Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Chapter 248: Woven for Tartarus

Lily broke the silence of the mansion as she slid her boots down the wheelchair ramp until she stopped at its base. "Wee!"

"Mom," she said in a loud voice and began clapping as she turned toward the sitting room. "Mom, are you still in the sitting room?"

"Where else would you have left me?" Li Mei said, then shook her head. ’This child of mine.’

Lily slapped the sitting room’s door before bursting into the room, shaking her waist and arms. She flopped down on the floor in front of the wheelchair and pressed her cheeks against Li Mei’s knees.

"Why do you become so loud every time you exit from your room?" Li Mei asked while waving her right arm in the air, trying to place it on Lily’s head.

Lily giggled when Li Mei’s fingers touched her ears. "Because Leon is not here for me to disturb, so I will disturb everyone in this building."

"Try and be quiet sometimes," Li Mei said when she felt the warmth of Lily’s face.

"Quiet?" Lily said and frowned slightly. "I can never be quiet, unless you sing me one of your songs. Hehe."

"You’re trying to bribe me," Li Mei said and shook her head. "But I won’t accept."

"Please," Lily said with a wide smile on her face, then wrapped her hands around Li Mei’s lap. "I promise to be quiet after that. Just one song."

Lily’s face glowed with joy when Li Mei’s lips began to move. "La llorona."

Her cheeks bloated when she realized she had sung it out loud instead of in her head.

"You said you’ll be quiet," Li Mei said and shifted her gaze to Lily, stopping herself from singing.

"It wasn’t me, mom," Lily said while slowly brushing her fingers on Li Mei’s palms. "But how did you know it was me?"

"Because I gave birth to you," Li Mei said in a calm voice. "I know every sound that comes out of your little mouth. Even when you’re far from me."

Lily pressed her face against Li Mei’s lap and began fake sobbing.

"Your fake sobbing sounds will not let me weave, so stop," Li Mei said and placed her left palm on Lily’s head, then stroked it once.

The moment Lily lifted her head, she frowned and squeezed her little lip. She pulled herself from Li Mei’s palms, then began brushing her fingers on the newly woven cloth with its mixture of red and gold threads.

’I can finally use this one since Leon took the last one mom wove,’ she said in her head while a mischievous grin formed on her face.

Lily picked up the cloth and tried to place it behind her back, but stopped when Li Mei grabbed the other end and stretched it out. "Lily."

"Mom," Lily said in a low voice as she slowly returned the cloth back to Li Mei’s lap. "Isn’t this one mine?"

A faint smile appeared on her face the second Li Mei lifted her sightless gaze to her, but she frowned when Li Mei shook her head once.

"Why does brother have to get all the good ones and I get nothing?" Lily said, then folded her arms across her chest and sighed.

Li Mei lifted the cloth, then giggled. "This would be far bigger than you."

"I won’t be this short when I grow up," Lily said as she stepped closer and stretched herself, trying to reach the top of the cloth.

"Yours will be ready when that time comes," Li Mei said and lowered the cloth back to her lap. "Leon needs it now more than you will in the years to come."

For the first time, Lily stood there straight for thirty seconds without making a sound. She moved forward and sat in a lotus posture in front of Li Mei. ’But brother hasn’t responded to me or Aunty Zoe. How did mom know he needs the cloth now?’

"Mom," Lily said while slowly brushing her fingers on Li Mei’s toes. "How did you know brother needs it now?"

Li Mei shifted her sightless gaze to the window while the rays brightened her face, then inhaled deeply. "He told me yesterday."

Lily’s head snapped up as she pushed herself to her feet. "How?"

"The same way I felt when your father was no longer in the world," Li Mei said while the warmth on her face began to wither.

The moment two tears trailed thin lines down Li Mei’s cheeks, Lily wrapped her arms around her waist and hugged her.

Lily’s head snapped back when footsteps echoed from behind the sitting room’s door.

"Zoe," Li Mei mentioned the name even before Zoe could place her palm on the door and push it open.

"Yes, Aunty," she answered, then moved toward Li Mei and Lily. She glanced at the new look on Lily’s face, then shook her head with a smile.

Lily loosened her grip on Li Mei when she felt her arms moving.

"Take this," Li Mei said and raised the cloth toward Zoe’s direction.

Zoe stretched out her arms, took the cloth, then folded it nicely before shifting her gaze back to Li Mei. "What is this, Aunty?"

Li Mei’s chest rose and fell as a cough escaped her. "It’s for my son."

’She made this for Leon?’ Zoe said in her head as she shifted her gaze to the cloth, then back to Li Mei’s face. "You made this for him?"

"He will need it," Li Mei said mid-cough. "It has to reach Agatha by morning so he gets it before he sets off."

Zoe gestured for Lily to get some water, then crouched down in front of Li Mei. "I will send it once Lily brings the water."

"No, just go send it to him," Li Mei said while waving her right arm. "I will be fine under Lily and Min-seo’s care. Go."

Zoe’s gaze lingered on Li Mei’s for a while before she straightened herself, then walked out holding the brown bag with the folded cloth resting inside.

Countless birds’ chirping lingered in the late morning sky as she walked toward her silver Ferrari 250 GTO and slid inside. "Leon, I’m coming to you."

When Lily came back to the sitting room holding the water, she shifted her gaze to the glass wall, then frowned once. "Mom, where is Aunty Zoe going?"

Li Mei’s fingers wrapped around the ceramic cup, then she smiled. "She is going to your brother."

Lily shifted her gaze back to the glass wall, while her frown slowly transformed into a wide smile.