Chapter 271: Brilliant Fireworks Filling the Sky

Chapter 271: Brilliant Fireworks Filling the Sky

Hayden was covered with a white sheet.

The stretcher was lifted down from the ambulance by the medical staff.

Victoria had them carry it to the bedroom where Hayden used to live.

Then she kept thanking the medical staff, saying they'd worked hard. She gave each person a red envelope for the trouble of making this trip on New Year's Eve.

The medical staff were deeply moved. After accepting the red envelopes, the driver told her as he was leaving, "Ms. Gonzalez, thank you. You're a good person, and good people get good karma."

Victoria smiled bitterly, seeing them off as the ambulance left the villa..

Was she a good person?

Do good people really get good karma?

Victoria used to firmly believe that good people get good karma.

But her father had helped so many people, sponsored so many poor students, built schools and hospitals, donated huge amounts of money every year.

He did charity work.

By all rights, her father should have been enjoying his golden years.

But instead, illness, car accident, falling from a balcony, dying on New Year's Eve.

Suffering had never left their family.

A loud boom came from the sky.

Victoria looked up.

Fireworks filled the sky, blooming in large clusters.

The fireworks were beautiful.

In the sky, there were colorful displays in all kinds of shapes.

As if welcoming the arrival of the new year.

Victoria felt hollow and weighed down.

The sound of fireworks kept rising in her ears.

She dragged her heavy, tired feet back to the villa.

Along the winding spiral staircase, Victoria climbed up step by step, as if walking on knife edges.

"Hayden, Hayden, Hayden, how did you end up like this? Hayden, wake up, wake up!" From the bedroom came Aria's wailing cries.

Victoria walked to the doorway and, under the harsh lights, clearly saw Aria lying over Hayden's motionless body, shaking him, pushing him, and crying out.

Aria's crying was heartbreaking.

But it was drowned out by the fireworks outside the window.

Seeing Hayden motionless, Aria heard footsteps.

She turned around and saw Victoria standing numbly at the door.

Aria ran over, grabbed Victoria's shoulders with both hands, and shook her, crying out, "Victoria, what happened to your father? His body is cold, there's no warmth. No warmth at all."

"Mom..." Victoria looked at her, opening her mouth but not knowing how to comfort her.

Victoria paused, then said, "Dad was suffering so much while alive. Let's just think of this as his release, that he's gone to heaven to live a good life. In heaven there's no pain, he can talk, he can walk."

She was comforting her mother, but also comforting herself.

She wanted to tell herself not to be sad.

Don't be heartbroken.

Sadness and heartbreak are just emotions.

Emotions are mere illusions.

Hayden had gone to heaven to enjoy blessings.

Living meant lying in bed, taking medicine every day, suffering.

Watching her being tormented while he could do nothing.

For her father, this was undoubtedly mental torture.

Because Hayden loved her so much, he couldn't bear to see her suffer.

This was more painful than killing him.

Hearing Victoria say this, Aria seemed provoked and slapped Victoria across the face.

Victoria lost her balance and fell against the cold wall.

The back of her head hurt terribly from the impact.

But she was already numb.

She looked up at Aria, furious and completely broken down, shouting through tears, "You're so heartless! How can you say such outrageous things? Has your conscience been eaten by dogs? Don't you know how good your father was to you? What do you mean he went to heaven to enjoy blessings?"

"If heaven is so great, why don't you go?"

"I think you've been hoping your father would die all along. You think he's a burden, you think we're all your burden! Victoria, you're so ungrateful! You've disappointed me so much! Because you married Martin and your own life isn't going well, you've dragged your father down too! The one who should die is you, not your father!"

Victoria's heart felt crushed, painfully suffocating.

The one who should die was her.

Not her father.

Victoria wasn't angry. She thought Aria was right.

Seeing Victoria's silent appearance, Aria cried in anger, wiping her tears as she ran out.

Outside the window, the fireworks were still blooming.

Victoria went to get a basin of hot water, then put a brand new towel in it.

After the towel got wet, Victoria bent down, wrung it out, and holding the steaming towel, wiped Hayden's palms, which had long lost their warmth.

Victoria lowered her eyelids, wiping carefully and thoroughly.

She didn't speak or cry.

Hayden was gone, so let him go peacefully.

If she cried as Aria did.

If Hayden's spirit came back and saw this, he wouldn't be able to leave.

He had already lived such a hard life.

She couldn't make him reluctant to go.

He had finally found release.

Hayden's palms were large and broad.

When she was little, Hayden would hold her hand—his large hand enveloping her small one.

She was truly unfilial. Hayden had provided her with over twenty years of carefree life, like a flower in a greenhouse.

But when she grew up, she hadn't had time to repay his kindness.

And he was gone.

In such a tragic way, such a painful way.

After wiping Hayden's palms, Victoria wiped his face.

This was fate.

Victoria used to not believe in fate. She thought man could conquer nature.

People who believed in fate were just making excuses to give up.

Now she had been slapped in the face by reality.

To ensure her parents could live comfortably after her death, how many compromises had she made, how much effort had she put in?

In the end, she had sacrificed herself, and her father was gone too.

If this wasn't fate, what was it?

When people reach a certain age, they feel an invisible hand behind them, pushing them to where they should go, to meet the people they should meet, to repay the debts they should repay.

Hayden must have owed her from a past life. Their father-daughter bond was thin.

He had repaid it and passed away. She couldn't keep him even if she wanted to.

Outside the Gonzalez Villa.

Martin drove alone to the Gonzalez Villa.

He saw the sky full of brilliant fireworks and the endless sound of firecrackers.

Last year at this time, the Gonzalez family was just as lively.

But now, it was unusually quiet and desolate.

Martin saw that the iron gate was tightly closed.

He took out his phone and dialed Victoria's number.

Martin was very concerned about Victoria. He wanted to be by her side, to accompany her through the darkest moment of her life.

This was Martin's subconscious behavior. Revenge, grudges—he couldn't think about any of that now. He only knew that he was Victoria's husband, and he had the responsibility and obligation to accompany her, protect her, and watch over her.

The phone rang intermittently, one tone deep, one tone shallow.

Martin's heart tightened. Why wasn't she answering? In the past, Victoria would answer instantly.