Chapter 2

When Dan left the crematorium, dusk had settled in.

His face was a cold mask, and his back was ramrod straight. It was as if scattering the ashes had been nothing more than an incidental gesture.

Just then, a familiar figure came rushing toward him.

It took me a moment to recognize her. It was Sarah Aison, my college roommate and best friend.

She was out of breath. There was sweat beading on her forehead. Her eyes were red, like she had been crying.

When she saw Dan, she stopped short. “What are you doing here?”

Dan frowned upon seeing her. His tone was cold. “Why are you here?”

Still catching her breath, Sarah looked at him with a complicated expression.

“I’m here to say goodbye to Emma.”

“Say goodbye?” A mocking smile touched the corner of Dan’s mouth when he heard that. “Then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. You can’t see her anymore.”

Sarah froze. Her face was drained of color.

“What does that mean?”

Dan did not answer. He only cast her a dismissive glance, then turned to leave.

Sarah had a bad feeling about this. She ran into the crematorium.

She was just in time to see a staff member sweeping gray ash into a dustpan with a broom.

“What are you doing?”

She lunged forward and grabbed the staff member by the arm. Her voice was shaking.

Startled, the staff member stammered, “Mr. Fanning told me to…”

Sarah clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles cracked. She whirled around and bolted back outside. She grabbed Dan just as he was about to slide into his car.

“Dan, what is wrong with you? Are you a monster? Emma gave you everything. I’ve never seen anyone love someone the way she loved you, and this is how you treat her?”

“Let go!”

Dan flung her hand off. His eyes were glinting with a cold, sharp light.

“Loved me? Right. From the day she caused Evelyn’s death, she should have known that this would be her end!”

“Nonsense!” Sarah’s eyes were blazing red. She forced the words out through clenched teeth. “Evelyn’s death had nothing to do with—”

“Shut up!”

Before she could finish, Dan shoved her hard and cut her off.

“Who do you think you are? You have no right to speak Evelyn’s name. It seems like I need to teach you some manners on Emma’s behalf.”

Dan made a gesture, and several bodyguards closed in around Sarah.

Sarah struggled and tried to say something, but the moment she opened her mouth, someone yanked her by the hair and slammed her to the ground. She let out a muffled cry and curled in on herself.

Then, fists and kicks rained down on her without pause.

“Stop! Leave her alone!”

I screamed at Dan, but he could not hear me.

I tried to stop those guards, only to watch my hands pass straight through their bodies again and again. There was nothing I could do.

“Dan, listen to me! Evelyn’s death had nothing…”

Sarah tried once more, but a bodyguard struck her hard across the face. Blood spilled instantly from the corner of her mouth.

“That’s enough! Dan, Sarah is innocent. Please let her go!”

I screamed in despair, but no one could hear me.

They beat Sarah until she was forced to curl into a tight ball, and blood was seeping from the corner of her mouth. Even so, she kept her eyes locked on Dan, as if she were trying to carve his face into her bones.

She lay there in a pool of blood. Her breathing was shallow.

“Y-You’ll regret this one day.”

“Oh? Will I?”

Dan seemed almost amused. He tilted his head and scoffed.

“Then I suppose I’ll look forward to seeing how you plan to make me regret it. But for now, you’d better worry about yourself.”

With that, his gaze turned icy. He nodded to the side and said, “Get her out of here. I don’t want this filth in my sight.”

At his command, the bodyguards grabbed Sarah by the collar and tossed her onto the roadside like a piece of trash.

I watched it all unfold, feeling powerless. My soul ached as if it were being torn apart.

Dan turned and got into the car. The door slammed shut with a dull thud.

With it, that long-buried truth was sealed away once more.

As the car pulled away, I took one last look at Sarah.

She was lying face-down on the ground. Her fingers were twitching slightly, as if she were still trying to push herself up.

An agony sharper than any blade twisted inside me, but I could not shed a single tear.

Inside the car, Dan leaned against the window. His expression was cold and distant.

Yet I saw the faint, almost imperceptible tremor in his fingers.

What was he thinking? Was it regret?

Or was the fury still not spent?

I did not know.

I only knew that even in death, the pain had not diminished at all.

As I gazed at his stern face, I could not help but murmur, “Dan, how much longer are you going to hate me?”