Chapter 3

As his words fell, the surroundings instantly went quiet.

The onlookers who'd been making a fuss all turned to stare at me in unison.

I froze, instinctively asking.

"What do you mean? What do you mean someone else claimed them? Besides us, who else would my father give his ashes to?"

Mom became agitated too.

"What's going on? How could you hand over my husband's ashes to just anyone?"

After revealing this truth, the manager explained what had really happened back then.

Apparently, before my father's company went bankrupt and before he jumped to his death, he'd left behind a suicide note.

In the note, he'd left all his remaining assets to a woman named Madison.

He'd specifically instructed the manager to give his ashes to that woman as well, and to make absolutely sure we never found out.

So at the time, the manager found an unclaimed body and pretended those were Dad's cremated ashes.

For twelve years, we'd been paying our respects to a complete stranger's ashes.

Dad's real ashes had been taken out shortly after we placed them in the plot, and handed over to that woman.

During last year's cemetery expansion, a staff member noticed the photo on the urn was wrong and switched it back.

And because of that, we discovered today the truth that had been hidden for twelve years.

"I only got paid twenty thousand dollars for this. That amount of money isn't worth going to jail for! I've told you the truth now—please don't keep threatening to call the police."

After hearing the manager's explanation, I clenched my fists and asked through gritted teeth.

"So where are my father's ashes now?"

The manager gave me an address.

"Last time I mailed her your father's suicide note, I used this address. You can try looking there."

On the way to that address, Mom sat in the passenger seat with an unusually calm expression.

"Evelyn, why do you think your father left his ashes to that woman?"

I already had an unpleasant suspicion forming, but I tried to comfort Mom gently.

"Mom, don't overthink it. Maybe Dad had some reason he couldn't explain. We'll know when we get there."

Mom didn't respond to me.

She just stared out the window in silence.

I drove quietly too, flooring the gas pedal, wanting to reach our destination as quickly as possible.

When we arrived at the address, we found ourselves in front of a lakeside villa.

It looked quite expensive.

I walked to Mom's side, supporting her slightly trembling hand.

After exchanging a glance with her, I rang the doorbell.

The person who opened the door was a young woman.

The moment she saw Mom, she froze.

Then, coming to her senses, she turned to close the door.

I quickly blocked the door with my hand and stepped forward, forcing the woman back into the house.

Seeing my aggressive stance, the woman spoke guiltily.

"Who are you? Why are you barging into my house? I'll call the police if you keep this up."

"You must be Madison, right?"

I cut straight to the point.

"You claimed my father's ashes? Where are they now?"

The woman's eyes instantly filled with panic, but she kept deflecting.

"What ashes? I don't know what you're talking about. You've got the wrong person."

"Whether we have the wrong person or not, you know best."

Mom suddenly spoke up from behind me.

"I've seen you before. You were a new intern at Thompson Industries. Your name is Madison Clarke, isn't it?"

Seeing that Mom had recognized her, Madison stopped pretending and admitted her identity directly.

"Yes, I'm Madison Clarke. Your husband's ashes are with me, but this was his own dying wish. He wanted to leave his ashes with me. You have no right to take them."

"We have no right?"

Mom let out a bitter laugh.

"I'm his wife. This is his only daughter. How do we not have the right to claim his ashes?"

"But I'm the one he loved!"