The next morning, Liana stood at the airport, a heavy silence enveloping her as she watched Bae prepare to board her flight.
The weight of unspoken words hung between them, a shared understanding that Bae was being sent away to school in the States.
"I guess this is it," Liana thought, her heart tightening as she fought back tears. Memories of their time together flooded her mind, and she felt a pang of loss, knowing that someday she too would leave Bae behind.
"After all, she's just a kind lady who took me in," Bae thought, her voice barely a whisper as she clutched her boarding pass.
She turned to Liana, waving with a bittersweet smile.
"Hope we meet again," Bae thought, her heart racing with a mix of hope and sadness.
Liana returned the wave, her smile steadying despite the turmoil inside her.
As Bae stepped through the gate, Liana felt a deep ache settle in her chest. Once Bae was gone, Liana turned and walked back to her car, determined to face the day ahead.
Driving away from the airport, she felt an unsettling intuition tugging at her.
"After ignoring his messages, I bet he'll come to me tonight," she thought, her mind racing. She sensed something brewing, but the full picture eluded her.
"And I'm sure it's about that girl," Liana mused, her fingers tightening around the steering wheel.
Just then, her phone buzzed, pulling her attention to a notification that made her stomach drop.
A picture appeared on the screen—a familiar face beside Zanier.
"Elise?" she thought, staring at the beautiful woman with light skin, dark hair, and piercing blue eyes that seemed devoid of life.
"Wedding in two days?" Liana's heart raced as the news hit her like a punch.
She felt a surge of emotions, disbelief mingling with anger, but it was the sender of the message that ignited her fury.
"Brag!" she spat, her brows furrowing in frustration.
Glaring at her phone, she felt the heat of rage bubbling up inside her.
Meanwhile, Brag stood coldly at the foot of the grand staircase, flanked by family members in the opulent living room.
Tension hung in the air as they awaited the arrival of Elise and her family, along with Zanier, to discuss the upcoming wedding.
Just then, Granny Elaine burst into the room, her face pale and her eyes glistening with tears.
"Their car blew up on the way here!" she gasped, her voice trembling.
A heavy silence fell over the room, the shock palpable as every eye turned toward her. Penny's heart raced, her breath catching in her throat.
"Zanier is dead," she thought, dread washing over her as she locked eyes with Granny Elaine.
Penny's mind raced with fear and anger. The chance she thought she had slipped away with Bae vanished.
"It's certainly Brag's doing!" Her internal rage bubbled, her instincts screaming that he was behind this attack.
She dared not look directly at him, fearing he might see the turmoil of emotions flickering in her eyes.
The atmosphere thickened with disbelief and sorrow, the air feeling almost suffocating.
Brag, however, wore a faint smirk, his facade of coldness barely hiding the satisfaction beneath.
"Coming for you next, *****! " he thought, his glare fixed on Granny Elaine as she struggled to regain composure, maids guiding her back upstairs amidst the chaos.
Around them, the room was a whirlwind of despair.
Cody's mother, Jai, stood frozen in shock, while Cody himself was conspicuously absent.
Silva, Penny's mother, who had already been frail, collapsed to the floor, the weight of her grief overwhelming as brag watch detached and coldly.
A doctor rushed in, bags in hand, urgency etched into his face as he headed toward Frankford, the reality of the situation sinking in.
Cassia clutched a baby boy, her expression a mix of fear and anger, struggling to maintain her composure.
At that moment, she cast a dark glance at Brag, silently cursing him for the pain he had wrought.
Meanwhile, As the airplane ascended, Bae sat frozen in her seat, the sensation of takeoff stirring a whirlwind of emotions within her.
This was her second flight, yet the strangeness of soaring into the sky felt both exhilarating and terrifying.
She had just finished crying over Zanier, grappling with the pain of his neglect and the weight of their shared past cutting a serious hole in her heart as she couldn't a man like Zanier would do this to her.
Now, as she headed to school, she longed to forget everything about him—except for the memory of her lost child, a lingering ache in her heart.
"I can never get over you, my dear baby," she thought, gazing out the window at the cottony clouds drifting by, each one a reminder of her sorrow.
"But Mother will move on with her life, keeping you in her memories," Bae whispered, her voice barely audible as tears slipped down her cheeks.
Just then, a handkerchief appeared in her line of sight.
"Uhh?" she murmured, turning to find a stern-faced woman beside her.
"You can have it," the woman said, her tone icy.
"Thanks, Aunty," Bae replied, accepting the cloth and dabbing at her eyes, blowing her nose with a sniffle.
The woman looked away, clearly uncomfortable.
"What a character!" the woman thought, a mix of disdain and intrigue sparking within her as she observed Bae's unusual behavior.
Bae felt a flicker of relief from the small kindness, but the emptiness inside her remained.
She couldn't shake the profound loss of her child, and her thoughts drifted back to Zanier.
Each memory felt like a ghost she could never fully grasp again.
Yet, amidst the pain, she resolved to focus on her future. This opportunity for education, given to her by Liana, was a chance to carve a new path.
As the plane leveled out, she turned her gaze back to the window, watching the clouds shift like the memories she wished to leave behind while fear how she'll navigate the challenge of outside world alone linger heavily in her mind.