. Collins felt that the de Bourghs were very deserving of his compliments and he always made sure to be vocal about praising them.

"How can we know that you are telling the truth, Mr. Collins?" Mrs. Bennet asked. "You were alone with her for more than half an hour!" She turned to her husband. "You must make them marry, Mr. Bennet!"

"But nothing happened, Mama!" Lizzy almost screamed in frustration. "You locked us here! This was your intention."

Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists, trying to keep herself calm. Though a part of her knew that Mrs. Bennet, her mother didn't care about her anymore, she still felt betrayed that she would casually throw her in some man's path. What if Mr. Collins didn't act the way he did? What if he was a man who would force himself upon her? What kind of mother would – she didn't bother to finish her thought… deep down, as far as Lizzy can clearly remember, Mrs. Bennet hadn't really been a mother to her.

Of all the things she had done to her, Lizzy shouldn't really be surprise. She could almost laugh mirthlessly at her current situation. Why was she still giving Mrs. Bennet the benefit of the doubt after everything she's done to her? This was what Lord Ashbourne was telling her, wasn't it? While it was alright to hope, she did it so unrealistically that it was only doing her more harm.

Was this to be her fate for being so childish and indulging herself in unattainable fantasies about her mother and her family?

Lizzy shook her head and tried to focus on the conversation. Whatever disappointment she felt about the actions of Mrs. Bennet, she brought it to herself alone. She should've learned to face the truth earlier.

With a determined expression, Lizzy raised her chin in defiance at the Bennet matriarch, not wincing even as the woman's voice pierced her ears. "I did no such thing, girl!" Mrs. Bennet narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps this was your plan all along, to corner Mr. Collins and use your arts and allurements. Now you blame me? I order you to force them to marry, Mr. Bennet!"

Both Elizabeth and Mr. Collins replied simultaneously.

"I already explained that nothing happened, Cousin Bennet!"

"I assure you Madam, Sir, there was no misconduct!"

-p&p-

When she heard raised voices despite being at the entrance of the house, Lady Sharon Lucas knew that something was wrong. She just hoped that Kitty and Mary didn't warn her too late. It was early morning when those two girls came to her door panting saying that they sneaked out from their Aunt Philips because they think that their Mama was planning something about Mr. Collins and Eliza but they did not know what.

Naturally, Lady Lucas listened to her instincts and decided to check on Longbourn. Charlotte, who heard her conversation with Mary and Kitty, accompanied her as well. On their way there, they encountered the de Bourgh carriage. Upon finding out where they were going, Miss de Bourgh offered them a ride. Hesitantly, Lady Lucas accepted.

Now, standing in front of Longbourn she was starting to regret her decision. If something is amiss, she didn't need Miss de Bourgh, Colonel Fitzwilliam and Lord Ashbourne seeing them as well. 'What's done is done,' she told herself.

With a deep breath, Lady Lucas smiled at her companions and told them that she'd go in first, but not without glancing at Charlotte with a look that said 'Control the situation here and I'll handle what's going on inside.' At the subtle nod of her daughter, Lady Lucas entered the house.

"What is going on here?" She asked loud enough to get the attention of everyone in the room. When she saw Eliza with clenched fists and was near in tears, Lady Lucas immediately pulled the young lady to her side and stepped slightly in front of her before raising a brow at Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. "If you've done anything to harm Lizzy, may I remind you that Claire –"

"Why, I haven't done anything to her." Mrs. Bennet rolled her eyes. "If anything, she had done this to herself and I was protecting her. That's why I brought Mr. Bennet here with me, to make Mr. Collins take the right actions and marry her."

"Marry –"

Lady Lucas's exclamation was cut off by a stiff Jane Bennet. "They do not have to marry, Mama. I was here in the same room the whole time and I didn't see anything untoward happened."

Mrs. Bennet looked at her eldest daughter in disbelief. "Surely, Mr. Collins threatened you to hide the truth. There is no need to hide it, Jane, dear. Mr. Collins will marry –"

"Mama, I speak of the truth."

Speechless but outraged, Mrs. Bennet marched towards her room. Lady Lucas heard Mr. Bennet muttered something under his breath and walked away with a shake of his head. When they heard the door to his study closed, Mr. Collins released a sigh. Lady Lucas paid little attention to those things, however.

She focused her gaze on a teary-eyed Eliza who was holding Jane's hands in hers. "Thank you, Jane."

Jane immediately withdrew her hands from Eliza and hid it behind her. "You may leave now, Lizzy. I have to check on Mama." Jane then looked at her, "Lady Lucas." With a polite curtsy, Jane left.

Lady Lucas looked sadly as Eliza watched her sister depart silently and Lady Lucas looked at her sympathetically. "My dear Eliza, what happened?"

Eliza only shook her head before finally letting her tears down as Lady Lucas pulled her into an embrace. "It'll be alright, Eliza." She said, wiping any traces of tears on Eliza's cheeks. "Let's get out of here."

-p&p-

Jane Bennet suspected that her mother was scheming something. It was why she had accompanied her sisters to her Aunt Philips' house first before hurrying back to Longbourn. Since she was not certain if something wrong was going to happen, she decided to hide. Her chosen spot was the tall shelf in the drawing room.

It was fortunate that Jane was already hiding when her mother locked the door and left Lizzy and Mr. Collins alone. Uncertain of what to do, Jane didn't show herself to them. When her mother started demanding that the two should marry, Jane was still unsure of how to act.

On one hand, she didn't want to betray her Mama. Her mother had gone through so much already…

As she listened to the argument taking place just a few feet away from her, her mind flashed back to when she was nine – the one time she became furious at Mama for attempting to throw boiling water at Lizzy.

Being the eldest child, Jane was probably the only one among the siblings who remembered that Mama had cared for Lizzy once. She remembered Mama playing tea parties with them, carrying Lizzy around, and the three of them strolling the gardens together – sometimes, little Thomas, who was still alive back then, would accompany them on those excursions.

But everything changed when little Thomas died.

Jane remembered Mama telling her to stay away from Lizzy, which she obediently did because she had thought that Lizzy was still sick. Their playing stopped and when Grandmother Claire moved into the Dower House with Lizzy, Jane rarely got to see her anymore. That didn't mean that Jane didn't care anymore for Lizzy though, for she did.

Jane didn't understand why Mama was always mad with Lizzy but Mama seemed to get angrier if she tried to defend Lizzy so Jane did her best to stay quiet. However, her resolve to remain silent ended that fateful night when she fortunately managed to pull Lizzy out of the way from the hot water.

After the initial shock, Lizzy started crying. Mama only glared at the two of them before she retired to her room. Jane thought that Mama would not have done it if Mrs. Hill hadn't return to the kitchen in time and asked why Lizzy was crying. Scared of what might happen if she admitted the truth, Jane had told Mrs. Hill that she was running around with Lizzy using ladles as make-believe swords and that in one of their attacks, they accidentally pushed the pot unto the floor. "Mama came down when she heard the noise and she scolded us which made Lizzy cry."

Fortunately, Mrs. Hill had believed her and started assuring Lizzy that no one was mad at her. When Lizzy had finally calmed, Mrs. Hill warned them not to play in the kitchen again because it was dangerous. Jane wondered why Mrs. Hill had left the kitchen in the first place and she later found out that the Housekeeper woke her husband up to get ready so that he could take Lizzy back to the Dower House after Lizzy had eaten some of the soup.

But Mr. Hill and Lizzy weren't alone to leave Longbourn that night, for Jane insisted on accompanying them. She even helped Lizzy get ready for bed and didn't leave her side until she was certain that Lizzy was deep in her slumber.

The following morning, she asked permission from Papa to visit her Aunt Philips. When she arrived at her Aunt's house, she cried and told her Aunt the horrible thing she had witnessed and prevented last night. She had confessed that she was angry at her mother's actions and had asked how someone could be so cruel…

That was the day she found out the sad truth.

It turned out that after her little brother died, Mama had changed. Jane thought that all those months when Mama was locked in her room, she was grieving for Thomas and months after that, Jane thought that her mother wasn't feeling well because she was pregnant with Lydia. That day, Jane found out that it wasn't because of what she thought.

"Fanny wanted to have a boy because of the entail. When she had your brother, she was overjoyed. Your mother became a shell of her old self when little Thomas died, Janey." Aunt Philips told her softly. "She blamed herself for his death. You see, your brother recovered from the flu first before Lizzy did. Your Mama heard that sea breeze was good for illness so she convinced your father and Claire to take Lizzy and Thomas by the seaside. They were reluctant at first but Fanny would not have any of it, she feared that if they did not go there, Lizzy could really die."

Lizzy's condition was critical and when she showed little recovery, they made the trip. Unfortunately, while the sea breeze did help Lizzy, the journey wasn't favourable to Thomas. "Your father tried persuading your mother to leave little Thomas at Longbourn or let Claire tend to Lizzy alone but Fanny was stubborn. She wanted both her children together. They were her twins, she said. That was the reason why your mother locked herself alone for so long. She told me that if only she had listened to your father and left your brother or let Claire travel alone with Lizzy, then none of it would happen."

Devastated, her mother stayed in her chambers neither eating nor talking. Aunt Philips was the only one who could coax out more than one sentence with her. It took some months but her mother recovered and Aunt Philips gave the idea to try for another child. With the hope to conceive another boy, her mother made remarkable progress.

"Fanny knew no child could replace little Thomas but she was hopeful that if she produced another boy, then your family wouldn't lose Longbourn. But then she had Lydia." At that, her Aunt Philips had started shedding tears. "She was so mad that Lydia wasn't the boy she had hoped her to be that she…" Aunt Philips hadn't be able to finish her sentence and it was only after the sixth attempt that she had managed to croaked out the five words Jane never thought she would here. "She tried to kill Lydia."

"Oh, Janey," Aunt Philips had cried. "It was horrible. Fanny was going to throw her into the river. It just happened that I was walking by the bridge that time so I was able to stop her. I accompanied her back to Longbourn after that. I was so scared for Lydia that I asked Hill to take care of her while I tend to your mother. I thought bearing another child would make your mother happy but I was wrong. She changed even more. She became suspicious and fearful and deluded. She would see things that aren't there and would talk to the air. For months I tried telling her two things over and over again. One, little Thomas is gone but it was not her fault and she should not blame herself and two, Lydia was her child and she shouldn't harm her."

Unfortunately, her mother had given another meaning to Aunt Philips' words. "She never tried to do anything to Lydia after that. Instead, Fanny began spoiling your youngest sister. Do not begrudge your mother for pampering your sister, Janey. She was only trying to make it up to her. However, despite the good progress she made with Lydia, she mistook my words of not blaming herself. Instead, she placed the blame to Lizzy." Aunt Philips had taken Jane's hands in hers and continued sobbing. "I told her that Lizzy was innocent in this but she wouldn't listen to me. I tried, Janey, I tried."

"But, didn't you tell Mama that Lizzy is her child and that she should not harm her too?" Jane had asked.

"I did," Aunt Philips had said, "but Janey," her Aunt had looked at her sadly, "Lizzy isn't your sister."

Lizzy wasn't her sister. That knowledge made Jane stepped out of her hiding place and faced her parents. "They do not have to marry, Mama. I was here in the same room the whole time and I didn't see anything untoward happened." Lizzy wasn't her sister, therefore it was not Lizzy's responsibility to save them and secure Longbourn.

Mama's decisions might have caused Lizzy to survive and her brother to die but no one was really at fault. Perhaps, God wanted to take little Thomas to be with him sooner. Jane believed that if people were meant to die, they would die. No one could save them. And even if it was Lizzy's fault – which Jane believed that it was not – Lizzy had suffered enough. The Bennets had badly affected Lizzy's past, it wouldn't be right if they take away her future too.

With this thought, Jane countered her mother's claims calmly. Despite this, Jane was sad to see her mother pained. Jane knew that Mama was doing this for them. Her mother didn't want to sacrifice any of her daughters so she used Lizzy. Still, it was wrong.

Jane felt guilty when Lizzy took her hands in hers. She was sorry that this happened to Lizzy but Aunt Philips' words echoed in Jane's head: "Lizzy has many people supporting her, Janey. We are your mother's family and we need to support her too. We're the only ones she had." The second her Aunt's words had registered in her, Jane quickly pulled her hands away from Lizzy.

"You may leave now, Lizzy. I have to check on Mama." Jane then looked at the newcomer, "Lady Lucas."

After a quick curtsy, she silently hurried towards her mother's chambers. Mama couldn't break down now. Not after Jane tried everything in her power, even the risk of hurting Lizzy, to help her mother. If Mama truly lost her mind because of her failed ploy, Jane wouldn't know what she would do.

Her mother's condition was subtle unless one knew what to look for. And because Jane knew the danger of her mother before she turned ten, she had witnessed the moments when her mother would suddenly became wary of her surroundings – the times when she would talk to herself alone and would suddenly become either too restless or too withdrawn.

At first, Jane did not like that her Aunt Philips told her the truth. She was so young back then. Why didn't her Aunt tell her Uncle or Papa? Later on, she discovered that Papa was too indolent to take action and if others had found out, her Aunt Philips told Jane that they could send her Mama to Bedlam or other places that were just as worse. Neither she nor Aunt Philips liked that idea so they did their best to help her mother act as normal as possible.

Throughout the years, Mama had made big improvements. She no longer talked to the air or imagined things. The only thing that hadn't change was Mama's strong dislike for Lizzy.

It was one of the reasons why Jane wanted to get married as soon as possible. While she had no idea about the underlying meaning of Mr. Kearsley's poems, Jane had really thought him to be a good man. When Lizzy tried to tell her the truth about him, she used that as an opportunity to prove to Mama that she was not alone.

Mama was always complaining about how Mary and Kitty were so close to Lizzy at that time and Jane feared that if her mother thought that all her daughters cared for Lizzy, then she might do something drastic. Instead, Jane used the situation and accused Lizzy of things both in London and once when they had returned to Longbourn. Fortunately, all that Mama did was burned some of Lizzy's books and some shouting.

When Lizzy had visited her at Netherfield, Jane also tried to argue with her. In truth, she was touched, if not a little frustrated at Lizzy's actions. Jane was trying her best to protect them all by not getting close to her but Lizzy was persistent. But Jane couldn't blame Lizzy for that. Lizzy didn't know the truth, after all. In Lizzy's eyes, they were family so Lizzy wasn't giving up on them. Jane understood that. They were doing the same thing.

Despite that, Jane couldn't help but feel guilty because Lizzy was still hoping for the best. She wanted to tell Lizzy that she was not their sister but what good would that do? Besides, Aunt Philips had already warned Jane to keep quiet. Grandmother Claire's fortune was doubling their allowance. If Jane revealed the truth, that might stop.

Jane couldn't have that. If she couldn't find a good husband to help her, she needed all that she could save for whatever might happen. At the thought of a good husband, Mr. Bingley's image came up to her mind. She really hoped that he liked her as much as she did him. Jane needed a husband who loved enough to help her and her family, especially her mother.

With positive thoughts on her mind, Jane opened the door to her mother's chambers.

-p&p-

When Lady Lucas entered the Bennet household, Miss Lucas tried to distract them with a conversation about the weather to help them ignore the loud voices coming from inside the house. However, it wasn't working on Darcy. While Elizabeth told had told them that the Lucases were like family to her, Darcy was still wary. After his suspicions about the Gardiners feeding Elizabeth false information, Darcy decided to trust no one. Not even the Lucases.

He let a full minute passed before addressing the obvious. "None of us is a cretin, Miss Lucas," Darcy began sternly. "We know that you are diverting our attention so drop the act. Why don't we go all go inside?"

"Ashbourne," Anne chastised, "you can't just barge in there. It's rude."

"But something is not right, Anne." Richard knitted his brows. "Did you notice that the servants seem to be missing?"

"Even more reason to check the commotion inside." Darcy stated.

Before he or Richard could step inside, however, Lady Lucas appeared by the entrance with a glassy-eyed Elizabeth on her side. Seeing his beloved's distress, Darcy immediately moved to her other side. "What happened?"

Lady Lucas only shook her head. "Lizzy will come to Lucas Lodge."

"Let us use our carriage," Anne suggested. "If it is alright with you Lady Lucas, we will accompany you to your home. Lizzy has become a dear friend to me and my cousins. Please, we only want to make sure that she is well."

Upon seeing Eliza's hand already using Lord Ashbourne's arm as support and the pleading look on Miss de Bourgh's and Colonel Fitzwilliam's faces, Lady Lucas nodded. "Of course, thank you for your assistance, Miss de Bourgh."

"It is no problem, Lady Lucas."

With that, the Colonel helped Miss de Bourgh, Charlotte and Lady Lucas in the carriage. Lastly, Lord Ashbourne assisted Eliza before the two gentlemen followed.

Once they were settled inside the carriage, with the cousins sitting on one side and Lady Lucas with her daughter and honorary daughter on the other, it didn't escape the matron's notice that Eliza was now holding a masculine looking handkerchief.

When the carriage stopped, Lord Ashbourne was the first to exit, handing all the ladies down before offering his arm to escort Eliza inside. This caused Lady Lucas to raise a brow but otherwise, she remained quiet and led all of them to the drawing room. She rang the bell for tea and sat on Eliza's other side.

"Eliza, dear," Lady Lucas began gently, "will you tell us what happened? If you want, we can talk to Sir William's study. I'm sure Miss de Bourgh and the gentlemen will understand our want of privacy–"

"No," Eliza shook her head, "'tis alright, Lady Lucas. They know about Longbourn and I trust them." The last sentence was said with a small smile that surprised Lady Lucas.

What on earth was going on? Of course, Lady Lucas had her suspicions but she couldn't be right, could she?

"You know about Eliza?" The question came from a surprised John, who just entered the room.

"If you mean we know about how she has been so pleasantly treated by her family, then yes." Darcy answered sharply. He couldn't help himself. Though the carriage ride had been a short one, it felt like an eternity to him. His mind kept on going through a list of possibilities of what had happened inside Longbourn earlier that had visibly affected Elizabeth.

Probably noticing his sullen mood, Elizabeth handed him the cup of tea Lady Lucas handed her. Tasting the lemon and the right amount of sugar in his drink, he looked at her appreciatively and murmured a 'thank you.' She let out a small smile in return. It was sweet of her to think of him despite the fact that she was still discomfited at whatever occurred at Longbourn.

Since everyone's eyes were trained on Elizabeth, their little exchanged didn't go unnoticed.

Lady Lucas, who wanted to get to the bottom of things so she could decide on which action to take, handed Eliza another cup of tea and said, "Now Eliza, shall you tell us what happened at Longbourn?"

As if the heavens were in tuned with Elizabeth's feelings, rain poured down heavily from the sky as she began to tell the events earlier. Her voice was calm and she didn't stumble on her words.

The moment she left Longbourn earlier and boarded the carriage, she had come to the realisation that her hopes were all for naught. Mrs. Bennet's schemes had finally opened her eyes to the truth. Lizzy already had a dreadful past and by holding on false expectations, she was only making her present miserable.

No more.

Lizzy had always dreamed of a happy future – with a husband, whom she'd love wholeheartedly and who'd love her as much in return, and children born out of that love. Mrs. Bennet almost ruined that dream earlier, all because Lizzy kept on holding on to her past. Perhaps it was time to change her philosophy. She needed to remember the past as it was, not only the memories that brought her pleasure. That way, she would be able face the present realistically, and possibly, have a better future.

So as the story of what happened earlier escaped her lips, Elizabeth forced herself to remember everything that had happened in the past years of her life. Her voice might steadily be telling Mrs. Bennet's ruse earlier but her mind was drowning in every detail of her life that she had tried to forget. As more memories resurface, the more she felt hopeless… and foolish.

She was a fool to try to think that she could mend the relationship with her family. There was no hope for that. None.

Despite the horrible images still playing on her mind, even after her story ended, Elizabeth remained calm and not a single drop of tear left her eyes. She need not cry. The sky was already mourning on her behalf.

Okay… let's talk some things out:

1. Now we all know the reasons behind Jane's actions…

2. Mrs. Bennet suffered from depression after she lost her son. Unfortunately, after giving birth to Lydia she had postpartum psychosis. Most women experiencing this usually recovered. However, in Mrs. Bennet's case, while she did get better, she changed permanently and focused all her overwhelming feelings on Lizzy. Now, you also know the reason why Lydia is the spoiled Bennet daughter. Mrs. Bennet was trying to make it up to her.

3. The reasons behind their actions do not justify Mrs. Bennet's or Jane's actions towards Lizzy. My point is, everyone is human and we all have reasons to why we do things. Also, every little thing we do affects one another.

4. Lizzy finally realized that her hopes were hopeless. We'll explore more about her realization in the next chapters.

5. I told you last chapter that a storm was coming. I bet none of you thought that said storm would come in this chapter – literally! – huh? Well, technically, it's only raining heavily here but the weather will get worse in the next chapter (spoiler alert ;)) I wonder how would that affect the story? More revelations, perhaps?

So that's all I got for you. I hope the start of the revelations were okay because the next chapters are gonna be filled with answers – yes answers! Of course, we'll also explore the characters' emotions on how they would handle the new information and if you guys wanna join in the fun, do leave a review of your reactions and opinions. Until next time!