?<strong>Chapter 147:</strong>


    “Mom, Adie doesn’t like me.” Reba’s voice was tinged with dejection as she hung her head.


    “ISo what? People change,” Salome countered dismissively.


    Reba’s eyes welled up. “He barely sees me as it is. What makes you think he’ll change?”


    Salome rolled her eyes, frustrated by her daughter’sck of resolve. “Look over there!” Her eyes lit up. “Isn’t that Joelle?”


    Reba followed her mother’s gaze.


    Below them, a group of children performed, with Joelle overseeing them, poised and serene at the forefront of the stage.


    Reba envied the skills disyed by the children, wishing she could indulge in such refined pursuits to enhance her own grace.


    Salome’s voice snapped her back to the moment.


    “Just look at Joelle, pretending to be so dignified. Adrian’s left her. No one respects a divorced woman anymore. She’d be better off marrying some old man!”


    Reba turned away, disheartened. “Mom, let’s just go.”


    “No, wait.” Salome resisted, struck by a sudden idea. “Do you want to see Adrian? I have a n.”


    “What n?”


    Salome rummaged through her worn ck leather bag and pulled out a bottle. “I got this from your uncle.”


    “The one in the mental hospital?”


    “Yes, it’s full of sleeping pills. I was thinking of using them on that noisy dog back in the vige,” Salome confessed with a mischievous glint.


    Reba’s eyes widened in shock. “Mom, what are you nning?”


    “I’m going to help you see Adrian,” Salome dered, pushing the wheelchair forward as she plotted.


    Up on stage, as the performance neared its end, Joelle exhaled a deep breath of relief.


    She took a sip from the ss beside her, the water tasting unremarkably in.


    She nced towards the audience to gauge their reaction, noticing a slim figure darting from the crowd in apparent distress.


    The figure seemed familiar, but Joelle dismissed it, focusing instead on thepletion of the show. As the other teacher organized the children for their journey home, Joelle waved her farewells.


    They all knew that after today, Joelle was going to train in another city.


    “Miss Watson, don’t forget me!” one child cried. “Miss Watson, I don’t want to leave you!” another added, their voicesden with innocent sadness.


    Joelle’s heart ached with the bittersweet farewells, wishing for her future children to embody such kindness.


    “Joelle, we’re heading out,” the teacher called out.


    “Okay.”


    With a woven bag slung over her shoulder and dressed in a flowing gown, Joelle began to walk away alone but suddenly copsed to the floor, causing a stir among the dispersing crowd.


    Reba, pushing Salome in the wheelchair, hurried to Joelle’s side. “Joelle! Joelle! What’s happening?”


    Salome’s voice trembled with urgency. “Quick, call Adrian!”


    “Okay.” Reba frantically dialed Adrian’s number, but he didn’t answer after two attempts.


    As she prepared for a third call, Michael and Lacey approached.


    “Joelle? Why is she on the floor?”


    Reba’s heart skipped, but their presence seemed to unintentionally confirm the fall as a mere ident, diverting any suspicion.


    “Let’s get her to the hospital,” Lacey suggested, patting Michael encouragingly.


    As the only man there, Michael stepped forward to lift Joelle, but Reba’s mind raced with the implications. Discovery of the sleeping pills at the hospital could implicate her and Salome.


    As Michael reached down to lift Joelle, Reba’s voice shook as she interrupted, “Wait!”


    “What?” Lacey asked, her tone edged with impatience.


    Reba blurted out nervously, “I’ve read that certain conditions don’t allow for moving the patient. It could be—”


    Michael recoiled at her words, his hands pausing mid-air. He turned to Lacey, uncertainty etched across his face. “What do we do now?”


    “What do you mean?” Lacey responded, her voice steady.


    “We should call an ambnce.”


    “But maybe we should get Adie here instead!” Reba interjected, her voiceced with apprehension as she nced between Michael and Lacey. “He’s more familiar with Joelle’s health.”


    Salome, pulling out her phone, nodded in agreement.


    “She’s right. I’ll try calling Adrian.”


    “Okay.”


    Michael stood, stepping back to join Lacey.


    Salome attempted the call, but without sess. Michael then tried from his own phone and connected immediately.


    He shot a nce at Salome and Reba, sheepish. “Maybe he was just busy.”


    Then he told Adrian what had happened here.


    With the car keys in his hand, Adrian walked out.


    “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”


    “Alright, take your time. Lacey and I are here with her. She’ll be okay,” Michael reassured.


    As the call ended, Joelle stirred on the floor.


    While Michael had been on the phone, Lacey had folded his coat, cing it under Joelle’s head as a makeshift pillow.


    “Joelle? Joelle, can you hear me?”


    At the sound of her name, Joelle’s eyelids fluttered open, fighting against the overwhelming drowsiness.


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