The flight was a three-and-a-half-hour red-eye, departing at one in the morning with an estimated arrival time of four-thirty.

Caitlin drifted off in the plush, multifunctional massage chair. She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep when her eyes fluttered open. "Dad, are we there yet?"

Stuart turned, tucking the blanket more snugly around his daughter. "It's only been an hour. Go back to sleep."

*Only an hour?*

A flicker of surprise crossed Caitlin's face. It felt like she'd been sleeping for ages.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" she asked.

"I just woke up myself," Stuart replied.

"Oh." Caitlin nodded slightly. "Well, I'm going back to sleep then."

"Go on."

As his daughter settled back into her slumber, Stuart gazed out the window, his expression unreadable. Memories of the past flooded his mind. Perhaps... perhaps Sage Gonzales had been wrong from the very beginning. The path Tammie Gonzales had walked, the tragic end he'd met-it was inextricably linked to his father.

Another two hours passed in the blink of an eye, and the plane touched down at The Capital Airport. The Gonzales family's private car was already waiting.

Stuart and Caitlin deplaned and were whisked away, heading straight for The Capital Hospital.

It was five in the morning on an early summer day, and the sky was already beginning to lighten.

"Faster," Stuart urged the driver, his voice tight with anxiety. "We need to go faster."

"Yes, sir."

At 5:20 a.m., the car pulled up to The Capital Hospital.

Tammie had already been dressed in his burial shroud. Keira and Benedict Quinn stood vigil by his bedside.

When Stuart and Caitlin entered, Keira rushed over, her face streaked with tears. "Stuart! Freya! You're back! You're finally back! Come, come see Tammie!"

She sobbed, her voice breaking. "That poor child... no mother, no father, and not even a child of his own to leave behind."

"Such a tragedy!"

"Tammie!" Stuart went to the bedside and looked down at his nephew's face, tears falling onto Tammie's pale skin. "You foolish boy. Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you call your grand-aunt? You weren't alone. You have us behind you!"

He gripped Tammie's hand tightly, trying to warm it with his own, but the hand in his palm remained stubbornly cold.

Caitlin's eyes were red-rimmed. This was the first time since her rebirth that she had come face-to-face with death so directly. After a moment, she walked over to Benedict. "Mr. Quinn, hello. I'm Freya Gonzales. My cousin... why did he do this? What pushed him to this point?"

Benedict had noticed her the

moment she walked in. The girl stood tall and straight like a bamboo shoot, exuding an air of integrity. Both her poise and her beauty were in a class of their own. He couldn't understand why Tammie had. chosen to trust Ann Templeton over his own cousin. If Tammie had only listened to Caitlin, he would never have ended up on this tragic path.

Looking at Caitlin, Benedict recounted the events of the past few days.

When he mentioned that Lindy had jumped from a building to prove her innocence, Caitlin's expression shifted. She already knew about the surveillance footage and that Ann had been jailed for stealing trade secrets. What she hadn't known was that an innocent person had been caught in the crossfire.

Tammie's fate was a tragedy, yes, but so was Lindy's.

In accordance with his final wishes, Tammie's funeral was a simple affair. On a clear, beautiful day, hisz ashes were to be scattered into the river, afinal return to freedom. Stuart held the urn and because of the bright sun, Caitlin stood beside him, holding a black umbrella over it as a sign of respect. Dressed in black with a matching armband, her expression was solemn. Benedict was to be the one to release the ashes into the water.

Just before he did, Benedict turned to Keira, his voice hoarse. "Mrs. Gonzales, on Tammie's behalf, there's something I need to ask you."

"Go on."

Benedict took a deep breath. "What kind of person was Tammie's mother, really?

He told me he hated her, but I know he also longed for a mother's love."

After all, hate could only be born from love.

Having started, Benedict decided to hold nothing back. "Why did she dislike him from the moment he was born? If she didn't want him, why did she give birth to him? What could possibly create such a deep rift between a mother and her son? And even if she had a new husband and a new family, couldn't she have come to say goodbye one last time, now that Tammie is gone?"