Chapter 88: What Could Love Be?
Chapter 88: What Could Love Be?
The Wrights got into the car and drove home in silence. No one mentioned Victor; they were still in shock over his actions and the fact that they had never truly known who their beloved son and brother really was.
When they got home and the gates opened, Melissa fell to the floor.
“Daddy… they said Lydia was dead!” she cried out, wailing loudly as her father hugged her tightly against his chest, unable to say a word.
He carried her into the house, and soon everyone went to their rooms, none of them wanting to talk. Melissa lay in her room, crying uncontrollably. Her thoughts circled back to how Lydia had been in that very room just a few days ago. Maybe this is all a prank, she thought desperately as her head ached and spun from her wailing. Eventually, exhaustion pulled her into sleep, hoping she would wake up from this nightmare.
In Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s bedroom, Mr. Wright finally spoke.
“What do we do about Victor?” he asked.
“Please, do not bring up his name,” Mrs. Wright said firmly. “Ever since I heard he kidnapped Lydia—the girl who was like a daughter to us and a sister to Melissa—I have not stopped blaming myself. But the more I think about it, the more I realise this was his choice, not mine. I raised him with morals, and he decided to go against them. He will bear the full consequences, and I will not be seeing him ever again.”
She turned to her husband. “What about you? What will you do?”
“I’m with you,” Mr. Wright said quietly. “I’m not interested in his explanation. There’s no justification for what he’s done.”
Back at the hospital, Dennis grew restless. He could no longer wait for updates. Picking up his phone, he called Detective Philip.
“Hello, have the police been able to track Victor down?” he asked.
“Yes, we have him in custody,” the detective answered.
“What about Lydia? Where is she, and how is she?” Dennis pressed.
Detective Philip hesitated. “Dennis…”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Lydia is dead. I don’t think there’s a better way to say this.”
As soon as Dennis heard those words, his phone slipped from his hand. The noise woke his parents, who had been sleeping on the sofa.
“What is it?” his mother asked, alarmed by his tears.
“Lydia is dead,” Dennis whispered, as his mother broke down beside him. What if I had told Lydia? Would she have been safer? He thought bitterly.
The next morning, Mr. and Mrs. Joe’s flight landed. They rushed straight to the mortuary to see Lydia’s lifeless body. Julia had secretly texted Melissa, who told her parents, and the Wrights also arrived.
The moment Mrs. Joe saw the Wrights, she screamed at them to leave. Her husband held her tightly, trying to calm her down. Deep down, she knew they were not at fault—but she couldn’t bring herself to act rationally after losing her daughter.
Inside, the family identified Lydia’s body. Melissa collapsed to the floor when she saw her friend’s cold, blue body. Both Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Joe cried the loudest.
“Lydia hates being cold,” Melissa sobbed, staring at her best friend.
Mr. Wright and Mr. Joe stepped outside and began making burial arrangements.
Two days later, family and friends reunited to say their farewells. Dennis arrived with his parents, sitting in a wheelchair.
Melissa, no matter how hard she tried, could not understand when or why Victor had changed. She decided she needed to ask him directly.
She visited him in jail. When she saw him, his eyes looked different—hollow, cold.
“We buried Lydia yesterday,” she said quietly.
Victor gave no reply.
“I couldn’t understand why you killed her, so I came to ask. Lydia was like the sister I never had, and you knew that. Why did you do it? And if you could kill her… would you be able to kill me too?”
Victor finally spoke. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to kill her.”
“But you meant to rape her?” Melissa shot back.
Victor looked away, refusing to answer.
“Why did you kidnap her in the first place?” Melissa asked again.
“Because I loved her,” Victor said simply, just as an officer came to take him away.
Melissa walked out of the penitentiary with a single question burning in her mind: What could love be?
She had lost three of the most important people in her life—two killed by one of them, and now that same person justified it as love. She hadn’t even had the chance to ask why he had killed and threatened Brian, but at this point she already knew he was going to say something stupid, something like it was because he loved her or wanted to protect her and Victor was the last person she wanted to here those words from, she can't believe he caused her so much hurt at the back and comforted her at the front.
Her entire world had shifted overnight. Victor—the light who once filled her world—had shattered it into pieces. And Melissa wasn’t sure if she, her parents, or the Joes could ever heal again.