When Love Fades, I Begin Again

My daughter Xalia's final wish before she died was to visit Dreamhaven. For more than six months, I saved every penny I could from the 28-dollar monthly allowance my CEO wife gave me. I finally scraped together enough to buy two discounted tickets, only for the live-in male caregiver at home to suddenly start feeling sorry for himself. [Kids from rich families really are different. They can just decide to visit an amusement park that expensive. Unlike me, I had to start working for other people the moment I turned eighteen.] My older sister, Janet Edwards, and my wife, Fiona Watson, immediately took pity on Tyler Mitchell. They confiscated my tickets on the spot, then punished Xalia and me by cutting off our allowance for an entire year. They even accused me in unison. "A girl who's been spoiled her whole life will only grow up to become a gold digger! I'm not leaving my money to some little gold-digging homewrecker!" I was desperate to keep Xalia from dying with regrets, so I had no choice but to sell the gold bracelet my late mother had left me and use the money to buy the tickets again. But when I carried my barely breathing daughter to the entrance of Dreamhaven, the staff told me the entire park had been privately rented out by two wealthy tycoons and was closed to the public that day. Xalia died without ever getting to fulfill her final wish. Then I came across a photo of Tyler. He stood in front of Slumbering Belle Castle with his arms wrapped around my wife and sister. [Their love and affection are truly unmatched! I only said I wanted to go to Dreamhaven, and they immediately rented out the entire park for me!] Chapter 1 The moment fireworks burst across the night sky over Dreamhaven, the tears in my eyes dried. With trembling fingers, I added a comment to the post they had made just a minute earlier. [Wishing the three of you a long and happy life together, never to be separated.] Less than three minutes after I posted the comment, the number that had blacklisted me suddenly called just as the staff stopped me at the entrance. My heart sank, but I calmly answered. On the other end, Fiona was furious, just as I'd expected. "Willam Edwards! How could you be so vicious? How dare you spread a rumor like that about someone else? "Do you know that because of that one sarcastic comment, Tyler thinks he's done something terribly wrong? He's crying so hard he can't stop! "He's such an innocent young man! Are you trying to traumatize him?!" There was a sharp rustle, followed by a brief silence. Then an even angrier voice came through the receiver. My older sister, Janet, an oncologist, spoke without a trace of mercy. "Willam, I'm warning you. Delete that comment right now and apologize to Tyler! Then give Tyler all the shares in Dad's companies that he left to you! "Otherwise, for every extra tear Tyler sheds, I'll make sure that little bastard loses another pound of blood during her next round of chemotherapy!" If this had happened before, I would have compromised long ago for the sake of my child's treatment and medical expenses. But now, I held Xalia in my arms as her body slowly grew cold. "Janet, let's end our relationship as brother and sister. Xalia won't need your treatment anymore." My voice remained calm. Janet had put the call on speaker, so my words about cutting ties came through loud and clear to Fiona. "Willam! Have you lost your mind?! Just because you don't want to apologize to Tyler, you're really willing to gamble with the child's life?!" Faced with my wife's accusations, I remained unmoved. "Fiona, let's get a divorce. I'll give you to Tyler. Consider it my apology…" The fireworks overhead were dazzling. As another barrage exploded across the night sky, the call abruptly disconnected. No one heard my despair. … Xalia's face looked so different after her death, nothing like the way she had looked when she was alive. No form of transportation would allow me to bring her body aboard. I had no choice but to carry Xalia on my back and walk across more than half the city. Only then did I finally find a funeral home willing to handle her final arrangements. Sitting in the viewing room, I bent over her body as cold tears streamed down my face. Chapter 2 If I remembered correctly, today was my 27th birthday. Before I turned 22, I was the happiest heir in the world. I had parents who loved and cherished me, treating me like the most precious person in their lives. I had an older sister who, because of my poor health, had willingly abandoned the business studies she had pursued since childhood and switched to medicine instead. And I had a fiancée whom my parents had supported financially since she was a child, a woman who had always had eyes only for me. On my 22nd birthday, I sat alone at the enormous birthday party, eagerly waiting for the surprise they had prepared for me. I called them countless times throughout the evening. In the end, all I received was the devastating news that my parents had died in a massive pileup. On the day of their funeral, Fiona and Janet brought home a 19-year-old young man named Tyler. His parents had also died in the horrific accident. I had barely had the chance to embrace the young man who shared my grief when Janet slapped me so hard that I crashed to the ground. She accused me of causing the chain-reaction accident, claiming it had happened because of the phone call I had made. I tried to defend myself, but the two women who had once loved me more than anything refused to listen to a single word. They did not care that I had injured my knees in my desperate rush to get there. Instead, they forced me to kneel before my parents' memorial and bow my head hundreds of times in front of Tyler. They said I would have to spend the rest of my life atoning for my parents' deaths, as well as the deaths of Tyler's parents. From that day on, Janet cut off every source of financial support I had. Fiona stripped me of all my shares in the company. She let Tyler move into the room that had once been mine and showered him with all the love and affection she had once given me. … The vibration of my phone pulled me back to reality. [Happy birthday to my grandson! I hope you stay happy forever! I learned the cartoon dance you and Xalia like! Are you happy?] I stared at the video on my phone. An old man with a stern face was earnestly dancing in a mascot costume. It felt as though a sharp blade had pierced my numb heart, leaving several gaping holes behind. After retiring, my grandfather had been living in a nursing home overseas. After my parents died, we were afraid another shock would be too much for him. So all these years, no matter how much Xalia and I suffered, we never dared tell him. But at that moment, I could no longer hold myself together. I called him back and, between sobs and broken words, told him everything I had been through. I did not know how long I talked. Eventually, I fell quiet, still sniffling. I was about to explain to my grandfather that I had only gotten so emotional because I was overwhelmed. But all I heard from the other end of the phone was, "Don't be afraid, kiddo. I'm coming to take you home." Before I could say anything else, the call ended. … Clutching Xalia's urn, I wandered aimlessly down the road. I felt like a stray dog everyone despised. Then, suddenly, everything went black. A group of people roughly blindfolded and gagged me before throwing me into a van. I had no idea how long we drove. When the van finally stopped, several people dragged me out and slammed me hard onto the ground. I used every ounce of strength I had to keep the urn cradled safely in my arms. Then, in one swift motion, someone ripped the black cloth from my eyes. The sight before me made me suck in a sharp breath. Tyler sat on Fiona's lap, dressed in expensive designer clothes, a frown on his face. Janet had rolled up her sleeves. Her expression was dark as she gripped a thick black leather whip. When they saw me stumble to my knees before them, Fiona hurriedly patted Tyler on the back. "Good boy, Tyler. I brought this bastard here for you! Do whatever you want to him later. Don't hold back!" Janet chimed in, "That's right, Tyler. Don't go easy on him. Your therapist said your anxiety is too severe right now. You need to let it all out properly if you want to feel better!" Chapter 3 Tyler pretended to wipe nonexistent tears from the corners of his eyes and gave a weak little nod. "Okay. I'll do whatever you say." Then he got to his feet and walked toward me, unable to hide the smugness in his voice. "William, I'm sorry. My anxiety acted up again because of what you said. "The doctor said the only way I'll get better is if the person responsible for all this gets punished. So I guess you'll just have to suffer a little!" "Why should he get any sympathy?" Fiona and Janet demanded in unison. "Tyler, you're just too kind!" "Someone like him is a menace. No matter what we do to him, he won't die!" "In that case..." A cruel smile curled across Tyler's lips, hidden from the other two. "I heard William loves playing the piano. So why don't we start by breaking one of his hands?" Tyler's utterly deranged suggestion sent a shiver down my spine. I tightened my arms around the urn. The burly men in black who had brought me there were already closing in, each carrying a hammer. Helpless, I could only place my last hope in the two women I had once considered my closest family. "Fiona, you're my wife! Are you really going to stand there and watch this happen? Janet! I'm your brother! Your own brother! "What exactly did I do wrong?! Why are you treating me like this?!" I demanded, my body covered in dirt and grime. All I got in return was their merciless mockery. "I'm your wife? Weren't you the one who so proudly demanded a divorce that day? Weren't you the one who refused to admit your mistake and apologize?" Fiona sneered coldly. "Don't worry. You'll remember soon enough." "Brother? What brother? The moment you killed our parents, I stopped having a brother!" Janet raised the whip high above her head and brought it crashing down across my thin back. "What are you waiting for?! Do it!" Pain tore through my entire body, sending me into convulsions. When I opened my eyes again, the men with the hammers had already reached me. Ignoring my struggles, they forcibly wrenched one of my arms away from the urn, stretched it straight, and held it suspended in the air. The heavy iron hammer came down with a dull thud. My mind went blank for a moment. The urn I had been clutching tightly slipped from my grasp and crashed to the ground. The sight jolted me back to my senses. "Xalia!" I screamed desperately. My cry made the black-clad men hesitate. I immediately seized the opportunity to break free and crawled toward the overturned urn. Ignoring the searing pain from my broken bones, I frantically gathered the ashes scattered across the floor and tried to put them back inside. My bizarre reaction caught the attention of the three people watching from the sidelines. "Fiona, Janet, look at what William is doing. Is that an urn he's holding?" Tyler covered his mouth in feigned surprise, his voice deliberately exaggerated. "He seemed to call out Xalia's name just now. Could that be Xalia's urn?" The moment Tyler said "Xalia's urn," something flickered in Fiona's and Janet's eyes. A trace of unease even crossed their faces. But the very next second, Tyler changed his tone. "That's strange. How could that be? Janet said Xalia's condition was completely stable. How could anything have happened to her? "William, you wouldn't be trying to compete with me for attention, would you? Did you deliberately bring a fake urn here to make everyone feel sorry for you?" That offhand remark was as good as a death sentence. The unease in Fiona's eyes vanished, replaced by irritation at the thought that I had tricked her. She strode toward me, kicked the urn aside, then grabbed me by the throat and slammed my head into the ashes scattered across the floor. "William! Today, I'm going to make sure you understand one thing! Playing the victim and pretending to be helpless won't get you anywhere with me!" she said menacingly. Chapter 4 "You like pretending so much, don't you? Then I'll give you plenty to pretend about today!" With that, Fiona scooped up the ashes mixed with dirt from the ground and moved to stuff them into my mouth. My scalp prickled as if an electric current had shot through me. I kicked wildly with both feet. I completely lost control and screamed at the top of my lungs, "Fiona! Just kill me! Kill me right now! I want to go be with my Xalia! I don't want you anymore! I don't want any of you anymore!" For some reason, Fiona's hand froze in midair. Perhaps she remembered how, many years ago, she had held my hand and sworn that she would give me the greatest happiness in the world. But now, I was struggling beneath her hands, desperately begging for death. "Wait, Fiona!" Janet had stepped aside to make a call and find out what was happening. Now she hurried back toward us. "Xalia might really be in trouble! I just called the hospital to confirm. William took Xalia out of the hospital 36 hours ago!" Fiona's palm, still covered in dirt and ashes, struck me hard across the face. "William! You bastard! Where did you hide our daughter?! Just because you want to compete with Tyler for attention, you'll stoop this low?!" As she cursed me, Fiona repeatedly kicked my frail body with her heavy leather shoes. My left arm had just been broken and was badly swollen, so I couldn't even curl up to protect myself. I swallowed the blood in my mouth and screamed the truth I had never wanted to tell them, "Xalia is dead! She's been dead for a long time! She was already dead while the two of you were playing prince and princess with Tyler at Dreamhaven.! "One of you is her mother, and the other is her aunt. How could it take you this long to find out?!" Janet, Xalia's primary doctor, refused to believe me. She lashed out with her leather whip and struck my battered body again and again. "You lunatic! Are you really trying to kill your own child?! Tell me! Where did you hide Xalia?! Where did you hide her?!" she demanded. "Xalia is my daughter! Where she is has nothing to do with either of you!" I don't know how much time passed. Eventually, both women stopped and stood there, breathing heavily. My entire body was covered in wounds, yet I could barely feel the pain anymore. I simply lay on the ground and inched my way toward Xalia's urn. I felt as if I were dying. If I died, I would finally be able to see my daughter again. "Janet, what do we do? William seems to have completely lost his mind! He refuses to tell us where Xalia is! What if he really did kill Xalia?" Fiona asked. Janet frowned deeply and let out a troubled sigh. "I don't know what to do either. If I'd known this would happen, I never would have introduced the two of you!" Even Janet, who had never shown Xalia any affection, could only sigh helplessly. Only Tyler remained silent. He stood there and looked down at me as I crawled across the ground. With an earnest expression, he offered a cruel suggestion. "Janet, Fiona, I think William is trying to use Xalia's whereabouts to control you. "Why don't we tie him to the back of a sports car and make him run? It'll clear his head. Once he can't run anymore, he'll naturally tell you." Fiona and Janet exchanged a glance, then nodded to each other. Soon, several men in black tied me to the back of a sports car with a thick rope. Fiona crouched beside me and brushed the loose strands of hair away from my forehead. "William, you'd better think this through. Once the car starts moving, you could die!" My face was ashen, but I said nothing. Fiona sighed. "Fine. Start the car. The moment he tells us the truth, stop." Just as the engine was about to start, an old, gentle voice rang out from nearby. "Stop! I want to see which one of you dares lay a hand on my grandson!"