Flooding River

Chapter Nine: A "Happy" Ending

"Meraline, wait! Who was--"
"Arrest him! NOW!"

She was in the middle of the lounge pointing straight at...Hardy?!

"What have I--"
"It was you! It was you!"

Even I'm shocked. It can't be him, it just can't be.

"I would never! How could I have done it?"
"She told me! The maid! She saw you leave the kitchen after putting the vial on the cabinet top!"

He's not denying it. And that's very, very disturbing.

Now everyone's here. My brother, the cook, even my husband, who hasn't left his room since my death. He looks...blank. And I don't think that's a good thing.

"Hardy, just tel--"
"It was supposed to be Andy!"

Oh my god...so that's why he was so angry. It wasn't meant to be me. He wanted, hell, maybe even needed Andy dead. But why?

"I had always wanted her. I even confessed to her before the day of your wedding. But she thought it was meant as a friendly little gesture. I stopped talking to her after that so she wouldn't suspect me afterwards, but the cups were switched when I had my back turned..."
"You little son of a BITCH!"

Theo threw himself at him. I've never seen him be this brutal. But it's because he cared. At least we know now. All of us.

Looking back now, there were so many things that I wish I could go back and change. I wish I could have acknowledged Hardy and what he had said to me. I wish I had told Theoden that I loved and cared about him. Maybe then, no one would have drifted away from me, and this never would have happened.

Thank you. You may not know it, but you've served me a great deal in this story. Goodbye. For now...

A/N: Sorry if this was short, but I felt that this was the best way to end it off. I would also like to thank you for reading my story and I hope that you can join me for more. And once again, goodbye. For now...❤️