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.

Who are

a man like this?

gaze, the kind that made him feel both judged and uncomfortable. Before he could say anything else, Madge's voice

"Sister?"

...

holding a cup of hot water that Madge had handed her. Madge smiled,

settled for someone ordinary, had a few kids, and become plump and weary. Without the

she hadn't remembered any

the reports, Aberdeen had lost her

Lost her memory...

a deep breath, her initial anxiety giving way to calm. She smiled and asked "Have you been well all these years? Mom and Dad have

been good. You haven't changed

the day you disappeared? It was such

that day, and seeing the

Mom and Dad thought you'd been taken abroad. It was a wild guess, but they thought you might have been abroad all this time. We just recently got word of you, and it feels like a miracle that we're all together again..." Kathleen's eyes glistened

of sorrow. Her parents had mentioned their search but had glossed over the hardships. It

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

I was not a great sister, losing you and taking so long to find you,"

Kathleen's remorse. "It's okay, sis. We're together now, that's what matters. You don't need to

than she could have

comforting Kathleen, who was dabbing at

of Kathleen, her