Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Chapter 744

Kathleen followed the directions and eventually found herself standing outside what she assumed was Madge's current residence. As she stood in front of the wrought-iron gate, she tilted her head back to take in the sight of the villa.

From the outside, the neighborhood seemed nothing special, but once inside, it was unexpectedly nice.

To think that even after ending up in such a small town, her sister could still find herself living in a villa.

A smirk crept across Kathleen's lips.

Her younger sister had always had a knack for being lucky. Even as a kid, whenever they visited a church, the old priest would come out, clasp his hands together, and proclaim Aberdeen to have a blessed destiny. Meanwhile, Kathleen would stand beside her, feeling utterly invisible.

At any event where Aberdeen Rodriguez was present, Kathleen might as well have been a ghost.

As she walked through the garden to the front door, Kathleen pressed the doorbell with a slight smile.

The door was answered by Norris. He had been preparing breakfast, thinking of making pancakes after hearing that the elders liked them. Just as he finished mixing the batter, the doorbell rang.

He opened the door to find a woman he didn't recognize, dressed in expensive clothes with an air of arrogance.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

Kathleen sized up the man before her. Tall enough, decent-looking, but his clothes screamed small-town. Just a plain, middle-aged man with no sense of style or charisma.

"You must be... Norris?" Kathleen ventured.

that's me. Who are you looking

man like this? Kathleen thought

that made him feel both judged and uncomfortable. Before he could

"Sister?"

...

that Madge had handed her. Madge smiled, “I remember you don't like

after over twenty years of wandering, Aberdeen would be a shadow of her former self. Perhaps she'd be alone, frail, and bent with age. Or maybe she'd settled for someone ordinary, had a few kids, and become plump and weary. Without the luxury of wealth, her once lovely face would be marred by age spots and wrinkles. Yet here was Aberdeen, looking just like the girl Kathleen remembered. Twenty years had passed without a

hadn't remembered

Aberdeen had lost

Lost her memory...

anxiety giving way to calm. She smiled and asked "Have you been well all these years? Mom and Dad have been worried sick looking for you, especially

"I've been good. You haven't changed a bit,

you disappeared? It was such a

day, and seeing the confusion on Madge's face, she

a wild guess, but they thought you might have been abroad all this time.

had glossed over the hardships. It was the first time she'd heard the

sadness, Kathleen shifted the topic to Madge's childhood favorites — stamps and candy boxes, still kept safe

me. I was not a

Kathleen's remorse. "It's okay, sis. We're together now, that's

was more than

Kathleen, who was dabbing at her

the sight of Kathleen, her brow furrowing