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The name hit Liv and everyone else in the room like a bomb. “What happened to the Wheatons and Emily Moore?”
Mr. John opened his palms. “The Wheatons live in New York. At least that’s where the stipend goes. And Miss Moore.” He clasped his hands. “So sad. Mr. Waverly made sure she was taken care of. She passed at the Hargrove Care Facility around the time you saved that drowning family and received the medal of valor, Mr. Jackson. Miss Moore suffered in the end—a brain tumor.”
Isobel murmured, “That’s the trigger. Mr. John, do you know if the Wheatons told their child he was adopted?”
“I don’t know about that, but Miss Emily knew where her son was,” he revealed.
Thirty-One
Brad sat opposite Liv, Turk, and Jackson, his expression somber. He took a deep breath before speaking, his voice strained with emotion. “I managed to get in touch with the Wheatons in New York. They... they told me something I think we all need to know.”
“Michael... he found out he was adopted,” Brad revealed. “It happened when he was injured, during the call where he received the medal of valor. He realized his blood type was different from the Wheatons’.”
A collective gasp filled the room. “That's why he moved here,” Liv’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Brad nodded. “They told him,” he continued, “about his adoption, about his birth mother...Emily Moore.”
Jackson reached out a comforting hand to Liv. His voice broke the silence, “He came here looking for answers.”
After this news, Jackson retreated to the bedroom, the revelations weighing heavily on him. The conversation left him feeling unsettled and overwhelmed, his thoughts swirling with the magnitude of Sinclair Waverly's deeds.
* * *
Isobel sat with Liv. “You need to find out if Michael had contact with his birth mother. If so, finding out he was adopted and her death could be the triggers that set him off.”
Liv called the facility where Emily died. The nurse manager had fond memories of Emily. “Her son visited frequently and was with her when she passed away.” The manager sniffled. “His presence brought her such joy in her last months.
“He generously donated most of her belongings, except for her book collection and her diary. Despite her cognitive decline, Emily continued to write in her diary, capturing her thoughts even as they became confused.”
Liv thanked the nurse manager for her time. Her voice trembled with emotion as she spoke to her sister, her words heavy with the weight of sorrow and regret. “I was angry... so angry,” she admitted. “But now... now I'm just sad.
“I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for Michael,” she continued, “to find out, as an adult, he was adopted, and then to finally find his birth mother... only to lose her to something as cruel as a brain tumor.”
Tears welled in Liv's eyes as she struggled to find the right words to express the depth of her sadness. “I just... I don't know how to process it.” She sighed, the emotion overwhelming her. “How do you come to terms with something like this? How do you find the strength to keep going, knowing the one person you were searching for is gone forever?”
Isobel stood up and hugged her.
* * *
Turk sat beside Jackson in his room, their conversation heavy. Jackson's brow furrowed. “I can't believe all of this,” he muttered. “How could this town have been so blind for so long?”
Turk placed a comforting hand on Jackson's shoulder, offering him a reassuring squeeze. “Hey, no one wanted to know what was really going on behind the scenes. We were just trying to make it through each day.”
Jackson shook his head, his eyes clouded with sorrow. “But still... to think that, all this time, while we went about our lives, people were suffering in silence. It's heartbreaking because of how evil Sinclair Waverly and the town council were.”
His voice wavered with a mixture of anger and sadness as he spoke. The thought of the pain and suffering inflicted by those in power filled him with a sense of righteous indignation.
“We can't let them get away with it,” he continued, his jaw clenched. “We have to fight back, expose the truth and hold them accountable for their actions. Otherwise, their corruption will continue to poison this town, and more innocent lives will be destroyed.”
Turk nodded in agreement. “I know it's hard to come to terms with, but we can't change the past. What we can do is learn from it and make sure it never happens again.”
Jackson sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “But how do we move forward from something like this? How do we even begin to make things right?”
Turk leaned in closer, his voice gentle yet resolute. “First, you need to continue making a difference in people's lives. Use this as an opportunity to bring about change, to ensure that no one else suffers the way those people did. Turn the pain of our town's past around. Stop Michael, expose the Waverlys for who they are, and rebuild.”
Jackson's gaze met Turk's, a glimmer flickering in his eyes. “You're right. We can't undo what's been done, but we can make a difference now. We can be the ones to stand up and speak out for those who can't.”
Turk smiled. “Exactly, you can take that Waverly heritage and be the change our town needs. I promise to help you show the past doesn't define Waverly Junction.”
