After reading Mateo’s letter, Veronica felt that her nose was sour while the sharp pain in her heart was threatening to suffocate her. As she looked at the neat handwriting, she could envision the Mateo Elrod that was full of vigor in her mind.
He was originally a cheerful child and could have lived a relaxed life, but Crayson had burdened him so much that his shoulders could not sustain the weight. It caused Mateo to remember that kind of ‘pain’ for the rest of his life, which resulted in his sunny disposition being overtaken by darkness.
It was also on this day that ‘Zac’ led his people to the harbor and boarded the ship that was prepared by Dominik to leave the hidden clan. Once they left, Veronica personally buried. Crayson, Randy, and Hayley in the same cemetery as Tiffany.
Matthew was still injured, so he was recuperating at One Piece Restaurant. She was the only one who went to settle their funeral rites. As she looked at the pictures on their tombstones, she sighed deeply before she said, “May your souls rest in peace.”
She stood in front of Crayson’s tombstone and looked at the picture of someone with gray temples and a white beard. Eventually, her vision was blurred as tears swam in her eyes.
Her mind replayed the scenes of her and Crayson together-be it the moments of happiness, childish play, or the time when she was lectured and punished. No matter which scene it was, it all left Veronica heartbroken.
He regarded her like his own daughter while she thought of him as her elder. Even though they were not blood relatives, he was like one to her. Such an ending was not what anyone expected.
“You are too stubborn and too childish. You will even use any methods possible to achieve your goals. If it hadn’t been for this, we would have been like how we were back then. I’d grab your beard and call you names like old geezer and such, while you’d chase me and threaten to give me a good spanking. I’d have served you until your old age and in return, you’ll be able to witness me having a career and my own family. But…”
She refused to continue further as she collapsed onto her knees and bowed. “Thank you for your guidance. If we say adieu today, I won’t have any chance to visit you anymore. If there is an afterlife, we better not meet each other again.” She rose to her feet and went to Hayley’s tombstone where she kneeled and bowed “Thank you for your kindness.”
At that, she got up and glanced at the tombstones that belonged to Randy and Tiffany. Her heart grew heavy, but she turned and left without saying anything to them.
Two days later, Matthew, Veronica, and the others prepared to leave the hidden clan. However, on the day before they left, they accompanied a mysterious woman in red to the research center located in the west zone where they stayed for a full five hours before leaving.
When they were about to board the ship, Dominik brought a group of people with him to personally bid Matthew and the others goodbye. As soon as Dominik looked at Matthew, the two of them walked away from the group as they avoided the crowd on purpose.
“What’s up?” Matthew asked. Dominik glanced at Veronica, who was not far away. “Did you and Veronica visit the research center in the west zone yesterday?”
Matthew originally thought that nobody knew about it, but he never expected that Dominik would be made aware. I’m impressed that you found out so quickly.”
“Mother always thought that I was oblivious to the research center in the west zone, but I already knew about it about ten years ago. The secret passage under the research center leads to a secret room where there are venomous insects. I went to take a look, but the insects are all dead. What happened?” Dominik queried.
Matthew took out a cigarette and offered it to Dominik. Then, he sighed and elaborated, ‘Roni had her memories partially sealed by Crayson. There are little venomous insects inside her body, so to prevent them from affecting her in the future, I went to the secret room and used the queen to lure the little ones out.”
