Chapter 5
When she didn’t move, Clayton’s patience wore thin. “Still not leaving? Do you want me to make you?”
Aline let out a bitter laugh, then lowered her eyes to the urn in her hands.
She thought, ‘Dad, Mom… so this is the man I married. I really did choose wrong, didn’t I?’
Three years ago, he’d looked at her, uncertain and vulnerable, and said, “I don’t have a house or a car. Would you still marry me?”
She’d nodded, without hesitation-because on the day she learned of her parents’ death, he had been the one silently by her side, wiping away her tears.
After their funeral, Chad had pulled her aside and spoken gently, “Aline, your parents worried most about your future. The special forces are too dangerous-I don’t want you ending up like them. I think your parents would’ve wanted you to live a peaceful, ordinary life.”
Her parents were gone. Her brother was missing. Of the four of them, she was the only one left.
So she left the military. She married Clayton. She thought-even if their love didn’t burn like her parents’ did-at least they could treat each other with respect.
But now, Clayton was tearing away even that final layer of dignity.
Did he forget? When he had nothing, not even the money to start his business, it was her parents’ death compensation
that funded him.
If her parents could see him now-this man who used their funeral payout to build his career but wouldn’t even let their ashes into the house-what would they think?
“Fine. I’ll go.” Aline lifted her chin, spine straight, not letting a single tear fall.
She could bleed, she could sacrifice-but she wouldn’t cry for people this heartless.
She turned and walked out without looking back.
Tanisha blinked in disbelief. “She really just left?”
Penny scoffed. “This is Clayton’s house. What right does she have to make decisions? She’s just an orphan. Who does
she think she is?”
Clayton stood frozen, watching Aline’s figure disappear through the doorway. Something hollow opened up in his chest, like he’d just lost something he couldn’t name.
***
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11:28
Chapter of
Aline brought the urn to the funeral home for temporary storage.
200 10Quchers
She planned to take her parents back to her hometown for burial. But the headstone still needed to be made, along with a number of other preparations. For now, this was the only place she could leave them.
“Just a little longer, Mom, Dad,” she murmured, standing quietly in front of the urn. “I’ll bring you home soon.”
Carefully, she laid the national flag over the urn once more, smoothing it out with reverence.
“One day, I’ll find my brother. And when I do, we’ll come visit you together. I believe he’s still alive. I have to.”
Her brother had also been a soldier. Five years ago, he disappeared during a mission along the border-and never re-
turned.
Back when she was in the military, Aline had searched tirelessly for her brother-but no matter how hard she tried, she’d never found a single clue.
This time, once she had laid her parents’ ashes to rest, she would head to the border herself. She had to find him.
After making the arrangements at the funeral home, Aline was ready to leave.
Outside, a light rain was falling. As she walked under her umbrella, she overheard voices nearby.
“There were so many cars out front today. I even saw a bunch of government officials show up. Must’ve been some- one big who passed.”
“Haven’t you seen the news? Antony Fuentes died. His memorial service is starting soon.”
“The Fuentes family? No wonder. So who’s taking over now?”
“Who else? That high-ranking lunatic of theirs. Who’d dare challenge him?”
Only then did Aline understand why there had been so many police and security guards stationed outside earlier. It was the funeral of Antony.
In Uslille, the Fuentes family was a colossal presence-well-known, untouchable.
