“You’re lying! My mom is not some homewrecker!”
“It was that awful woman who stole my dad away…”
“Well, she’s gone now, isn’t she? She’s not keeping your dad anymore–so how come he hasn’t come to take you home?” The group of kids jeered, tired of Lara always. acting like a spoiled rich girl and pushing other kids around.
“What’s it to you?” Lara shouted back, voice trembling with anger.
The kids began picking up stones and hurling them at her. Furious, Lara grabbed a broom and tried to fend them off.
They chased each other around in a chaotic scuffle, but Healy stayed apart, watching it all with a cold, distant gaze. Lara couldn’t hold her own for long; soon, they had her cornered.
Desperate, Lara looked at Healy. “Help me, please! Come on, help me, big brother!”
Healy didn’t move. He just stood there, watching, his expression unreadable.
Suddenly, a stone flew from the crowd, striking Healy right on the forehead.
Blood trickled down his face. The kid who’d thrown it froze in shock, and just like
that, all the children scattered and ran.
Healy touched his head gingerly. When he’d gotten hurt before, his mom would always be right there, protecting him.
He stared at the blood pooling in his palm, and realized–the real ache wasn’t in his
head. It was in his heart.
Lara ran to his side and grabbed his hand. “Why didn’t you dodge? Why didn’t your help me fight them?”
Healy yanked his hand out of hers, his eyes as cold as ice. “You’re not my mother’s
child.”
He turned and walked toward the nurse’s office.
“Wait! Please–what’s wrong with you? You used to like me best!” Lara chased after him, voice breaking. “You even called my mom ‘mommy‘ just like I did…”
At those words, Healy stopped dead in his tracks. Tears welled up and spilled down his cheeks in an instant.
21:53
So this is what it feels like, he thought. To cry from sadness. It was as if someone had rubbed lemon juice all over his heart–sharp and sour.
Was this how Mom felt when she was sad?
“My mother is Blanche. Not anyone else.” Healy was six now, old enough to understand the grown–ups‘ whispers. He knew–it was him and his dad who’d driven her away.
“Then why didn’t you fight back? If you don’t, they’ll just keep bullying you!” Lara yelled.
Healy ignored her and disappeared into the nurse’s office.
He would be a good boy now. Do the right thing. He wouldn’t fight anymore.
That way, maybe–just maybe–Mom would come home.
Late at night, when the world was silent, those unpunished kids slipped a snake into Healy’s bed.
After news broke that Eddy was gravely injured and admitted to the ICU, Fernando couldn’t help but remember the look of utter despair Eddy had worn that day–his face battered, covered in blood. Feeling a sense of relief, Fernando took cheerful little Terrell by the hand, boarded a flight from Novandria, and set off for the island base to visit Blanche.
He missed her. He wanted to see her daughter too.
As Fernando’s private jet approached the sea–bound base, a radar system locked onto them. Inside the cabin, Fernando sat quietly–his face leaner than before, the sharp lines of his handsome features even more pronounced by time and hardship. He looked down at the island coming into view, his cold eyes narrowing. His fingers traced the wedding ring hanging from a chain around his neck, Blanche’s ring. He whispered under his breath, “Darling, I’ve finally found you.”
21:53 #
