Samantha turned her head to where Hannah was pointing. There she saw, "Mary Chang, a loving mother and wife." Her brows scrunched up, she couldn"t think clearly. The last time that Samantha saw Mrs. Chang was during Mia"s funeral. She was clearly depressed over what happened to her very young daughter. The image of Mia"s mom wailing outside the ICU haunted Samantha, that was when the doctor announced the time of death of her daughter. But what bothered Samantha was the cause of her death. What could possibly be the cause? And it happened just a little over a month after Mia"s pa.s.sing.
Seo Joon also followed Samantha"s line of sight, "Is that Mrs. Chang? Like Auntie Mary?", Seo Joon asked while looking quite perplexed about what he"s seeing. Even though he knew about Mia"s family going abroad, there was no news about the pa.s.sing of Mrs. Chang.
"Yes. That"s Mia"s mother… look there"s even a picture, see?", Hannah pointed at the small photo beside the urn.
"But how did that happen? I thought they all moved to Country A?"
Daniel who wasn"t really familiar about the family relations didn"t know what to think of at that moment. He glanced at Samantha who also had a confused expression. Turning his attention to the staff, he asked, "Do you know what happened to this woman?"
"I am not a hundred percent sure about the story I know since I was told about it a long time ago by my senior, but have you kids heard about the Marble Road incident many years ago?", the old man asked.
Subconsciously, Daniel, Hannah and Seo Joon all looked at Samantha. She looked pale and she froze on the spot. Daniel who was next to her felt the change of her expression immediately. He put an arm around her and Samantha slightly leaned on him as the b.l.o.o.d.y and wrecked car scene flashed before her eyes once again. She had to blink a few times before she answered, "What about the Marble Road incident?"
"Well, many years ago, there were 3 drunk 13-year-olds who drove a car out on the highway and had an accident.", the old man started to recall the story off his mind.
When Hannah heard the description of the old man, she tensed up "Those girls weren"t drunk.", Hannah defended.
The old man glanced at her and just nodded, "Anyway, one of the girls died. It"s this girl whom you are visiting, am I right?"
Seo Joon, Samantha and Hannah nodded.
"The Chang family"s business was in a bind after that incident and the media attacked the families of the three girls who were involved in that accident. If you remembered, the news was big that a lot of people knew about it, after all, they were all kids and one of them even died. Mr. & Mrs. Chang were both pitied and attacked by the people."
"What do you mean? I understand that people will pity them but why were they attacked? They were the ones who lost a child.", Samantha couldn"t help but question.
The old man shrugged, "Some people just don"t think the same way. I was also surprised that people blamed the victim and the family of the victim instead of feeling sympathy."
This information was something new to Samantha, Seo Joon and Hannah. During those times, they were too focused and worried about Samantha"s state so rumors about other people were brushed off.
"What did they say?", Daniel asked.
The old man looked at their group and focused on Daniel who just asked the question, "They were saying that it"s the child"s fault for having no sense of danger and for being too reckless while driving without a license and of course because she was a minor. Others were saying that the parents were too busy with their business that they couldn"t handle their reckless child and that they should be blamed for their child"s death because they didn"t bring her up well."
All four of them were disgusted to hear the comments and accusations of the people back then; they sure have very imaginative minds. But then again, if that happened in the present where the media and social networking sites are very updated about the latest happenings, It would be very difficult to cope up with,
"But that"s not true, Mia is a very good kid… it wasn"t her fault! It was-"
"We all know what the truth is." Hannah was interrupted by Samantha as she didn"t want her best friend to spread any more stories about the past; it doesn"t matter if it"s true or not.
"So what happened to Mrs. Chang?" Samantha continued.
"I heard that she got very depressed and couldn"t take her daughter"s death and the people"s accusations. Maybe she had somehow thought that it was her fault why her daughter died so in the end, she took her own life."
Samantha was shocked by what she heard, "S-suicide?", she stammered. She never thought that Mrs. Chang would ever do that.
After learning about what happened with Mia"s mother, the mood in the room was even more depressing. Samantha had finally gathered up the courage to face Mia after feeling so guilty for a very long time. She was ready to move on but what about now after knowing this piece of news? How was she supposed to take something like this?
After Samantha had placed the pen drive which contained all the videos and audio recordings that they made and the picture in Mia"s storage, the keeper left the room.
Everybody was quiet and Samantha just thought of things to say but there was no way that she could make it better. All this time, she thought that Mia had died and her family grieved then moved on, but… it wasn"t only one life that was taken. There were two… and it was all because of that accident. Samantha couldn"t help but feel extremely pained. Two lives are gone and will never return.
"Aunt Mary, I am sorry.", those were the only words that she managed to utter. Looking at Mia"s Urn, Samantha touched the gla.s.s cover. "Rest in Peace, Mia."
…
In a black and heavily tinted van in Country R, a man with a dark expression was sitting inside while he looked out the window.
The side door of the van opened and a middle-aged man entered, "Master, we found her.", he whispered to the man and reported him updates about the recent activities of the woman that she was looking for.
"Interesting. Looks like we"re going to see each other soon, my love.", he breathed in a very dangerous tone; the middle aged man felt s.h.i.+vers down his spine. "Send a very nice gift. Something that will make her remember who she"s running away from."
"Yes, Master.", the middle-aged man got off the van and walked away.
"My love, wait for me. I will see you very soon.", he spoke with a sinister smile as he played with the single stemmed rose in his hand.