68| MORE PROMISES

Frema shook with tears as she caressed her son's hair. Eron had set everything right and the truth was finally out in the open. He had just kept the properties and everything else to multiply everything tenfold. Maybe at first, his plan had been revenge but when he had said he changed, it was actually for real. Everything about him was real and now, it was too late to say sorry. Too late to make anything right. Eron might have died alone, but he'd taken a part of her to his grave while he was at it. A part she was afraid she would never be able to recover. So, the tears flowed down her cheeks until she had to hide her face in her palms as she cried uncontrollably. The boys were asleep, so she tried to be as quiet as possible, but she still got nudged by a small arm after a while. She wiped her eyes frantically and took her time while looking up.

Josh spoke first, "Are you okay, mommy?" She nodded immediately, flashing a fake smile in his direction. Josh did not seem convinced. He caressed her face in silence for sometime before asking again,

"Is it about daddy?" Her head snapped up at the question and after staying still for a period of time, she shook her head no, unable to summon the courage to speak as she was sure that she would break into tears. "Mommy, I want to see daddy, please? I just want to know if he's okay, mommy.. please?" He begged and her heart broke into more pieces when a tear slipped down his cheek.

"Joshie..." She mumbled, her voice hoarse from how long she'd cried. Her own tears began to fall and she hated herself for being so weak in front of her children, but she could not help it.

"I miss him, mommy. I'm sorry if he did something bad, but I really have a bad feeling and I want to see if daddy's fine." He cried, trying to wipe off his mother's tears while at it. Frema heard her other son sniff from behind her and if she thought she was hurting before, she was in real pains now. She turned to Drake who lay on a different bed from his brother but opposite him. She wiped his face and just stared at him.

"Mommy, is daddy okay?" Drake asked this time, his eyes pleading for the truth. Frema wanted to rush out and go to Riley, ask her to break the news to the boys in the best way possible, because her heart couldn't take it.. but she couldn't bring herself to do it so she sat there and prepared herself to break the news.

"I..." she started, then looked up at both boys again. Josh took her hand in his hot one. He was still running a fever and Frema's heart dropped again. What if the news made it worse? "Your daddy... Your daddy died today." She finally revealed and they both reacted differently to the news, as expected. Drake broke down in loud sobs, but Josh just sat there, unmoving.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Frema sobbed guiltily. She couldn't stop thinking that it was her fault. In a way it was, wasn't it?

"Can we go see him tomorrow? His... corpse, I mean." Josh pleaded and Frema nodded, then carried a sobbing Drake in her arms, before putting him down on Josh's bed where three of them snuggled together.

Silent tears rolled down Josh's cheeks. "Please don't leave us, mommy. Promise me you won't go like daddy." He begged in-between sobs and Frema replied,

"I promise. I promise." She pecked their foreheads and they all cried themselves to sleep. They didn't see the shadow that watched them from outside the window, neither did they notice the flash that brightened the room at midnight—indicating that a picture had been taken. Someone was watching.

________________

Frema's face grew downcast as Liam relayed the news about Eron being transferred to the mortuary.

"They won't be seeing him until his funeral. And even then, he's burnt and unrecognizable, so I doubt it would be worth it." Liam said quietly, his lips set in a thin line. Frema had no tears to cry anymore, so she just stood there and took the news and when it was time for Liam to leave, she only stood there, watching him go.

Riley came up behind her and hugged her from behind. "I'm here." She muttered and Frema came out of her trance, hugging her back against her.

"Um, you might want to stop hugging me so tight." Riley mumbled, chuckling slightly. Frema let her go immediately and swirled around.

"I'm sorry." She offered right away. Riley waved it off, but still picked up her bucket and threw up into it. It was then that Frema spared a proper look at her friend. Her sharp brown eyes were now so dim, too dim for Frema's liking, but she could do nothing but stare.. hoping. After throwing up, she threw a mint gun into her mouth and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Frema said nothing about it, letting her hide for now, but she could not help how her eyes went over her friend's body. Riley's clothes were becoming oversized now. The plain top and jeans she wore now looked so awkward on her that it was almost clear that she was struggling with an illness.

"Let's go sit, I need to gossip with you. And also apologize." Riley said, and Frema let her pull her to a seat before asking,

"Apologize for what?"

"For everything bad I said about your relationship with Eron. I kind of always knew that his feelings for you were genuine but at the same time, I didn't want you to get hurt, so I said those things about him. Convinced you to give his ring back to him and stuff. I really wish I could turn back the hands of time. Moments like these is when I wish we would have stopped to think about our decisions some more before implementing them." She said and sighed. Frema shook her head, taking both of her friend's hands.

"Look, you will not blame yourself for this, okay? It's not your fault. Everything just happened, and I'm sure there was nothing we could do to prevent it." Frema spoke, looking into her eyes. Riley nodded, then Frema continued, "Promise me you won't leave me too, Riles. Please. I cannot be left alone." She begged with tears in her eyes. So she could still cry, after all. Riley nodded to what she'd said, but her smile did not reach her eyes as she promised,

"I'm not going anywhere, Frema."