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For a moment, Jiyu considered confessing the truth to Chloe, but then she shook her head. She herself knew very little, and given the overheated atmosphere, she was afraid to even mention that her father worked at that company.
It wouldn't be too late to tell her once things had calmed down a bit.
Her father had been unreachable for three days. He had told her that too many people were contacting him and that he would keep his phone off unless it was absolutely necessary. Ae-jeong and Jiyu, waiting for his call at any moment, were burning up with anxiety.
After school, Jiyu practically ran home. In her haste, she didn't even ring the doorbell; she used a spare key rolling around in her backpack to unlock the front door.
“Mom, Mom! Did Dad call today?”
She burst through the front door, calling out for Ae-jeong, but the living room was pitch black. A strange chill made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
The shoe cabinet, which Ae-jeong had put special effort into having custom-made, stood wide open next to the entrance. With a dry throat, Jiyu swallowed hard, took off her shoes, put them inside, and closed the door.
Then, she called for Ae-jeong once more.
“Mom…?”
She looked around the living room and opened the door to the master bedroom. The built-in closet door was wide open, and miscellaneous items were scattered across the floor as if someone had left in a great hurry.
If nothing else, Ae-jeong was obsessively meticulous about tidying and organizing. Something was wrong.
Sinking onto the bed, Jiyu took out her phone and called Ae-jeong. However, after a long while, the call went to voicemail.
“Mom, where are you? Did something happen to Dad? Call me back as soon as you hear this. I'm home. Come back quickly, I'm… hungry.”
In truth, she felt like she would choke on anything she ate, but she added that part in the hope that Ae-jeong would return home quickly, wherever she was.
Just in case, she tried calling Alan's phone, but it went straight to voicemail, as if the power were off.
[Dad, it's me. Mom isn't home and I can't reach her. Are you with her? Are you okay? When can you come home? Please call me when you hear this. I'm home alone, and I'm scared.]
Even as dinner time approached, Ae-jeong did not return. Though she was trembling inside, Jiyu tried her best to calm herself. She turned on the news and kept checking for any breaking reports.
Legal panels were explaining in detail the charges against the ringleaders of the Ponzi scheme and the punishments they would face. It was said that the two main culprits would be imprisoned for over a hundred years.
Hearing that the accomplices were also likely to be punished according to their level of involvement, Jiyu, who had been watching the news huddled up, quickly turned off the TV. The news was scarier than a horror movie.
To distract herself, she did her homework and memorized Latin verb conjugations. And though she wasn't hungry, she made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and forced herself to swallow a few bites.
It was already past 9 o'clock. Ae-jeong was not the type to not contact her when it was this late.
‘Something must have happened.’
Her heart felt like it had dropped, but she was too afraid to even imagine what it could be. So, she opened a book, her only refuge. But she couldn't concentrate at all. It was the first time in her life this had ever happened.
Around 10 o'clock, the phone finally rang. Jiyu jumped up and ran to the sofa where the phone lay to check the screen.
It was Ae-jeong.
Overwhelmed with relief, Jiyu answered the phone, tears bursting forth.
“Mom! Where are you? It's already 10, and you haven't been answering my calls, hic…”
From the other end of the line, she heard a rustling sound followed by the sound of someone blowing their nose.
Did you eat? Are you still hungry?
She must have heard the voice message. However, Ae-jeong's voice was thick and choked.
“No, I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When are you coming home?”
I can't come today. I'll be back tomorrow morning.
Her heart sank again. Feeling as if the floor beneath her was giving way, she collapsed onto the sofa.
“What's going on? Is Dad okay?”
Ae-jeong was silent for a while. Then, there was a rustling sound as she blew her nose.
Your father is not okay.
Contrary to her wet voice, her tone was dry.
This time, Jiyu was the one left speechless. Cold sweat broke out on her limp hand, and she nearly dropped the phone.
“Why?”
She managed to open her mouth, but no voice came out, only a leaked whisper.
Alan, your father… is gone.
“…Where?”
She could hear Ae-jeong catching her breath over the phone speaker.
I'm at a hospital in Long Island right now.
“Is Dad sick? Is he hurt?”
Jiyu's voice trembled violently.
Alan is in the morgue. Your father had high blood pressure, you know that, right? They say he seems to have collapsed right as he was getting out of bed. A motel employee found him while cleaning in the morning and called 911 immediately, but he was already…. The doctor concluded it was a heart attack, but since it was revealed he was involved in the Ponzi case, they might perform an autopsy just in case…
Ae-jeong, who had been rambling frantically, abruptly stopped talking.
Jiyu couldn't comprehend the words she had just heard.
Morgue? Heart attack? Autopsy?
“What are you talking about? Why are you talking as if Dad is dead…?”
Silence flowed through the phone.
“He's not, right?? Tell me he's not, quickly!”
But Ae-jeong said nothing.
“Mom, what do we do about Dad….”
Jiyu, who had never cried out loud even as a child, wailed and screamed.
She hadn't known that the sight of him turning away with a smile and bloodshot eyes a few days ago would be the last time.
“Without Dad, how are we supposed to live now?”
It didn't feel real that Alan, her father, no longer existed in the world. She felt like a buoy drifting on a dark night sea after its rope had snapped.
He, who would laugh hollowly and do whatever Ae-jeong wanted and shower Jiyu with unconditional love, had been their roof and their anchor. His quiet presence only hit her deeply now that he was gone.
Ae-jeong murmured in a choked voice.
The living… somehow… find a way to live.
Then, she steadied her voice.
I'll ask Hunter's mother to look after you tonight, so wait for her.
Though she couldn't be seen, Jiyu shook her head. She didn't want to be alone in this house.
“Can't I go there too?”
It's too late. And even if you come here, you'll just cry; you won't be any help. I don't have the capacity to comfort you right now. So wait at home.
Ae-jeong spoke firmly and hung up.
Looking down at her phone in despair, Jiyu tried calling back, but Ae-jeong didn't answer. That's when she noticed Alan's coat draped over the armrest of the sofa.
It was an old fleece jacket he often wore when going for walks. With trembling hands, Jiyu pulled the jacket toward her. She buried her face in the garment whose owner had vanished forever. It still smelled like her father. Tears burst forth once again.
Just then, the doorbell rang. It couldn't be Ae-jeong, who was at a hospital in Long Island. Wiping her tears, she stood up slowly and opened the front door. As expected, it was Lauren.
Seeing her clutching Alan's fleece jacket, sobbing with a blotchy face and a throat too tight to even greet her, Lauren sighed with a pained expression.
[Oh, goodness, what on earth to do about this….]
Then, she pulled Jiyu close and patted her back.
[I came after hearing from your mother. Olivia, stay at my house until your mother comes back tomorrow morning.]
[I'm okay….]
Jiyu answered weakly, her head bowed.
[I'm not okay. I can't go back up leaving you here alone. Come with me. Just pack the essentials in your backpack and come out.]
Lauren urged her kindly, but firmly.
✾ ✾ ✾
It was her first time visiting the Hamilton residence so late. Lauren, who had initially taken her to a grand guest room with a living room on the penthouse floor, hesitated for a moment and muttered.
[I don't think this is the right place. Especially on a day like today.]
The guest room in the spacious penthouse, surrounded by cool floor-to-ceiling windows, was too large and desolate. Keeping her arm around Jiyu's shoulder, Lauren descended the stairs toward the family floor.
[There's a small guest room next to Daisy's room. It's where Rosa stayed when Hunter and Daisy were babies. Sleep there tonight.]
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