Chapter 6
583words
The art museum that once carried all of Mira's yearning for her mother now remained only as a charred steel skeleton.
The pungent smell of scorched ruins mingled with dust spreading in the cold wind.
Adrian stumbled, his mind seemingly conjuring up the last look Mira had given him.
So much pain in her eyes, yet she bit her lip firmly, not shedding a single tear.
His chest felt as if struck by a massive boulder, an asphyxiating pain suddenly exploding within.
In his daze, this acrid smell seemed to transform into that rainy afternoon years ago.
He had accidentally overheard her on the phone at the end of the hallway, her voice filled with choked sobs and pleas.
"Dad, today is the anniversary of Mom's death. Could you accompany me to visit her?"
On the other end was her father's impatient scolding.
"I have an important dinner meeting and can't get away! Do you think everyone is as idle as you? Doing nothing all day—don't bother me!"
Next, her brother grabbed the phone, his tone even more indifferent.
"Sis, I'm busy playing games with my friends right now. I don't have time for this useless stuff. The dead can't come back to life."
"If Mom could see us from heaven, she'd want me focusing on important things, not wasting time on such trivial matters."
The call disconnected, and he saw Mira crouching in the corner, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
In his memory, Mira had always been proud, bright and confident, like a sunflower.
That was the first time he had seen her so fragile.
At that moment, he inexplicably asked his assistant to buy hot cocoa, and handed it to her saying:
"Stop crying. I'll go with you."
She looked up with reddened eyes, stunned for a long while, before softly saying:
"Adrian, you're so kind. Besides my mother and grandmother, you're the third kindest person to me in this world."
After returning from the cemetery, she brought him to the art gallery under construction, and very seriously said to him:
"This is my Serene Gallery, my final sanctuary."
"Adrian, I've only ever brought you here."
The memory made his heart ache.
The charred ruins before him mercilessly proclaimed how he had destroyed with his own hands the only warm world that had ever opened to him.
"Mr. Locke."
His assistant caught up, his voice strained.
"The terrain here is complex. By the time the firefighters arrived, everything was already... burned to nothing."
"Your wife, she's probably already..."
"Impossible!"
Adrian abruptly roared, his eyes bloodshot:
"She's not dead! She's too proud to just... die so easily..."
"But Mr. Locke!"
The assistant looked up with reddened eyes, his voice filled with anger.
"Have you forgotten? You ordered the injection of abortion drugs into her!"
"She lost so much blood she could barely stand. In that condition, how could she possibly have escaped?!"
The assistant pointed at the scorched earth, each word striking Adrian's heart like a sledgehammer.
"I've asked people around here. No one saw madam come out!"
"The fire was so intense, she probably didn't even think about escaping at that moment!"
Adrian staggered back several steps, his tightly clenched fists trembling uncontrollably.
"Keep searching!"
His voice was distorted beyond recognition:
"Get all available surveillance footage! Even if we have to dig three feet underground, find her for me!"
"She can't be dead! She's just hiding! She must hate me..."
