"Hannah's actually a little better off, all things considered. After all, she has eight sons and thirteen grandchildren now. The one I really feel for is Keira. She only has two children-Amanda and Stuart. After Stuart's accident with his wife and child, Keira's been drowning in grief. And she still has to carry the weight of running Gonzales Holdings. I've heard her health has been failing these past few years. When Keira's gone, well... I doubt Stuart will last much longer either..."

Celeste trailed off with a heavy sigh.

Even though Amanda is Stuart's older sister, no matter how caring she is, a sister's love just can't compare to a mother's.

That's why everyone's been whispering if anything were to happen to Keira, Stuart probably wouldn't hang on for long.

Especially since someone in a coma is so fragile to begin with.

Hearing all this, Caitlin couldn't help but sigh as well. "So both Hannah and Keira are really just two poor old women, aren't they? This should be the time in their lives when they're enjoying a peaceful retirement, but instead, they're carrying all this pain."

There's a saying some fates are truly worse than death.

Right now, that saying felt painfully real in the lives of these two women.

Caitlin went on, "I just hope they both find their loved ones soon, and that their families can be whole again."

She'd never even met these women.

But she meant what she said.

She truly hoped they'd be reunited with the people they cared about most.

Celeste glanced up at Caitlin. "Catie, do you think Carey and Freya could still be alive?"

"I really don't know," Caitlin replied, shaking her head. "But... maybe there's still a chance for a miracle?"

Celeste frowned. "I want to believe they're both alive, I really do. But the odds are so slim. I heard when the accident happened, the driver was thrown clear and- well, it was pretty gruesome. If Carey survived, maybe there's hope. But Freya... she was just a three-month-old baby. I just don't see how she could have made it..."

Celeste wasn't the only one who felt this way.

Nearly everyone did.

Suddenly, something seemed to occur to Celeste. "But I heard the Richards family brought in a famous spiritualist to look into it, and he said Freya had the soul of a phoenix. Carey's whereabouts were uncertain, but the spiritualist swore Freya was still alive."

"That's why, after all these years, both the Richardses and the Gonzales family have never stopped searching for Freya. Because a phoenix isn't just reborn from the ashes-it rises even stronger."

People in Neon Spire are notoriously superstitious, always seeking signs and blessings wherever they can.

"And because of Freya's 'phoenix destiny'-and the fact that she was Hannah's only granddaughter-she was utterly spoiled. Even as a tiny baby, barely three months old, she was the apple of Hannah's eye, adored by her eight uncles and aunts from the Richards family. Such a shame... in the end, their little princess still..."

Celeste let out another sigh, then continued, "If Freya were still alive, she really would be a little princess. In the Capital, she'd be the sole heir to the Gonzales family. Here in Neon Spire, she'd have eight powerful uncles to dote on her and thirteen talented cousins to protect her. No one would dare cross her here, and in the Capital, she could have the world at her feet!"

Meanwhile

Willis suddenly felt the weight of someone's gaze from somewhere in the crowd.

The sensation was strange-something like an invisible tether, impossible to break.

He'd never experienced anything like it before.

"Kelley, hold on a second."

He stopped his wife, pausing in his tracks to scan the faces in the crowd-