A speeding car sliced through the wind, as if trying to outrun light itself.
Kai was behind the wheel, her expression calm yet unreadable. Beside her sat Teanguan ..... silent, still, but a thousand thoughts flickered behind his eyes.
About what had happened.
And what was yet to come.
For Kai, this journey was taking her toward her destination ..... toward the place where she truly belonged, toward someone who was waiting for her.
But for Teanguan… he had no destination left.
His world had already been destroyed .... the day Mevi was murdered.
Now he was simply surviving, letting each day pass as if life itself had become a punishment ... nothing more.
Time moved forward for the world outside, but for the people inside that house, it had stopped forever.
Every passing second felt like breaking a mountain with bare hands.
Inside Lamai's house, an eerie silence hung in the air.
The police had left.
In the living room, only the television's voice echoed faintly.
The news anchor spoke with her usual enthusiasm, announcing the "latest breaking update."
"The truth has finally come to light,"
she declared. "The murder of the little girl was committed because she had discovered Jain's dark deeds. When he failed to harm her in the way he intended, and his younger brother witnessed everything, he tried to erase the evidence and the witnesses ... but ended up destroying himself instead.
During the house search, the police found more proof of his crimes. Considering the gravity of his offenses, it is expected that he will be sentenced to life imprisonment."
Everyone in that house heard the news ..... but no two hearts reacted the same way.
Wee sat in stunned silence.
Everything she had believed, everything she had felt, everything she had ever trusted .... was a lie.
Her father's head hung low, weighed down by guilt that pressed on his chest like a stone.
His silence screamed louder than words.
Yen, too, looked hollow .... all her judgments about Jain and Miyan now seemed like nothing more than a terrible misunderstanding.
But the deepest wound was carved into Lamai's heart.
It wasn't just her father's betrayal ..... it was the shattering of friendship, the breaking of a bond she thought unbreakable, and the slow crumbling of everything she had called family.
She knew it now .... this was the last day of her friendship with Wee.
And it was also the last day she and her mother, Miyan, would ever live in this city.
Quietly, Miyan stood up, tears silently streaming down her face.
She walked toward Lamai and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, signaling her to rise.
Lamai, who had been sitting motionless on the floor like a doll of salt, finally stood.
Without a word, she walked past Wee .... who didn't even look up ... and joined her mother.
Together, they stepped out of the house.
Slowly.
Without a sound.
Without looking back.
The flashback ended.
Wee knew Lamai was leaving ... leaving with Miyan ..... but she didn't look.
She didn't want to look.
For one last time, Lamai turned around after stepping outside, hoping… just once… that Wee would meet her eyes.
But Wee turned her face away ... cold, distant ...as if it no longer mattered who Lamai was, or who she used to be.
And so, carrying a heavy weight in their hearts, mother and daughter walked away into the distance .... without turning back even once.
Those who remained inside the house sat frozen ... like statues carved from stone.
Time itself refused to move.
Then suddenly ....
a knock echoed on the door.
A knock that no one had expected.