Journey to Happy Ending

Chapter 1774 Jessica's Passing (Part One)

Daisy's eyes reddened and tears welled up behind her tightly closed eyelids. Her anger at his actions

overwhelmed her, for she had always trusted him and believed in his support of her. Feeling deeply

wronged, everything now seemed out of control. She could not believe what he had done to her! With

trembling hands she wiped at her nose in frustration.

She sobbed, trying desperately to find a way out of the anguish which had trapped her, for she hated to

seem weak and vulnerable. As Daisy buried her face in her wavering hands, she considered that her

pregnancy might be influencing her mood.

The moment she chose a career as a soldier, she knew that it would be hard for her to balance her

work and private life. She foresaw that conflicts were inevitable, and that she would face some hard

choices. As a woman, mother and soldier she had high expectations of herself. She hoped that things

would work out as she always meticulously planned them in advance. Occasionally, when her plans did

not work out, it choked her like a fish bone in the throat.

"Madame!" A soldierly voice abruptly sounded outside of the door, pulling Daisy back from her desolate

thoughts.

She quickly blinked her eyes harshly, trying to rid herself of tears and emotions. She made sure that

she had regained some composure and erased all traces of the drama that affected her from her face,

before answering loudly, "Come in, please."

"Senior Colonel, there is someone requesting to see you at the perimeter gate of the base." The young

solider reported as he stepped into the room and respectfully saluted her.

"Noted with thanks." She nodded to him, dismissing him with a slight smile. Daisy was confused as to

who on earth would come to the army base to see her without an appointment, or calling first.

Arriving at the gate, she gasped in surprise at the sight of the visitor. It was none other than Coco!

Daisy was utterly surprised to see her here, right outside the army base. 'What is she doing here?'

Daisy thought to herself. She noticed her elegant dress and wondered at her increasing grace, for time

had not left its mark on her at all.

"Mrs. Mu, my apologies for bothering you today. I didn't know how else I could reach you. Please

excuse my abrupt visit." Coco gave her a courtly smile, completing the sophisticated look which she

projected. Daisy was quite surprised at the graceful tone of her voice.

"How can I help you?" Daisy inclined her head slightly out of respect, but she really didn't know Coco

very well. She didn't feel enthusiastic about being visited by Coco here at the base, this was her place

of work.

"I am here on behalf of my cousin. For her sake, I would like to apologize to you for what she did to

you." Coco lowered her head as she spoke, her face flushed with sorrow. Daisy noticed that her eyes

were glistening and had reddened as she spoke.

"Oh, you mean Jessica. Well, how is she these days?" She had not heard anything new about her in

years. Jessica had disappeared from her social circle a long time ago, and Daisy found it hard to recall

her face with any detail. Her memory seemed to have temporarily misplaced Jessica's existence

completely.

"She left, for another place, far, far away from here. We will not see her again." Coco closed her eyes

fighting her tears back. Then she turned her face away to the blue sky, trying hard to hide her sorrow

from Daisy. Apparently, Jessica's departure was quite a blow to her.

"What did you say? How is that even possible?" Daisy yelped. The shocking news surprised her.

Overwhelmed, she considered that Coco might be hinting that Jessica had died. Swallowing at the

sudden lump in her throat, she knew that she could not directly ask Coco for the truth, considering the

woman's obvious distress. She couldn't believe that Jessica was dead. It was true that she had hurt her

badly before, however she was filled with woe upon hearing about her death. Daisy's eyebrows

furrowed in agony. For a moment, she didn't know how to digest the news.

"It was her own choice. We have to respect what she chose to do to herself." Coco's voice was

trembling. She had known about her cousin's battle with depression for a long time, and she had

considered that Jessica's choice to leave everything behind, might have been for the best.

"Was she ill? Did she suffer from something grievous?" Daisy found it hard to accept the death of

Jessica. She stared at Coco closely, hoping to find out more details about Jessica. She wanted to know

about her life and what had brought about her death.

"A horrible illness claimed her life. They couldn't find a cure to save her. She was attacked by an

unknown virus and her venereal parts became corrupted during her last days." Coco bit her lips. It was

torture to discuss her belated cousin. Despite them being blood-relatives, she felt ashamed for her.

Following Jessica's break-up with Edward and the bankruptcy of the Lin family, she had been living a

wild life and suffering huge financial problems. In order to maintain her luxury lifestyle, she began

prostituting herself to rich men. With her nubile body and pretty face, she received lucrative payments ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

and had many wealthy clients, however she lost all self-respect and eventually slept with anyone willing

to pay her bills.

"Gosh, what kind of virus could take her life like that? How did she end up like that..." Daisy shook her

head in disbelief. As Coco spoke, she tried to picture what Jessica looked like, but the image was

vague and distant. Daisy recoiled at the thought of what Jessica must have looked like at the end of her

horrific ordeal.

"Do you remember a man called Shaun? He dumped my cousin once he found out her real identity. He

even sold her to one of his friends for profit. Jessica had no choices left, and she was forced to hustle

for fiendish men. Stuck in a malicious circle, she eventually fell ill and died." The past flooded Coco as

she sadly explained what happened to Jessica. Despite her having been very close to Jessica, she had

failed to save her life. Coco confided that she had offered Jessica help, but was refused. It was too late,

and the awful fate of a lost soul became inevitable in her case.

"I remember this man. I think I might even have heard about the horrid things he did to Jessica. Still, I

find it hard to accept Jessica's suicide!" A sudden wave of guilt overwhelmed Daisy, her hands

trembled uncontrollably. For a second, she couldn't find her voice. She looked at Coco in sorrow. Deep

down, she blamed herself for Jessica's death to some extent. Filled with regret, she was unable to

reply and though her lips moved she could utter no words to give voice to her guilt.

"Daisy, whether you accept it or not, she is dead! You know what a proud girl she was, boasting of her

beauty all the time. The last thing in the world she could bear was her own rotting body. She became

so ill that she simply lost the will to live." The harsh truth of Coco's voice echoed in the air. Daisy looked

her in the eyes, there was determination there. At that moment, she finally understood what Coco was

trying to explain, that death was the only way out for Jessica. Coco had witnessed her last painful days.

The illness was so unbearably painful that eventually Jessica decided to end her own life.

"Why are you here, telling me all this?" Daisy shook her head vigorously as if trying to rid herself of the

negativity of the sad tale. She didn't know Coco or Jessica that well, so why did Coco decide to share

this horrible news with her? They were never close, she had never wanted to hear anything about

Jessica. Certainly not something so grim!

"As I said, I came here today for the sake of my cousin. I want to apologize to you on her behalf. Here,

she left a letter for you, please take it." Saying so, Coco pulled a small envelope from her bag and held

it out to Daisy.

Daisy raised an eyebrow in surprise. She never expected to receive anything from the belated Jessica.

The small envelope seemed heavy in her hands as she accepted it. What could be inside? Did Jessica

repent to her before she closed her eyes for good?

After she bid Coco goodbye, Daisy took a walk along the forest path on the army base. She was not in

a hurry to return to her office. Her thoughts were heavy and gloomy. As she stepped slowly along the

path, Daisy's mood worsened with each stride. She clutched the envelope tightly, but suddenly lacked

the courage to open it, or to read the letter inside.

Eventually she found a quiet bench in the forest, where she seated herself and drew in some calm with

a few deep breaths. She stared at the envelope for a long time, before summoning up the fortitude to

open it. She almost gasped as Jessica's letter appeared in her hand.

'Her handwriting was as elegant as she', Daisy thought as she started to read the letter. Soon she

noticed that some of the words were fuzzy as if the ink had been wet and smudged. Daisy bitterly

curled up her lips, Jessica must have been crying when she wrote this letter!