Hour Chase

The bad consequences for her once her relationship was discovered...

That's why Caroline agreed to get engaged to Neil because of herself...

If Caroline's intentions can be known earlier, then the subsequent events can be avoided.

Thinking of making a series of mistakes because of her self-righteousness, Ellie blushed so nervously.So he gave up his defense and didn't even dare to raise his head, just waiting for Caroline's punishment.

However, Caroline just gently held Ellie's cheek and smiled helplessly.

"fool…"

Before leaving, Ellie reluctantly stood in front of Karen's house.

I'm afraid, it's impossible to come again in the future.

Eliminate the traces of the existence of demons, and everything is over.

Leaving Karen's apartment, Ellie, who was thinking of going back earlier, was pulled into the car by Caroline and left together.

"It's been a long time since I greeted Mr. David. I'll go back with you."

"Everything is at your command!"

It couldn't be better to finally turn the mood of the eldest lady around me from cloudy to sunny.

If she's still angry... that's going to be bad.

Looking back at Caroline who was driving the car seriously, Ellie couldn't help but smile.

At the next intersection, the red light was blinking.

There are not many vehicles along the way, but just by chance at a red light, it has to make people feel depressed.

The red light here is about 1 minute. However, it is only 1 minute. For those who are in a hurry, it is extremely long.

Feeling bored, Ellie rested her chin on one hand and stared blankly at the scenery in front of the car.

However, the place where the eyes were looking at seemed somewhat familiar.

"There…"

There was supposed to be a white wall where the billboard was erected, but at some point, the wall seemed to have been destroyed.

"There! There is...!"

there is...

That's right, Ellie's eyes widened.

That's where... Neil and Caroline had a car accident!

"Hello... Caroline..."

Just remembering that nightmarish memory, Ellie's voice trembled unconsciously.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Ellie pointed to the damaged wall.

"That place... you, do you know?"

Looking at Ellie's hand, it was just an ordinary wall, very ordinary, without any special features.

Caroline shook her head, not paying attention.

At this time, the red light went out, and the vehicles in front and behind were about to move.

Since there is another car ahead, even a valuable sports car can only obediently follow behind it, unable to accelerate.

"By the way, I was fine just now..."

Bang!

I saw the speeding vehicle on the right speeding towards with a strong sound of brakes.The next moment, the car in front was mercilessly knocked into the air.Broken glass and plastic flew to the ground.

Caroline slammed on the brakes, turned the car around, and survived.

The terrified Caroline breathed a sigh of relief, but only heard the soft whispers of the people around her.

"I changed her fate, but I failed to change the tragedy of others..."

☆ ★ ☆

"ECC will broadcast the evening news for you. At [-]:[-] p.m., a car accident occurred in the West End of London. The cause of the accident is under investigation. For more information, please visit our official website."

(End of full text)

The author has something to say:

☆, extra

Karenver.

I left here 18 years ago.And now, standing here, looking at the houses that symbolize the slums that are about to be demolished, some memories are constantly being stimulated in my heart.

Before I was three years old, I couldn't understand why that woman left my father and me after giving birth to me and left alone.

No one ever told me.Including, my father.

No one ever told me that my mother was a terrible woman.Before meeting her father, she lived a corrupt life, relying on selling her body to survive.

It was not until I met my father that I was born by accident.

Of course, these things were all told to me by my stepmother, Ms. Tuowei after my father died.

It was she who changed my childhood life.

I have very few memories of living in this ghetto, however, even now, I can still clearly remember some things that happened here.

As a child, the sound of my father polishing the violin used to wake me up in my sleep.

I don't understand at all what use it is to him to make something shaped in his hands.

It's just something that makes weird noises.The pace of life wouldn't change without it, would it?

However, my thinking was a total misunderstanding.

My father and I couldn't survive without it...

Every time, seeing the big and small wooden boards my father got from outside, I knew that the next day would be full of annoying grinding sounds again.

Father rarely cooks a meal himself.Even, sometimes he would just find time to go to a nearby snack bar and bring back some frighteningly hard bread.

As for the reward...

That's something my father would never tell me.

However, he likes to drink.Every time after getting paid from the buyer, the first time is to rush to the bar and get drunk.

Not only that, but he often bought wine back.

Although his taste in food is really not flattering, he is willing to spend money on alcohol.I think my father still had a considerable income at that time.

The tiny home is full of those strange woods.My father would neither let me touch them nor tell me their functions.

That is all his property.In any case, he didn't want anyone touching them.

Days like this continued until one day...

That night, the man who had been patronizing his father's violin came to his door.

In his hand was a piece of paper that I couldn't understand, and he said it was worth a lot.

Much later, I realized that it was a check enough to buy hundreds of violins.

The man wanted my father to take it very much, or let the person who sent him to my house hope that my father would take it.

For some reason, at that time, in my sight, my father's expression was not as proud as usual, and he resolutely accepted everything related to money and things.

From beginning to end, that piece of paper was never accepted by my father.

However, because of my father's refusal, I saw something that I had never seen that night.

My father and I were sent to a palace-like place.

There, I spent seven years of pleasant and unforgettable childhood...

There are many people living in that palace.Men and women, everyone wears the same clothes.

They took me to a room alone and brought me many delicious foods.

That sweet thing is called a macaron, one of the aunts told me, pointing to the red biscuit on the plate.

Just one bite, the indescribably sweet taste is enough to surpass all the food I have eaten in my life...

My father has never bought me such a delicious thing.And I ate ten of them before letting go...

My father and I were separated for a long time.I didn't see my father's face until I ate all the food on the table.

When I got home, my father didn't say anything.

Early the next morning, a black car appeared in front of my house and took us to the palace from last night.

Once I went there, I never went back...

Unlike last night, when I got out of the car, a beautiful woman appeared at the door.

She saw me get out of the car, walked slowly, smiled and touched my head.

She's not annoying, I think she's a nice person to be around.

"This is Miss Tovey." Father introduced.

I tried to say that surname, but the expectant look in her eyes when she looked at me made me tense and my tongue tied up, and I didn't know what strange word I said, which made her laugh non-stop.

On the first day, my room was ready.

I can't believe that I can live in such a big room by myself.It was a room bigger than the previous home.

My father doesn't live with me, but next door to me.

Although I don't understand the reason for doing this, I think my father will be very happy.

Every day after that, Miss Tovey would have someone play in the yard with me.

Swinging, flying a kite, even riding a horse, as long as I ask, those people will try their best to satisfy my request.

Sometimes, I even think, if there were no such days in my life, where would I be today...

Do I still want to be a lawyer?

I thought, I'll just go out and work early for a living.Because, worry-free life is too extravagant.

It's a pity that only one month later, my father married that Miss Tovey.Since then, she has become my nominal mother.

No family and friends were invited to the wedding.

My father has no relatives other than me.

And Miss Tovey... no, the woman I should call my stepmother, has not received any blessings from any relatives.

Miss Tovey is the only owner here.The rest are just the servants.

Of course, I secretly asked my father, hoping to learn something about her from him.

I admit that I wondered why a father who had experienced divorce would fall in love with such a beautiful young lady.

Unfortunately, at that time, my father said a bunch of things that I didn't understand at all, which made me confused.

It seemed, however, that Miss Tovey enjoyed playing the violin.This point has a lot to do with father's occupation.

In the days that followed, my father still made violins.It's just that he no longer made a living from it, but gave those eating guys to Miss Tovey.

And under the arrangement of Miss Tovey, I began to accept the tutoring of the tutor Mr. Rhodes, and started my study days early.

Miss Tovey was a good wife, and perhaps a good mother.

After marrying their father, they had no children of their own until his father passed away.However, this did not affect the relationship between husband and wife

Her father loves to drink, so she will spend a lot of money to buy wine from French wineries.

No matter how unconscious her father was from drinking, Miss Tovey would not say a word to blame her father, but just let her father drink nonsense.

There is only one thing, father must make a violin that Miss Tovey can play with.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the dangers of alcohol will eventually come.

According to my father's habit, the production of a violin usually takes two months to complete.The more detailed steps are required, the more time it will take.

However, it is impossible for the current father to proceed at the previous speed.

Something went wrong with his hands.

Father became a little trembling.Sometimes the file that is clearly grasped with the right hand will fall from the hand for no reason.

And sometimes, I would see my father's remorseful expression when he almost cut his hand with a knife.

Accidents will happen.Perhaps these minor problems in my eyes are bringing unexpected disasters to my father.

My father did not seem to have informed Miss Tovey of the ailments which appeared in his hands.At the same time, he slowly let go of making violins.

He didn't play the violin for three consecutive months, which may be the signal that his father began to change.

Until a banquet...

That night the governess was supposed to be home before dinner.Unfortunately, that time he asked me to finish all the homework that day.

I can't complain about the fact that everyone is keeping this evening's party from me.

Time goes by very slowly, just like I am facing those annoying homework on the table, no matter how much I write, I just can't finish it.

It was noisy downstairs.Even though they were not a short distance away, the laughter of men and women in the living room directly stimulated my eardrums.

It is conceivable that even though Rhodes reminded me again and again, I still couldn't concentrate on the book.

"Karen, if I find you staring at the book in a daze again, I will have a good discussion with your mother about your performance."

like this.No matter how well I hide it, he can always catch my distraction and chatter endlessly.

I have nothing to refute, but I have to continue to pretend to be serious.

I'd love to go downstairs.I want to laugh non-stop with them.

However, I can't compare with when I first came here.

Miss Tovey had great hopes for me.

The arrival of this governess had already announced the end of my happy childhood.

After only an hour, those annoying assignments were finally wiped out before it completely annoyed me.

I spread out the book full of numbers, and pointed at the clean and tidy handwriting in front of him.

"Mr. Rhodes, I have finished everything."

I was proudly about to leave my seat, but unfortunately he stopped me with one hand.

Immediately afterwards, an extra book of fairy tales appeared in his hand.

"Now that you've finished your homework, it doesn't matter if you read another book, right?"

I don't think I have a bad temper, although now sometimes I am half-dead by Ellie's words.However, at that time, I pushed him away with the courage I didn't know where I came from, and came to the door.

The tutor's face became tense at my movements.

I think that is also inevitable.After all, I had never done anything so close to violence in front of him.

Turning the doorknob with one hand, the next moment, I was free again.

When the orange light of the crystal chandelier shot into the room from the crack of the door, I pushed the door open happily.

At the same moment, the noise died away.Instead, there was the melodious sound of violins.

In the end, instead of going downstairs, I was upstairs watching what happened downstairs.

Miss Tovey played the fiddle.That violin was the last one my father made this year,

I was sitting on the floor, in a corner where no one could see.

Maybe my presence will affect Miss Tovey's performance...

However, at some point, there was an extra person by my side.

"Your mother was a very fine woman."

Rhodes appeared by my side at some point.He doesn't mind a stain on his suit and sits next to me with his knees folded.

He took off his glasses and put them away.

"I didn't mean to let you miss this banquet. It's just that it was entrusted by your mother. I'm sorry."

I heard the tutor's excuses, but made no reaction.

I know how Miss Tovey treats me.

After all, it's just a child brought by her husband, isn't it?

Treating me well in every possible way is just for my father's sake.

It was clear to me that she would not treat me as unreservedly as her own daughter.

Even the servants... can't help but gossiping about my father and me.

I will not avoid their eyes, it is meaningless to do so.

Now, I have to live in this house.Out of here, without her protection, I'm nothing.

"Sir, do you think my stepmother is excellent?"

"In terms of talent, I think she is."

It seemed that he listened more fascinated than I did.

I should really be thankful for God's mercy to bring such a wife to my father.

Suddenly, the sound of the piano that was supposed to continue suddenly stopped, and the downstairs became lively.

No, not as full of laughter as before.

I got up and went to the stairs, but I saw the visitors whispering secretly, looking at her like watching a good show.

I don't know what happened, but the servants rushed over and helped Miss Tovey back to the room.

After a while, all the visitors left.The whole house fell silent again.

I sneaked downstairs, and Rhodes followed me downstairs.

I saw the violin lying alone on the ground, and one of the strings seemed to have been broken.

So I can't play it.

"What are you looking at?"

Rhodes noticed my strangeness and followed my gaze to find the violin.

"This piano..."

He wanted to touch it with his hands, but suddenly the piano was snatched away.

"I'm sorry Mr. Rhodes, I made you laugh."

The servant quickly picked up the piano and hid it behind his back, with an obviously embarrassed smile on his face.

"No, it's okay. It's just…"

"Thank you for taking care of Miss Karen tonight. Miss Tovey has arranged for a driver to take you back, please follow me."

In a polite tone, Rhodes issued the order to chase away the guests. Naturally, Rhodes would not continue to ask questions ignorantly, and followed the servants to the door.

After Rhode got into the car, the servant hurriedly took the violin to Miss Tovey's room.

And I am a little surprised by Miss Tovey's abnormality.

"Karen, what are you doing?"

My father came to me suddenly, with the smell of alcohol still exuding from his body.

"Is Rhode gone?"

"Well. Father..."

"what happened?"

"Just now, Miss Tovey's violin. It seems that the strings broke... Do you know why?"

Hearing my question, my father frowned slightly, showing a serious expression.

I haven't seen such an expression for a long time.

That expression is the one that only appears when customers question the violin he made.

My father was very proud of his craft.If someone doubts his craftsmanship, he will be very upset, let alone sell the piano to such an ignorant customer.

He doesn't care as much about anything as he does about the violin.

I watched my father's long face, and I felt fear in my heart.

"Go back to your room, I'll go see her."

Father walked up to Miss Tovey's room alone, leaving me alone.

And I, naturally won't just go back obediently.He chose a place where the servants would try not to come, and hid quietly hoping to hear something.

Shortly after the father entered the room, the servants came out one by one, seeming to be discussing something.

Seeing that the servants had already left, I mustered up my courage and walked softly to the door.

This time, I finally heard their conversation clearly.

However... now that I think about it, wouldn't it have been better if I hadn't heard it then...

It turned out that this violin full of loopholes was a rare clumsy work among his father's many works.

It was also because of his father's negligence in maintenance that he did not notice any signs of a broken string.

I don't get it, such mistakes are so common, aren't they?

why is she so angry...

She is constantly blaming her father, even...

I don't think I'll be able to listen to her anymore...she called my father a bum who only knows how to drink!

She made her father worthless and completely denied his father's craftsmanship.

I wanted to go in and raise my father's injustice.However, she!

"If you've lost those manual skills, I don't think I'll keep you anymore. Do you understand, Rock Steiner. What I love is, your skills. I told you before we were married, you You won't forget, will you?"

I don't understand, didn't she marry her father simply because she liked him? !

She said that she only cared about her father's craftsmanship... Then why did she say those things, why did she say so badly about what her father was most proud of!

I turned the doorknob angrily, and the door was opened roughly.

In the room, I saw Miss Tovey's distorted face with anger.Also, the father's frowning look.

"I don't think you're right! Father, father, he..."

"Your father made me embarrassing in front of so many people. Who will restore my lost face?"

"face…?"

"What you are enjoying now is all because of me. Otherwise, who do you think would do so many inappropriate things because of little people like you?"

She was right.Today we have to rely on Miss Tovey to continue living without having to worry about making ends meet every month.

But... is she that angry just because she made a fool of herself at tonight's banquet?

"I…"

"Enough Karen! Didn't you hear me when I asked you to go back to your room?"

Even my father...I'm speaking for him!Isn't he angry!

I didn't dare to go against my father's wishes, turned the doorknob I was holding on hard, and left angrily.

Since that night, although Miss Tovey still maintained a gentle smile towards me, compared to me, her attitude towards her father has gradually become much colder.

She began to persuade her father to quit drinking and cut off all sources of alcohol for him.

However, as the only hobby in my father's life, how can my father be happy without alcohol.

My father used to be able to buy alcohol with his own income.Looking back now, it was as if his hands were tied, and his father didn't even have the ability to buy alcohol.

Everyday life goes on.The ridiculous thing is that at the age of ten, I suffered an unprecedented change.

Father passed away.

I have long forgotten what kind of mood I had on the day my father died.Too sad things, I always don't want to think about it.That would just make it impossible for me to stay calm.

In the hospital, I saw my father for the last time.

He was drenched all over.His lips were ghastly pale, and his hands and feet were cold.

According to the doctor, he was found in the river.When found, he was not breathing.

However, after forensic identification, the father still had a lot of alcohol in his body.Presumably he was drunk, so he accidentally fell into the river and drowned.

After so many years, my father still can't change his bad habits.

At home, Miss Tovey would not allow him to get drunk again, so he would go out to the bar with the money and have a good drink.

Once or twice, when Miss Tovey sent someone to bring her back, she even vomited all over the floor.

Gradually, Miss Tovey didn't care about him anymore.Until today...he died unexpectedly because of the sin he committed.

Such a father, I want to hate him.

I really want to hate him.

Being scolded as worthless by his wife, but not planning to leave her.

Even though he has hands and feet, he is willing to be a wimp and waste all his skills...

Why on earth did he want to marry such a woman!

I really want to ask him again...but no one can give me an answer.

Father's funeral, just me and Miss Tovey.

I think this is the last thing she can do for her father as his legal wife.

Even though she was wearing sunglasses that day, I could feel that she was much haggard.

When I saw her grieving over her father's death, I was sure that she didn't have no love for him.

She had done so much for her father, even if her father became such a drunk, she did not ask for a divorce.

However, how could I understand so much at that time.

I started to want to run away from her, from everything.I want to make the next decision for myself and for my dead father.

Soon, the problem of entering a higher school was placed in front of me.

This is the last chance.

I know that, in her capacity, the decision will be able to choose a good private school for me.

However, I will not obey her wishes.

When I handed the completed school application form to Miss Tovey, she was a little surprised.

Are you surprised that you chose a school without her decision?

Since he made his own decision, why did he need her consent?

"I think you should choose a better school. Although the evaluation of this school is also good, but I think you should have a better choice."

I didn't choose those schools that she thought were good, but chose a relatively middle-class private girls' school.

The school is located in the east of London, only tens of kilometers away from the city center.However, the most important thing is that I was able to pass the examination of the top student based on my own strength and thus exempted from tuition fees.

She continued to persuade me to change my decision.Of course, how could I listen to what she said.

I admit, if I had followed her advice back then, perhaps... a lot of things would have changed.

However, there is no if in this world.

I managed to get into that school as I wanted.The boarding life is the first step for me to become independent.

She will give me living expenses every month.For this, I am very grateful to her.

Other than that, I have no time to care about her.

As a stepmom, she has done enough for me.I don't want to owe her any more, I want to be independent.

In retrospect, my student life seems a bit too boring.

I was already in a highly competitive environment, and I couldn't relax my vigilance in front of those noble children.

Friends and the like, of course, are pitifully few.

When the first-year courses were all over, I went home during the summer vacation.During this period, I didn't even make a phone call home.

I was afraid that Miss Tovey would press me about my situation at school.

I can't tell her that I have no friends, I only know how to study blindly, so that I can be worthy of the living expenses she gives me every month.

I can't even tell her... I will only report good news but not bad news.If I don't, will I be scolded by her, just like she scolded her father.

Fortunately, when I went home that time, I found that the things in my father's room were still the same as when I left, without any change.

The tools are still well placed in the cupboard.And the rest of the material too.

And she has changed a lot.

According to the servant, she no longer played the violin after her father died.And the violin left by her father, she no longer uses it, and puts them away.

I can understand her mood, and it is inevitable that I will feel emotionally affected by the scene.

Every day when I see her, I can't naturally look directly into her eyes.

I have also become different.When I was a child, I would just follow behind her and look up at her.But it won't be like now, secretly making a family revolution called independence.

The vacation is very long, but I don't want to stay at home too much.However, I don't know where I can go.

I really want to have fun with my friends and have an endless adventure.

Finally one day, my wish was heard by God.

Miss Tovey, she's leaving from here.

I didn't know what expression to make when she told me the news herself.

You should be happy, right?She's leaving here soon.

However, her departure was only temporary.

Her father, who should be called my grandfather, was terminally ill.

She had to stay there for a long time to fulfill her filial duties as a child.

It turns out that she has relatives... which surprised me.

Speaking of which, I never asked anything about her in person.

I don't have the guts, and I don't have the free time.I don't need to know things that even my father won't tell me.

However, what surprised me even more was that all of Miss Tovey's property did not really fall from the sky.

She never works and lives as she pleases.Even marriage can be decided by oneself.

Are these all illusions?

That time, out of curiosity, I asked all the questions in my heart.

Why do you have so much money?Why do you want to marry your father?you…

I could only ask questions that were rather vulgar to her.Just like a student who foolishly asks the teacher such childish questions as how much is one plus two equal.

Perhaps, my stepmother was too mysterious.Her appearance cannot be described as falling from the sky, but she saved me.

Isn't such a woman worthy of my curiosity?

As she said, her father's identity is not simple.

It is almost impossible to support Miss Tovey's life without an extraordinary background.

Her father turned out to be a soldier.Because of his military exploits, he enjoyed excellent treatment after retiring from the army.

The house, and the house his father lived in, were part of those perks.

Not only those property, fame, social status, these things that I can't see, are all born with Miss Tovey.

As for her marriage...

Although she had confessed her heart to her father very candidly, but if you think about it carefully, isn't this marriage very strange?

Could it be that someone is really stupid enough to marry a man who has no money and has a child?

Just because I simply like his craft, I married him...

I couldn't find anything in my father that matched her.If it weren't for the death of their father, where their marriage would have gone, I think, I can only guess that it would not have been a happy ending.

As a father, I am the most qualified to say that as a daughter.He is definitely not a man who likes to rely on women.But, even so, even if he was still alive, he still couldn't get rid of Miss Tovey's shadow.

After several years of superior living, his father has lost the ability to support himself.

"In the past few years, most of the violins I have used are made by Locke. Only the violins made by him can I feel some emotions that other craftsmen do not have."

Miss Tovey's expression was a little elusive to me.

When it comes to her father, she always seems willing to share more with me.Some things, even I, never knew.

My father said that every violin is born with love.

I personally spliced ​​and painted a piece of wood, installed strings and tuned it, carefully adjusted every step, and made it into shape like a child.

That is a work hundreds of times better than industrial products made with cold machines.

"Then why do you belittle father like that..."

Perhaps, after all these years, I think I can now understand Miss Tovey's sudden outrage.

A man who has been drinking for a long time has become a worthless wreck.Even my daughter can't stand it. As a wife, shouldn't you hate her?

More than hate!If it's not the father, if it's someone else, even if they ignore the relationship between husband and wife and kick him out, they won't feel any guilt.

"Besides doing that, I can't find a way to make him wake up!"

When talking about what happened that night, Miss Tovey became more and more excited.She couldn't help rubbing her forehead, her face was full of helplessness.

"This marriage was a decision I made without authorization... including my father, who did not agree with my marriage with Locke at all."

"However, I don't want to be seen by my father as a failure in my marriage. I want to tell him that with your father, I will also have a good life."

This is naturally reasonable, I thought silently.Rather, it would be extremely stupid to make such a decision in disregard of his father's advice.

"I specially held a banquet and gathered all my former friends together, just to let them take a good look at whether I have let them down. Unfortunately, I did let them down."

"I still remember that Mr. Rhodes gave me a lot of homework that night..."

The experience of that night is vivid.Even though it had been a long time, what happened that night seemed like it happened just yesterday.

"But I heard you playing the violin in the room. Mr. Rhodes said...you played very well!"

My remarks made Miss Tovey chuckle.

Could it be that I said something wrong? Those are just facts. I never thought of deliberately saying good things to flatter her.

But if she feels a little joy at my words, that's all right.

"It would be an honor for me to get his compliment. It's just..."

Just now she was still so happy, but after returning to the original topic, she seemed to be trapped in some painful memories, with a depressed expression on her face.

Miss Tovey shook her head.

"That night, I played one of my father's favorite pieces. It's my favorite piece. I wanted to play it on the violin made by Locke. That combination must be unique."

favorite…

However, it obviously didn't finish playing, and stopped abruptly at the most beautiful place.

"It was such a perfect match, but I made a fool of myself in front of everyone. The strings broke, and I couldn't play anymore."

"Do you know?" Miss Tovey smiled wryly, "My friends laughed at me for such a trivial mistake."

"'I didn't expect that after you got married, you can't even do what you are best at. It's really sad!' Huh, I don't know how many times I have heard this. My image in their hearts has long been ruined. .”

Listening quietly to her recalling everything that happened that night, I felt a little bit of self-blame.

If the father could check it carefully, that mistake would definitely not have happened.

But how could my father have the energy to do so at that time.

But I didn't distinguish between right and wrong, in order to defend my father, I contradicted her...

"You...I'm sorry."

"Huh? What are you trying to say, Karen?"

I didn't even dare to look directly into her glasses, for fear that if I got nervous, I wouldn't be able to say anything.

Indeed, because of my momentary misunderstanding, I have misunderstood Tony over the years.