Hope That Fades, Love That Dies

Matt’s assistant wasn’t the best at sign language, but the translation was close enough.

“Laura’s investment? Then let her come and take it herself.”

My father continued signing frantically. He wanted to say that I was dead. But he couldn’t bring himself to form the words.

Three years ago, Foster Corporation collapsed overnight.

My medical expenses had drained them dry. The surgery I was supposed to have the next day never happened—there simply wasn’t enough money. My father had gone door to door, begging for help. But the business partners, the so-called friends, all kept their distance.

Desperate, I had called Matt. I had wanted to reclaim the money I had left with him, but he never answered.

In the end, I lay on that hospital bed, trapped in pain and died in agony.

“Or is your precious daughter too high and mighty to see me in person?” Matt’s voice was laced with mockery. “Face it, Mr. Foster. The Foster era is over. South River belongs to me now.”

His sharp gaze pierced through my father, as if trying to see through to me. My mother was gravely ill and I was sure my father wouldn't last much longer either.

I followed Matt to his office. He sat at his desk, wiping the dust off a photo frame.

He hated me with every fiber of his being for leaving him. And now, he had returned—just to humiliate me, to make me grovel.

Yet, of all the possibilities he had calculated, he never accounted for one thing: I was already dead. 

His assistant went to report to him. 

“After Laura Foster got engaged to Brian Heath, they never actually got married.”

Matt finally set the frame down.

That’s when I saw it—it was my picture.

Was it there to remind himself of his hatred? His resentment?

He tapped the glass surface with his fingers. “I’m more interested in knowing where she is now. And whether she’s suffering.”

“The Foster Family lost everything. She’s probably living worse than an average person,” his assistant replied.

Just as I expected, Matt’s brows instantly relaxed.

“That’s how it should be.”

He had come back to witness my downfall. That was all he wanted.

The assistant made a few calls before returning.

“Mr. Harding, we couldn’t find any trace of Miss Foster. We asked around, but no one knows where she is.”

Of course they couldn’t.

When I died, my family had been trampled underfoot. They couldn’t even afford a funeral.

My father had buried me himself, in the dead of night, in an unmarked grave.

Aside from my parents, no one knew I was gone.

“Have you tried the Heaths?” Matt suggested.

His assistant looked hesitant. “She… hasn’t been in contact with them for years.”

“Oh? Does she think the Heaths aren’t good enough for her either?” Matt chuckled darkly, shaking his head before turning back to his laptop. The conversation was over.

His assistant hesitated before adding, “I’ve told them to keep searching. We’ll hear back soon.”

Matt gave an absent nod.

I didn’t linger any longer on Matt’s side. Instead, I went to the hospital.

My mother lay in bed, pale, her condition looking grim. My father stayed by her bedside, unwilling to leave even for a moment. The nurse passing by looked at him and shook her head sympathetically.

He hadn’t always been like this.

After our family’s downfall, he was set up and ended up both deaf and mute.

What I hadn’t expected was Brian to be here too.

My mother’s medical bills were all being covered by him.

But Brian wasn’t the Heath Family’s heir.

The Foster name was now reviled and naturally, the Heaths didn’t approve of Brian getting too involved with us.

The money he provided for my mother’s treatment was barely enough to keep her alive.

Back when the Fosters fell, I didn’t want to drag Brian down with me.

And I couldn’t forget Matt.

So, I broke off our engagement and ended things with Brian.

I never imagined that, after all these years, he was still looking after my mother. Perhaps, in some way, I owed the Heaths for this.

Just as I was about to leave the room, Brian’s phone rang.

I drifted toward the hallway and froze when I heard the voice on the other end.

It was Matt.

“Why is it that for years, there’s been no trace of Laura anywhere in the Baythorn? Where is she?”

I instinctively stopped in my tracks.

Brian seemed just as surprised. “You really don’t know?”