Chapter 5

The words hit like a bolt from the blue. Sylvia's vision went black, and she lost consciousness. When she woke up, it was the next day. She lay in a hospital bed, the room empty. She stared at the ceiling, afraid to even blink. She desperately wished everything before she fainted was just a nightmare, but the excruciating, suffocating pain in her chest forced her to face reality. Tears finally fell. Sylvia got up and followed a nurse to the morgue. On an adult-sized bed lay a small figure covered by a white sheet. Sylvia didn't even have the strength to walk over and lift the sheet. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the floor. In the utter silence, only her heartbroken, devastated sobs could be heard. North Hill Cemetery. Sylvia, dressed in black, stood before Hunter's gravestone. Margaret wept so violently she nearly fainted. George supported her, equally grief-stricken. "Where is Caleb?" Margaret cried, pounding the ground. "His son is dead! Doesn't he care?!" Sylvia didn't speak. She looked at her son's photo on the tombstone, her eyes stinging. But she had cried all her tears; none were left. The photo was taken when Hunter was three. They had planned to take one every year, but Caleb was always "busy." She had checked the amusement park surveillance footage. Caleb was on the phone nearby. Luna said something to Hunter, and suddenly the two children argued. Luna pushed Hunter hard, causing him to fall and hit the back of his head sharply on a step. This intentional act, yet Caleb called it "just kids roughhousing." And because Luna was only six years old and below the age of criminal responsibility, she would face no punishment. Her son was dead. And no one would pay the price. Sylvia helped George support Margaret. "Mom, Dad, you're not young. Don't grieve too hard. As for those who hurt Hunter...... I will never let them get away with it." After seeing George and Margaret home, Sylvia returned to the villa. Caleb seemed to have just arrived as well, his pilot's uniform casually thrown on the sofa. He stood by the stairs, on the phone. Hearing her enter, he glanced over. Seeing her black clothes, he frowned. Hanging up, he asked, "Whose funeral did you attend? Where's Hunter? Did you leave him alone at the hospital again?" Sylvia's lips curled in a bitter, mocking smile. Caleb didn't know yet. Their son was dead. She wanted to scream at him, to tell him Hunter was dead because of Luna, because of Vanessa's daughter! That he had been comforting the very child who killed their son! But looking at Caleb's indifferent expression, she wondered: would he even be sad? Or would he finally feel relieved, free from being tied to her because of the child? Sylvia clenched her fists, hatred burning stronger than ever. "That day you left the hospital...... did something happen to Luna?" Caleb immediately frowned. "How can you be so vicious? Wishing harm on a little girl! Luna, like Vanessa, has a congenital heart condition. I care for them and spend time with them out of kindness. Don't be so petty." Petty...... Sylvia's eyes reddened with fury. How could a mother who lost her child be magnanimous? Her pent-up emotions finally reached breaking point. But just before she erupted, Caleb added, "Some colleagues are coming over tonight to celebrate. Pack your things and stay somewhere else, or at the hospital, for the night."