Chapter 39
I hadn't even mentioned how much cash to give the landlady when Athena turned around and walked straight toward where we'd parked earlier.
Soon enough, she came back holding a thick stack of cash and handed it to the landlady.
The landlady looked at me in surprise, then at the cash in her hands, and her eyes immediately turned red.
She choked up and lowered her head.
"Sonya, what I did to help you before was really nothing. You're giving me so much money. I'll feel guilty about this."
Although I didn't know exactly how much money Athena had, I could see that they were all hundred-dollar bills, and the stack was so thick.
If I wasn't wrong, it must be around a hundred thousand dollars.
I was surprised that Athena could pull out a hundred thousand dollars from the car, but I still nodded and smiled gently at the landlady.
"You deserve to be rewarded for your past kindness. And I remember you said your daughter was sick - maybe this can help get her some treatment."
I couldn't remember what illness the landlady's daughter had.
But because she was a daughter, the landlady's husband wasn't willing to pay for her treatment.
I figured this money should be able to help them.
The landlady looked at me, crying so hard she couldn't speak.
Actually, I didn't expect her to say anything. I just reached out and patted her shoulder, my eyes very clear.
"Your husband will find out about this soon anyway. You'd better hurry and use this money to pay the medical bills."
Sonya's eyes were gentle as she urged the landlady.
The landlady seemed to wake from a dream. She quickly tucked the money away and turned to lock up the hair salon.
Watching her hurried figure leave, I felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
I felt like before, I could only receive help from others, but now I could help others.
This shift in roles really made me feel strangely happy, and the people I was helping were those who had once helped me.
This kind of good deed being rewarded thing.
I felt that even if it wasn't happening to me, it was good that it was happening to someone else.
After the landlady left, I hurried toward Luca's house.
The house was still exactly the same as when I left - nothing had changed.
Everywhere were bottles and trash, and some furniture that Luca had smashed.
If my mother hadn't always cleaned up before, this place would be no different from a garbage dump.
After my mother left, I was the one cleaning the house.
Later, when I went to the church, I came back once a week, and just doing the cleaning would take all afternoon.
If anything wasn't cleaned properly, Luca would give me another beating.
The painful memories were just too deep in my heart.
I stood at the door, almost afraid to go in.
Athena just stood there quietly with me, not saying anything about going in first.
Until I took a deep breath, gathered my courage, and stepped inside.
All those things I'd experienced flashed through my mind again and again.
I pushed down those fears in my heart and walked toward the places where I'd hidden things.
I pulled out a small box from the hidden compartment behind the cabinet, then took out a doll from a hole in the sofa.
Finally, I retrieved one last item from behind the broken mirror in the bathroom.
Inside the box was a handkerchief my mother had once used.
The item behind the mirror was a ring my father had left for my mother.
It was just a copper ring.
With a not-very-valuable gemstone on it - it couldn't even be called a gemstone, just a piece of glass that was cut to look pretty.
Once, Luca had tried to take this ring from my mother's hand to sell it for money.
My mother gave the ring to me and used her saved-up money to say she'd sold the ring.
That's how she saved it.
After getting these three items, I couldn't help but walk around the house in circles.
Because I wanted to see if I could find my mother's cinerary casket.
That was what I cared about most.
He must have hidden my mother's ashes somewhere else.
After all, the house was only so big - if three people stood in the room, it would feel crowded.
There was no way such a large urn couldn't be found.
I sighed quietly and looked at Athena, saying, "Let's go."
I wasn't here for these things - I would never want to come to this place again in my life.
But just as Athena and I were about to turn and leave the house, I heard that voice that terrified me.
"Damn it, they didn't open today and didn't even give advance notice. Made me waste all that money on transportation."
My eyes widened, and I couldn't stop shaking.
It was a fear from deep in my memory and soul. I couldn't face Luca normally like I could face other people.
Even though I knew that seeing Athena by my side, Luca would definitely hold back.
Athena sensed my fear. She reached out and pulled me into her arms, her eyes fixed on the figure at the door getting closer and closer.
Luca's voice became clearer and clearer. "I remember I locked the door before I left. Damn it, could there be a thief?"
Luca's footsteps became hurried, just like every time he came back looking for my mother to beat her after losing at gambling.
Athena's grip on me tightened a bit, as if giving me support, and my heartbeat slowed down.
Finally, Luca's hateful face appeared before me, but surprisingly, my body stopped shaking.
When I imagined Luca's face, I would still be afraid.
But when he actually appeared in front of me, I felt he wasn't so scary after all.
He was just someone who couldn't do anything right.
Except for acting tough in front of my mother and me, he was always timid and submissive when he went out.
If he had been strong in front of others, too, my mother and I wouldn't have been laughed at by the neighbors.
When Luca saw clearly that the person in the room was me, he suddenly grinned with his yellow teeth and smiled at me sinisterly.
"I thought you'd forgotten where you came from. Now that you're with Mr. Moretti, you never came back to see me. Don't you want your mother's bone ash anymore?"
When I heard him mention my mother, infinite anger surged in my heart.
My mother didn't just die from illness. It was also because of his years of beating her.
The doctor at the time said that if my mother had gotten rest, maybe she wouldn't have died so soon.
Looking at him, the resentment I'd suppressed for so long rushed to my head.
When I came to my senses, Luca's face had already been slapped, and it was me who hit him.
Both Luca and I showed the same shocked expression. I never thought I would dare to hit him one day.
And Luca probably never thought I would dare to fight back either.
Coming to his senses, Luca showed that fierce look again.
He raised his hand high, about to strike my face.
Bang - a gunshot. I saw Luca's hand explode right in front of me.