Capítulo 312: [62.3] Cyrus POV: The Victim's Guilt
[Disclaimer: This chapter includes mention of child neglect, death, suicidality, and violence.]
When I blinked, I found myself somewhere new.
Reika, her mother, and her father sat beside a large flower arrangement. In the center was a single picture.
I recognized the boy in the picture to be Reika's brother.
I stood in the doorway and watched as people walked to them crying and offering kind words. I didn't understand why everyone would gather in a room until I heard one guest ask another, "Do they know what happened? He was so young."
"Apparently he went off drinking with friends. He got so drunk, he fell into the Han River and drowned."
"Oh my! And he just turned of age…"
"That's exactly why you shouldn't drink."
My eyes widened.
So that night Reika covered for her brother…
He accidentally drowned?
I glanced at Reika and noticed her eyes were puffy and red, but no tears were present. Her expression was dull as she stared at the ground in front of her.
As the ceremony continued, her mother was becoming a visible mess, sobbing and screaming for her son. Reika tried to comfort her mother, but it was no use. Her father could only stand to the side with a grim expression, he neither reached out nor said anything to his wife or child.
After everyone left, her mother stayed sobbing until the workers entered. They spoke softly, "Ma'am… I'm sorry, but there's another ceremony and we have to set up… Please, if you could-"
"NO! I'M NOT LEAVING HIM!"
Reika flinched, awakened by her mother's cry, and appeared at her side. She nudged her mother as she held her, "Come on, Mum. Let's go home-"
"-NO! It's not home without HIM!"
"Mother…"
"It's… It's my fault, Reika! I pushed him so hard! I… I shouldn't have been so strict! I should have been a better mother! I… I don't deserve to live! I can't live! Not without him!"
A sudden crack appeared in the memory.
I jumped at the sudden appearance, startled that a crack could appear seemingly out of thin air.
Reika's eyes watered, "No… Mum… It's not your fault… You didn't know… You couldn't have known…"
Another crack ripped across the memory.
Reika whimpered, "It… It was my fault."
Her father snapped out of his stupor and looked at Reika in surprise, "Reika. Don't say-"
Reika continued with tears flowing down her cheeks, "He asked me to cover for him because he wanted to have drinks with his friends… I should have… I shouldn't have let him go. I should have said no!"
Her mother's sobs slowly died down and she turned to face her, "You… What did you say?... You… You knew?"
Reika nodded as she bit her lip.
Suddenly she was pushed down as her mother screamed at her, "YOU LIED TO ME!?"
"M-Mom?!"
"THIS WAS ALL YOUR FAULT! IF YOU WOULDN'T HAVE LET HIM GO, HE WOULD HAVE NEVER DIED!"
Reika's expression finally cracked and she started sobbing, enduring the shouts and abusive words she received from her mother.
"YOU GOT YOUR BROTHER KILLED!"
"YOU WANTED HIM TO DIE!"
"HOW COULD YOU!?"
My heart felt as if it was shattering as I watched Reika submissively endure the abuse, each one causing more cracks to form in her memory.
I can't take it anymore!
I jumped ahead and reached out toward Reika, but my hands passed through her. I could only painfully stand beside her as my heart was being ripped up, "Reika!"
Don't you understand!?
You lost a son, but she lost a brother!!!
She NEEDS you!
Her father appeared and pulled off his wife, "Stop! Stop this at once!"
Reika covered her face as she heard the insults her mother continued to shout at her. I knelt beside her, wanting to hold her to me tightly, wanting to assure her that it wasn't her fault.
But unfortunately…
It was a memory.
There was nothing I could do to change it.
I could only be helplessly pulled to the next memory.
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