Chapter 16: Desperate Measures

Calvin found an address in the last line of Martha's will. He immediately left the room, hurrying toward his car. The twenty-minute drive to the western suburbs felt interminable. He couldn't comprehend how someone so vibrant could choose such darkness.

Meanwhile, Paula was also heading to the western suburbs, determined to secure three hundred million dollars by bringing Cecilia to the wedding.

At the cemetery, rain fell relentlessly. Cecilia lay collapsed before her father's tombstone, drenched and frail, seeming almost to vanish into the downpour. Calvin rushed toward her through the drizzle.

"Cecilia!" he called, but received no answer. Only the wind and rain responded. Finding her, he noticed an empty medicine bottle nearby. With trembling hands, he lifted her. She was so light! Panic rising, he cried, "Cecilia, wake up! Don't fall asleep!"

He carried her down the hill as quickly as possible. "Mrs. Smith, we've arrived," the driver announced as they pulled up to the cemetery. Paula saw a stranger holding Cecilia. Her anger ignited.

"You've got some nerve, Cecilia!" Paula snapped, stepping from the car, umbrella raised against the torrent. Drenched but still in her festive red gown, she confronted her daughter.

Paula froze. Her gaze fell on the medicine bottle, now blown near Cecilia. It was labeled "Sleeping Pills." Cecilia's words from days earlier echoed in her mind: "If I were to return my life to you, would you cease to be my mother? Would I no longer owe you the debt of giving birth to me?"

The umbrella slipped from Paula's grasp. She clutched the medicine bottle, staring at Cecilia, tears indistinguishable from the rain.

"You ungrateful wretch! How dare you do this!" Paula cried, her voice trembling with rage. "Your life was given by me!"

Magnus, having witnessed his mother's distress from the car, rushed over, stunned by the scene. He hadn't expected Cecilia to actually… Recovering his composure, he panicked, "Mom, what should I do? I've used all of Mr. Larke's money to start a new company."

Calvin then understood Cecilia's despair. Paula's gaze hardened. "I always said we shouldn't have had you! But your father insisted!" she spat. "Now look what you've done. You'd rather die than let us live in peace!"

She raged, "Why didn't you marry first, then die? Why!"

Calvin, his eyes red with anger, intervened. "Get out of my sight!" he demanded. "Don't make me repeat myself!"

Magnus challenged, "Who are you? She's my sister—what gives you the right?"

Ignoring him, Calvin turned to Paula. "Mom, if we don't get her to Mr. Larke soon, we're done for," Magnus pleaded, panic lacing his voice.

Resolute, Paula commanded, "Get her in the car. Even if it kills her, she must attend the wedding!"