🎬 PART 2: THE CODE OF THE DECEASED
Elena’s diamond-ringed hands began to tremble violently. She accepted the old newspaper from the child as if holding a ticking time bomb that could shatter her entire existence. The paper felt rough, cold, and heavily scented with the dust of time.
Carefully, she unfolded it layer by layer. One fold, two folds...
When the paper was fully flattened, the breath caught in her throat. The murmuring crowd completely vanished from her senses; there was only the wild, frantic thumping of her heart.
Inside the old newspaper was not a letter, but a rough pencil sketch. It captured the face of a twenty-year-old girl, laughing radiantly under a rainy shelter, her hair blowing gently in the wind. Even though the pencil strokes had faded over the years, every line and the vivid light in her eyes were unmistakable.
It was Elena from ten years ago.
But what caused her to completely break down was the bottom right corner of the drawing. There was a tiny, hand-drawn symbol: a sunflower missing a single petal, accompanied by a handwritten code: "A&M 2016".
Arthur & Mae — 2016. Mae was her childhood nickname, a name no one had called her for a decade, ever since Arthur—her fiancé and childhood sweetheart—suddenly vanished after a tragic construction site collapse. Back then, people said the corrupt contractor, who happened to be her own brother, had pinned all the blame on Arthur, forcing him to flee in shame and disappear forever. For ten years, she grew rich and famous, but she lived like a hollow shell, believing he hated her and her family, and had died miserable somewhere in the world.
THUD!
Elena’s luxury designer clutch dropped straight to the floor, spilling lipsticks and credit cards everywhere. She didn't care. Her eyes widened, staring blankly at the sketch before looking up at the boy.
Tears burst from the powerful woman's eyes, streaming down her heavily made-up cheeks. She recognized those pencil strokes. She recognized the missing-petal sunflower—the secret love code Arthur had promised to always draw on the back of every artwork he gifted her.
"Where... where is he now?" Elena rushed forward, grabbing the boy's frail shoulders, her voice cracking with intense emotion.
Looking at her tears, the boy's fear vanished, replaced by a profound sadness. "He was very sick, ma'am... He passed away three months ago. Before he closed his eyes, he handed me this sketch and told me I must survive and find you at all costs. He said... he never hated you. He only wanted you to live a peaceful life, free of guilt."
Before the boy could even finish his sentence, Elena pulled him tightly into her arms. She hugged his small, dirty frame right in the middle of the extravagant exhibition. She sobbed uncontrollably, letting out the heartbreaking cries of ten years of bottled-up grief.
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It turned out he had never hated her. He had been watching over her all along, and this child was the final soul he had left behind for her to cherish.
The aristocratic guests exchanged bewildered glances, but Elena no longer heard a thing. She lifted the boy up, letting the mud from his bare feet stain her expensive red velvet dress. She walked straight out of the luxury hall into the rain, but this time, the true light had finally returned to her heart after ten dark years.
