Chapter 13 For the past three days , Maxwell had no idea how he managed to survive . Time dragged unbearably slow . Every step back into the villa felt like a knife twisting into his chest - the suffocating familiarity , the silence , the emptiness . That night , he drove to the ruins of the old villa , the one that had been burned down . As if ... as if there was something left for him to hold onto . But there was nothing . The fire had devoured it all . Nothing remained but charred emptiness . At the same time , Nancy barely had the bandwidth to care about him . She was too busy figuring out how to arrange Zoey's funeral , without letting Maxwell notice , and without raising suspicion from Dr. Willow . In the end , she came up with a solution that seemed perfect . She would bring Zoey's body back to her hometown for the funeral . What she didn't know ... was that Maxwell was also headed there . After all , his mother's grave was located in the same place- Zoey's old hometown . That morning , both of them woke unusually early . Nancy glanced at him , puzzled , but assumed he was just restless and looking for an excuse to drive somewhere . She loaded everything into the car and left . Not long after , Maxwell also packed up and hit the road . The scenery outside the window was lush , green ... suffocating . The long drive wore down on him , every mile heavier than the last , squeezing the air out of his lungs . When he arrived at his mother's grave , he just stood there , unsure of how to even start . All these years ... all he'd ever done was lose things . He had lost his mother . He had lost the love and support of everyone . And this year ... he had lost the most important person in his life . Zoey . His voice came out hoarse , almost broken . " Mom ... tell me ... I was supposed to hate her . So why ... why can't I ? " Mom ... I think Zoey ... really doesn't want me anymore . " Mom ... can you ... can you do something ? Can you find a way ... to bring her back to me ? " By the end , his voice had shrunk to a whisper , cracking beneath the weight of grief . Tears that hadn't fallen in years spilled freely now , dripping onto the cold stone . It almost felt ... like his mother was quietly comforting this stubborn , pitiful son of hers . Meanwhile , Nancy arrived with an entourage , hauling in the things needed for the funeral . She told anyone who asked that Maxwell didn't care , so everything would be done as simply as possible . Dr. Willow stood there , quietly looking into the coffin . Zoey's face was still pale as porcelain . The burial clothes didn't even fit her properly . She looked like a broken doll , fragile 1/3 Chapter 13 +25 BONUS and hollow . A sudden wave of sorrow hit Dr. Willow like a punch to the chest . Everyone else treated this like some kind of transaction , but he ... he knelt down in front of her , hands trembling ' May you find happiness in your next life ... ' he prayed silently . Nancy grew impatient , but with so many people around , she couldn't lash out . She just stood there , fuming silently , watching Dr. Willow . Zoey had gradually distanced herself from her social circle after marrying Maxwell . Now , only a few people showed up to pay their respects . The atmosphere was so quiet that no one noticed the figure hidden behind a headstone . Maxwell was watching everything . At first , he couldn't tell what was going on . He was about to turn and leave when , five minutes earlier , he'd called Nancy . She answered with her voice lowered , clearly trying to keep something from him . But even then ... Even then , he still caught Dr. Willow's voice , muffled but heavy with grief . " Ms. Westbrook ... please . We really must give her a proper burial ... " The call abruptly disconnected . Then came a rustle . Not loud , but loud enough . Nancy stood at the front , barking instructions . And before hanging up , she warned everyone coldly , " No one says a word about what happens today . Not a word . " Dr. Willow kept his head down , softly muttering under his breath . Maxwell strained to listen . It was ... a eulogy . A eulogy ? For who ? A sudden wave of dread tightened around Maxwell's chest . His heart pounded . His breath became shallow . Countless thoughts raced through his head . ' No ... no , that's impossible . Just a few days ago ... she texted me . ' She told me she'd moved on . Told me not to bother her anymore . I tried to reply ... but the account was deleted . ' If she's dead ... then who sent those messages ? ' No. No. Something's wrong . Something has to be wrong . ' But the more he tried to convince himself ... the louder everything else became . The faint sobs from the few friends gathered . The whispers . The sound of Nancy swearing under her breath as she grumbled about expenses . And then ... the sharp , splintering crack of his own heart breaking . ' No. It's not Zoey . It can't be , ' he kept thinking . Maxwell had no idea how long he stood frozen in place . Long enough for everyone to leave . Long enough for Nancy to text him . 2/3 Chapter 13 [ The rehearsal's done ! Look at my makeup , don't I look pretty ? ] He opened her message . His fingers trembled . She was wearing something completely different than what she'd worn at the funeral . She lied Why ? Why lie ? Who was the funeral for ? Stumbling , gasping for air , he moved forward , the fog in his eyes growing thicker . He collapsed straight to his knees in front of the grave . There was no name engraved on the stone . Only a blurred , almost unrecognizable photo . His hand shook violently as he reached out , fingertips brushing the cold surface . And when he finally saw it clearly , he almost passed out . Because that photo was the one he'd taken of Zoey himself . Her very first smile for him . And now ... it had become her last . 1 +25 BONUS 8/3