Chapter 184: In His Absence

Dark, sooty feathers fell on the roof of the Storm Mansion as birds leapt from it and joined the clouds.

Tasty flavours of stew drifted through the hallways, giving the building a human presence. White lace covered the dining table, with empty bowls arranged on it.

Min-seo appeared from the kitchen’s direction like a ghost, holding a glass bowl that was full of vegetable stew. The base of the bowl clicked when it was placed on the table.

After two minutes, Min-ji came with a cup of green tea and placed it on each side of the empty bowls.

She hesitated after reaching the chair Zoe had been sitting on, then chuckled. “That woman has to go back to her house. Else I will—”

“Else you will what?” Min-seo asked, appearing behind her sister.

Min-ji turned with a shocked expression, looked at Min-seo once, then began brushing her neck, the feeling of being caught filling her gut.

The two stood there, staring at each other until Lily ran down, before Min-seo loosened her gaze on Min-ji.

“Here is your meal, little Athena,” she said, gesturing at Lily.

Lily smiled at Min-seo, but frowned when she looked at Min-ji.

Zoe also descended the stairs, then joined Lily by the dining table.

“Aunty,” Lily called out when she saw Zoe picking up the spoon. “We haven’t prayed over the food.”

Zoe slowly placed the spoon back down, then smiled. “Oh yeah. I almost forgot.”

She looked at Min-seo and gestured at her to sit and enjoy the meal with them, then did the same to Min-ji. But Min-ji refused and walked back to the kitchen.

“Is something wrong with your sister?” Zoe asked. She shifted her gaze from the kitchen to Min-seo.

“Madam, don’t worry. Nothing is wrong,” Min-seo stated, brushing it off with a smile. “Maybe she just didn’t sleep well.”

…

Colourful birds whirled around the trees in the garden, their hums filling the air, their wings bouncing leaves.

A single shadow stretched long in the sun and stopped beneath the twelve-foot tree.

“Aunty.”

Zoe turned when Lily’s soft voice echoed from behind her.

She giggled when her childhood memories clicked, watching the little girl walk toward her like a queen.

Lily stopped, folded her arms, then frowned. “Why did you come out without me?”

“I just needed some air,” Zoe answered. She touched the centre of her chest with her left palm, then lifted her head to the top branches.

Lily focused on the way Zoe kept brushing her chest, then screamed with joy. “You’re thinking about my brother.”

A faint smile tore across Zoe’s cheeks as the name settled deep in her mind. Leon’s smiling brown eyes, his soft words, and the way he held her before he left began to reel her in without permission.

Lily sat on a thick, raised root, then whispered. “I think he won’t be coming back soon.” She gave a long sigh, letting the words settle, and began picking up leaves and tearing them apart.

Zoe’s face went pale for a second. She turned, crouched down to Lily, and placed her palms on her cheeks.

Lily’s amber eyes glowed with joy and sadness at the same time when Zoe began teasing her. She laughed her heart out, fell on her back, then quickly stood.

“Catch me if you can.” She set out running before her words could fade away.

Zoe straightened, shook her head, and laughed. “Here I come.”

Though joy flowed between them as they played games Leon would have played with Lily until the sun set, the girl’s words remained locked in Zoe’s head like a truth that didn’t need confirmation.

She tried calling at the same time she always called. No response.

When the second attempt ended the same way, Zoe walked to the window and lifted her eyes to the sky, placing her left palm on her slowly heaving chest.

…

Bastion City Hospital was quiet when the shift changed. Thess was on duty again for the night shift.

“Time to check on Li Mei,” she said after changing into her nurse outfit and beginning her routine.

For thirty minutes, she moved through the rooms on the first and second floors.

“I will check on her last,” she stated when she reached Li Mei’s door, then walked past it.

Inside, the room held its warmth, but with a slight shift, as if the walls knew something the people outside did not.

Li Mei’s lips moved slowly, her sweet hums drifting through the open window and into the night air.

She sang, listening to the cries of the birds and the occasional footsteps that seemed to stop right at her door.

“Leon, is that you?” she asked, tilting her head toward where the footsteps echoed from.

“It’s me,” Thess whispered. “Your friend.”

The tone of the voice sent a smile to Li Mei’s cheeks. “You somehow remind me of my son.”

Thess’s eyebrow furrowed for a second before she closed in on the woman. She checked the vitals on the monitor, then sat on the edge of the bed, slowly holding Li Mei’s hands.

“Your son isn’t here,” Thess said, rubbing the back of Li Mei’s palms. “But he knows you’re doing fine.”

“Did you tell him the last time you said you would?” Li Mei’s blind eyes widened as she leaned toward the nurse.

“Yes. I did.” Thess smiled, holding her phone in her left hand and staring at Leon’s image, the one she had asked Zoe to send her.

She lifted her head to Li Mei, then continued. “He even sent money for your nutrients and recorded a video for you.”

She swiped through the images Leon had sent and stopped at the video.

“Here it is,” Thess raised the phone, then pressed play.

Li Mei tuned her ear toward the sounds coming from the phone. “What is that sound?”

“That’s the vehicles moving behind him.” Thess began describing the video in a way that Li Mei could picture easily.

She stopped when Leon’s voice began to flow.

“Hello, Madam Athena.”

Li Mei giggled so loudly that Thess covered her mouth just to avoid interrupting.

“I have been given an aeroplane. It’s…” Leon paused for a second, as if searching for the right words, then let out a soft laugh. “…first of all, it’s quiet. Too quiet. You know how planes usually roar like they’re tearing the sky apart? This one doesn’t do that. It hums… like it’s breathing.”

Li Mei’s fingers tightened slightly around Thess’s hand. “…breathing?” she repeated softly.

“Yeah,” Leon’s reply came as if he already knew what his mother would say and how long it would take her to say it. “Like something alive, but calm. When it moves, the air doesn’t fight it. Like the way Lily used to fight with me.”

Thess marvelled at the way Leon had recorded it, then stared at Li Mei’s joyous expression, her own chest tightening quietly.

“It’s fast too,” Leon continued. “Mom, it’s not the kind that throws you back in your seat. You remember when you used to tell us stories about you and Dad taking us on trips, and how you described the cars?”

“Yeah,” Li Mei whispered. The word alone unlocked something in her, and memories began moving through her one after another.

She smiled, her head tilting slightly as she listened.

…

Thess left the room after three hours, when Li Mei had fallen asleep with a smile still on her face.

She stood in the corridor, replaying the thirty-minute video over and over as if it had been meant for her. “I now understand why Zoe left her family’s wealth for this family.”

She closed her eyes and placed her left palm on her chest. Then she opened them, stamped her foot on the ground, and laughed at herself. “What am I even thinking?”

The hospital held its warmth. Outside, the world held its peace.

…

The streets of Eastgate were quiet. Tiger stood at the open window opposite the Madhouse. The building that had once been lively and loud was now empty, dark, and still.

“Fuck!” Tiger screamed and slammed his fist into the wall. Spiderweb cracks streaked across the surface, splitting it into a broken pattern.

“What is it about that boy that makes you this way?” Samir asked, standing up from his bed and closing in on him.

Tiger calmed his breathing, but his grip on the window frame increased, bending the metal into a shape that couldn’t be fixed.

Samir stopped by the window, placed his left arm behind him, closed his eyes, then inhaled the chilled air slowly, as if it were something worth keeping.

“You don’t need to worry,” he whispered, cracking his eyes open. “They have been sent to Tartarus.”

For a second, Tiger smiled.

Then the realisation struck him, and the smile died.

Before he could say a word, Samir continued. “Tartarus is not a place you send someone you want to humiliate. It is a place you send someone you believe in.”

That single statement made Tiger’s fury erupt. The section of the window frame he gripped burst into flame.

The wall beside him began to soften and run like wax left too close to a fire. The ground beneath Tiger’s boots reddened slowly. But Samir stood there unharmed. Not a single strand of his hair showed any sign of the heat around him.

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