novelraw Chapter 375: In tears
Chapter 375: In tears
The next morning came silently.
Eden quickly flipped open his eyes like someone who had just woken from a nightmare. He let out a gasp as he sat up in bed, staring into thin air.
"You’re awake..." Leo’s voice was the first thing he heard.
Leo was sitting there in the corner of the room, awake. He immediately got to his feet when he saw Eden awake.
The others were also there—Adrian, Elvis, Lysander, and Felix. They had instantly woken up at the sound, their curious eyes on Eden.
They were extremely relieved to see Eden awake. Lysander, who was sitting beside Eden on the bed, quickly took his hands in his own. "You’re finally awake... I was worried... I was worried I’d lose you..."
Eden was quiet. He sat there staring at them as if something had gone terribly wrong. His expression wasn’t relieved, nor was it happy. It was extremely worried and panicked.
"What’s wrong...?" Adrian approached cautiously.
"What’s wrong? What’s with that expression? What happened?" Elvis asked as they all came closer.
They all stood there staring at Eden.
Eden ran a hand through his hair as he looked around. His eyes soon landed on Felix, who was standing there as well. "You..." he finally said. "Where is your father...? Where is Mr. Albert?"
Everyone was quiet and confused as they looked at Felix and then back at Eden.
"He’s in his room. But you don’t have to worry about that right now. You finally woke up, so you should..." Felix tried to calm him down.
But Eden pushed the sheet off his body and rushed down from the bed, barefoot. He didn’t care about finding his footwear or anything.
He looked like he was in an extreme hurry—like he was in a mess.
"What’s wrong? Where are you going?" Leo asked. They were all worried as they stood there, staring.
Elvis walked up to him, holding Eden down by the hand. He could see his face—he could see Eden’s eyes. They were getting watery.
"Are you crying...?" Elvis asked. "What happened...?"
They were all worried about this sudden behavior from him. They couldn’t understand.
But Eden didn’t bother explaining. He brushed Elvis’s hand away and rushed out of the room. They had no choice but to follow him.
They were curious to know what was happening to him.
Queen Elizabeth, Helen, Cordelia, and Lenny were making their way to Eden’s room to check on him that morning when his door suddenly burst open.
They were shocked to see Eden rushing out. He didn’t even bother looking in their direction. He quickly pushed past them and rushed down the hallway.
Surprised, they watched him run while staring at the men who had also followed him out.
Everyone was confused. They didn’t understand what was happening. And they guessed they’d have to follow him to understand better. So they all followed behind to see where Eden was rushing to.
---
Eden frantically ran through the hallway barefoot until he arrived at Mr. Albert’s room. He instantly pushed through the door and rushed inside.
The first thing his eyes met was him—Mr. Albert. He was lying there in bed, quietly and peacefully.
And immediately, tears ran down Eden’s eyes.
The others arrived, soon standing beside Eden as they stared at the scene. At first, they didn’t understand. Why was Eden staring at someone who appeared to be asleep, crying?
But Felix slowly walked up to his father. He sat beside him on the bed and gently tapped his shoulder.
"Dad. Wake up. It worked. Eden has woken up... wake up..." he said. But to no avail—he didn’t wake up.
Eden let out a deep sigh as he closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair as a teardrop fell. "Don’t bother. He can’t wake up anymore. He’s gone."
The words were simple, almost casual. But those words brought a crashing intensity into the room’s atmosphere.
It came with so much weight that the only appropriate reaction that could match it was silence. And so, silence filled the room.
A long, lingering, sad silence.
---
That same silence haunted the room for three days. And even when Mr. Albert’s body was quietly cremated, the silence still lingered.
And so his ashes sat in a jar in his room—sitting elegantly on the table as Felix sat down on the floor before it, watching.
He had been like that for days. No one could tell when he was going to stop. No one dared to predict. They believed it was best to let him grieve the death of his father.
And he did grieve—in the most silent way possible. He simply sat there and stared at the jar while Eden kept him company.
Eden sat down beside him, both staring at the jar of ashes.
"I don’t even have a portrait of my dad," Felix said after what seemed like a decade of silence. "I didn’t bother having any."
Eden said nothing for a while. He simply stared at the jar. "If you want, I can draw one."
"No." Felix let out a soft smile as he shook his head. "No need for that." He sighed. "I don’t think I can look at Dad. I don’t think I can ever look at him again."
Silence.
"He told me to stay with him. He told me to spend the night with him. It sounded casual, and I didn’t think much of it. But it was him asking me to spend his last moments with him." He smiled bitterly. "I feel foolish, you know."
Eden was quiet, listening to him talk after such a long time.
"Sometimes I wonder if I ever liked my dad. Sometimes I wonder if I just hate him. Or maybe I don’t really care about him at all." He sighed. "He was so detestable. There were so many reasons to hate him."
"I hate him. I really hate him. I hate him a lot more than you could ever know." But Eden sighed. "So why am I crying?"