Chapter 6 - THE ROSE LOST AT THE THRESHOLD OF SECRETS

𝘿𝙪𝙡𝙪 𝙠𝙖𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙟𝙖𝙣𝙟𝙞 𝙥𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙠𝙪 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙠 𝙩𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙠 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙖𝙣 𝙠𝙪, 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙝 𝙨𝙚𝙠𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙟𝙖𝙣𝙟𝙞 𝙞𝙩𝙪 𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙪?!

•┈┈┈••✦ ♡ ✦••┈┈┈•

The silence in the room was so thick it felt as if oxygen had been sucked away by the slip of paper in James's hand. Every eye was fixed on the note, waiting for answers that only raised more questions.

"What does all this mean?" Maxsyn broke the stillness with a demanding tone.

Maxssyan cleared his throat, trying to make sense of the strange wording in the letter. "'Your treasure has been returned whole'—that clearly means Via is back with us. But this part... 'send my regards to her and to Him.' Who is 'Him'?" he murmured, his brow furrowed. "Why distinguish between Via and this mysterious figure?"

"Exactly. Who is this third person in the shadows?" Maxsyn chimed in, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Before they could continue their discussion—

CRASH!

The door slammed open. Hasty footsteps cut through the debate.

"VIA!"

Angel Anastasya Williams burst in, her beautiful face pale with lingering fear. Behind her, Yohan Cransna and Novita Sari followed, still catching their breath.

But Via only shrank back. The little girl seemed lost in her own world, her tiny fingers clutching the red rose as if it were her only shield.

"Sweetheart, look at Mommy! Are you hurt? Did something happen? We're going to the hospital right now!" Angel checked her daughter's body with trembling hands, her voice rising an octave with panic.

"No, Mama. I'm okay," Via replied flatly. Her gaze was empty, staring right through the wall.

"But we have to make sure—"

"Angel, enough!" Yohan cut in sharply, though his eyes betrayed his pain. "Don't push her. Look how shaken our daughter is."

Novita Sari pushed through the crowd—her authority as Abraham Williams's wife still evident even as worry etched lines across her face.

"Move aside... Grandma's grandbaby is alright, isn't she?" She stroked Via's hair gently, a contrast to the tense atmosphere around them.

"Yes, Grandma."

Novita let out a relieved breath, but her eyes quickly flashed sharply toward her husband Abraham. "Who brought her back? What price did they demand?"

"No one knows," Abraham answered softly, his voice heavy with confusion. "She was simply left at the front gate. Like a returned package."

"Impossible!" Novita snapped. "Who in their right mind would risk their life for the Williams family without asking for a single penny? What do they want?"

Maxsyn held up the note high. "That's the reality, Grandma. No money demands. Just this letter... and that rose."

Novita snatched the paper. Her eyes narrowed as she read the message that felt like a whisper from the past: 'Your treasure has been returned whole. Send my regards to her and to Him.'

"This isn't just a greeting," Novita whispered, her voice trembling. "It's a reminder that someone is watching us."

 •┈┈┈•┈┈┈•┈┈┈

In a quiet classroom, far from the chaos of the Williams residence...

"Mom, how's Via doing?"

The man stood by the window, silhouetted against the light. He listened to the reply on the other end of the phone, his jaw tightening.

"What really happened over there?"

A moment of silence passed before he let out a long breath—one heavy with the weight of suffocating secrets. "Sigh... okay. As long as she's alright, that's all that matters."

Click.

The call ended. A beautiful woman beside him moved closer, wrapping her arms around his neck playfully.

"Honey, who were you on the phone with?"

The man turned to her, his gentle gaze hiding a storm beneath the surface.

"Mom."

"Is something wrong with your aunt? Did something terrible happen?" the woman asked, her tone full of curiosity.

The man only gave a faint smile, keeping a thousand unspoken words locked away inside him.