Miriam reached out to Jennifer, assuming Teresa would have told her where she was going.

“What?” Jennifer exclaimed, panic setting in. She hadn’t even known Teresa had left Fernlandia.

Jennifer immediately called Evelyn, who hesitated before admitting, “Teresa left a week ago. She told me not to say anything.”

“She told you to keep quiet, and you actually listened? Did you even think about how I’d feel?” Jennifer snapped, her voice sharp with frustration.

“Hannah, are you trying to drive me insane? Teresa says I don’t care about her feelings, and now you’re saying the same thing. What do you want from me?” Evelyn’s voice cracked.

Jennifer’s tone turned cold. “I’ve stopped expecting anything from you. Not even your love. All I asked was for you to keep an eye on Teresa and take care of her. Was that too much to ask?”

“I thought she had gone back to Nareigh,” Evelyn replied weakly.

“She didn’t go back to Nareigh. If she had, I would’ve known,” Jennifer shot back, her words cutting.

“If she didn’t go back to Nareigh, then where could she be? And she took Mike with her! She doesn’t even have a place to stay. How could she be so reckless?” Evelyn’s voice now carried a note of panic.

Jennifer scoffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Now you’re worried? Where was all this concern when it could’ve made a difference? If you’d told me earlier, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“I didn’t know she wasn’t even contacting you,” Evelyn murmured, guilt evident in her tone.

Jennifer felt a surge of frustration. She thought, ‘I’m her only sister. Aren’t we supposed to be close? How could she just cut me off like this?’

She went to Miriam, pressing her for Teresa’s whereabouts. Since Miriam was Teresa’s closest friend, Jennifer assumed she would know how to contact her.

Miriam, clearly annoyed, snapped, “Teresa really didn’t tell me where she went.”

Both of them had assumed Teresa would reach out to the other.

Jennifer’s voice carried a hint of bitterness. “Before Teresa left, we talked on the phone. We argued, and she accused me of a lot of things. Was I too much?”

Miriam frowned. “What did you two argue about?”

Jennifer briefly recounted some of their issues. They had agreed to leave Nareigh together, but while Teresa left, Jennifer stayed behind.

Miriam’s temper flared. “Seriously, Jennifer, Teresa doesn’t owe you anything! Who do you think you are, making all these demands on her? No wonder she looked so upset when she left. It was you! You’re the reason she was so miserable!”

Jennifer frowned, her tone defensive. “How is it my fault she’s unhappy? Everything I did was for her.”

“Always ‘for her own good,’ huh? My parents used to say that all the time, and it drove me crazy. You keep saying it’s for Teresa’s sake, but look at her now. She’s gone with Mike, and doesn’t even talk to me anymore. Happy now?”

“I really was doing it for her!” Jennifer insisted. “I didn’t want my nephew to be taken away by Irene. You know better than anyone what her ex-husband’s family is like.”

“But your so-called love has become a burden to her,” Miriam shot back. “It’s also the chain she wants to escape from. Teresa can’t stand you. From what I know about Teresa, she left Nareigh because she didn’t want to live with you anymore.”

Tears welled up in Jennifer’s eyes as Miriam’s words weighed heavily on her heart. But deep down, Jennifer clung to the belief that everything she did was for Teresa’s sake, even if it hurt.

“Love is about respecting her, not forcing her,” Miriam continued. “The reason I’ve been able to stay close friends with Teresa for so long is because we respect each other. When she wanted to keep her child a secret, I respected her decision.”