Chapter 5

Blaming anyone now seems irrelevant as the wounds have not yet healed, and new sorrows have emerged, deepening the pain. To whom should Alice complain, and who should she be angry?

Just last night, she could still feel the warmth of her grandmother's embrace, and now she was gone forever. And at this moment, there was no one to comfort her. Everyone had left. Everything had disappeared, swallowed by the mound of earth, never to return.

Alice hugged herself, mourning her fate of being left by those she loved forever.

Memories of the past resurfaced, as did the sounds of her family members shouting just seconds before the multiple accidents happened. She also remembered how quickly her mother opened the car door and pushed her out, saving her from the accident. However, in doing so, her mother forgot that Alice would be left alone to face the world's cruelty.

As Alice witnessed the tragedy of her entire family members losing their lives in the accident, Chloe suddenly appeared. She embraced Alice and filled the void in her life.

Chloe's presence replaced her parents' and grandmother's roles, making everything feel perfect. But now everything was gone. Lost. Vanished without a trace, in a similar form but in a different way. Alice didn't know how she would continue her life after this, living without the presence of her loved ones. Moreover, she had to face Alden, who openly hated her.

At this moment, Alice, still overwhelmed with grief and suffering from a high fever, sat alone in front of her bedroom window. She hugged herself while gazing at the raindrops streaming down the window glass.

Since her grandmother's funeral, the sky had not stopped pouring rain. It was as if the sky itself mourned the loss she felt.

And as her grief deepened, Alice had no one to embrace her. Luna, her mother-in-law, had to go to England to attend to her father-in-law's family, who were also mourning.

Upon hearing about Maryam's passing, Luna wanted to return immediately, but Alden assured everyone that everything would be fine, promising to take care of Alice.

However, it was all just empty words. Since leaving Alice's home, Alden had never shown up. He preferred to spend his nights in a hotel, drowning himself in alcohol. He rarely accompanied Alice, despite promising to be there for her.

When Alden's phone rang, he almost reached for the bottle of alcohol, but the call stopped him. Annoyed, he picked up the phone, lying not far from where he sat.

Alden blinked twice, making sure he was correct. "Oh, my goodness, Mom! How could you call me at this hour?" Alden quickly wiped his face, trying to sound sober, so his mother wouldn't know he was drunk in a hotel room instead of keeping his promise to stay with Alice at home.

"Hello, Mom," he said as the call connected.

"How is Alice? Is she okay? I've been trying to reach her on her phone, but she didn't answer," Luna asked without first inquiring about Alden's condition.

Alden shook his head, "I don't know, Ma. I'm outside," he replied, trying to hide that he was in a hotel and not at home as he had promised.

"Outside? What are you doing outside having dinner like this? Come home now; I want to talk to Alice! Ant wait and see what I will do to you when you arrive in Jakarta," Luna threatened. Her eyes stared sharply, even though no one was before her.

"Yes, I'm on my way home now. And just so you know, I was out to buy food for Alice. Since you insisted I come home, I cancelled my plan," Alden said before abruptly ending the call without asking for Luna's permission.

Luna's attention and care for Alice should have been an example for Alden, but instead, it fueled his hatred even more.

Quickly leaving the hotel, Alden took a taxi and returned to Alice's house. He decided to go to his car at the hotel since he could not drive.

Once he arrived at Alice's house, Alden immediately looked for his wife to hand her the phone that had been ringing incessantly since the call with his mother.

Since the call was cut off, Luna made no intention of stopping her calls, so Alden's phone kept ringing relentlessly.

"I don't know why you didn't answer my mother's call. So, I had to bring the phone to you," Alden said bluntly as he threw the phone to a vacant spot beside Alice, who was now pale.

With her eyebrows almost furrowing together, Alice stared at Alden's face.

"What are you waiting for?" Alice shook her head gently, taking the phone and answering the call.

Meanwhile, Alden went to bed and lay down. He waited for Alice to finish her call with her mother.

Lying on his back, Alden stared at the ceiling of Alice's room, dominated by shades of pink and sky blue. It felt comfortable for him. The scent of roses also greeted his senses, making him feel drowsy. He decided to turn to his side and closed his eyes.

But just a few seconds after closing his eyes, he was startled by the vibration of a nearby phone.

Curiosity drove Alden to reach for the black phone and check who was calling at this late hour.

"Gilbert?" Alden mumbled, his eyebrows almost furrowing together as he tried to remember the person on the phone.

The person was the same man he saw at Chloe's grave, the man who was holding Alice and hugging her shoulder.

"Oh, yes, the guy from Chloe's funeral!" Alden exclaimed in his mind as he recalled who Gilbert was.

Not wanting Gilbert to contact Alice again, Alden immediately turned off the phone and hid it in the crevice between the head of the bed and the bedroom wall. He was confident Alice wouldn't find the phone for quite some time.

To mask the noise of the phone falling, Alden deliberately dropped a heart-shaped ornament on the nightstand, pretending that it was an accident, and then feigned sleep as if nothing happened.

Hearing the commotion from behind, Alice turned to look. She shook her head at Alden, pretending to be asleep with one hand on the nightstand as if accidentally knocking over the heart-shaped ornament Gilbert had carved as her birthday gift last year.

"Alden is here, Ma. He's staying with me. He's taking care of me. Gilbert did leave briefly. He said he wanted to buy something but came back without anything. And it seems you were right. Alden cancelled his plan to buy something because he urgently needed to come home," Alice said, confirming Luna's inquiry.

Alice didn't want to get into trouble with Alden, so she lied. She didn't want her relationship with Alden to become even more complicated and strained.