UNCONTROLLABLE TEARS

CHAPTER 3 The Days After

The days after my mother's death felt like a dream I couldn't wake up from.

Everything around me looked normal, but nothing felt normal anymore.

People came into our house every day.

Some I knew.

Some I had never seen before.

They spoke quietly, walked around with sad faces, and hugged my father whenever they saw him.

I didn't understand why so many people were coming.

I only knew that every time someone said my mother's name, my chest hurt.

The day of the funeral came sooner than I wanted.

That morning, I stood in front of the mirror while someone helped me into a black dress.

I stared at myself.

I had never worn black for something like this before.

My hair was neatly combed, and my dress reached below my knees.

I looked at myself for a long time.

I didn't feel like myself.

I looked like someone who was supposed to understand what was happening.

But I didn't.

My mother was dead.

That was what everyone kept saying.

But a part of me still believed she would come home.

Maybe the doctors had made a mistake.

Maybe she would suddenly walk through the front door.

Maybe I would wake up and discover that everything had been a terrible dream.

I looked at the empty space beside me.

"Mom..."

My voice was barely a whisper.

A tear rolled down my cheek.

I quickly wiped it away.

I didn't want to cry anymore.

But I couldn't stop.

There was a knock on my door.

I turned around.

Dad stood there.

He was wearing a black suit.

His face looked tired, and his eyes were red.

For a moment, we just looked at each other.

Then he walked toward me.

"You look beautiful, Maya."

I looked down at my dress.

"Do I?"

"Yes."

He crouched down in front of me and gently fixed a small part of my hair.

I stared at him.

"Are we really going?"

His hand stopped.

"Going where?"

"To see Mom."

Dad's expression changed.

I knew immediately that I had said something wrong.

He looked away for a second before looking back at me.

"Yes," he said quietly. "We're going to say goodbye to her."

"Can she hear us?"

His eyes became watery.

"I don't know, sweetheart."

I reached for his hand.

He held mine tightly.

"Come on."

We walked downstairs together.

The house was full of people.

Everyone was dressed in black.

I held Dad's hand as we walked outside.

I kept looking around.

Some women were crying.

Some people were whispering.

Others simply stood quietly.

I didn't like it.

Everything felt too serious.

Too final.

When we arrived at the place where the funeral was being held, I stayed close to Dad.

There were people everywhere.

Some were sitting quietly while others stood around the area.

I could hear soft prayers and the sound of people crying.

Then I saw the coffin.

I stopped walking.

My heart began beating quickly.

"No..."

Dad looked at me.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head.

I didn't want to go closer.

But Dad gently held my hand and walked with me.

My mother was inside.

The woman who used to hold me when I was scared.

The woman who saved me when I fell into the pool.

The woman who always told me that everything would be okay.

Now she was lying there, completely still.

I stared at her.

She looked peaceful.

Too peaceful.

"Mom?"

My voice broke.

I stepped closer.

I reached out and touched her hand.

It was cold.

I quickly pulled my hand back.

"Why is she cold?"

Dad didn't answer.

I looked at him.

"Dad?"

He swallowed.

"She can't feel anything anymore."

I looked back at my mother.

My tears started falling.

"But she's here."

Dad pulled me into his arms.

I cried against his chest.

"She can't leave me," I whispered. "She promised."

Dad's arms tightened around me.

"I know."

"She promised she wouldn't leave me."

"I know, Maya."

"Then why did she leave?"

Dad closed his eyes.

I could feel his body shaking.

He was crying too.

"I don't know."

That was the first time I realized that Dad didn't have all the answers either.

He had lost her too.

The funeral continued around us, but I barely noticed what was happening.

I only remember the sound of people's voices.

The crying.

The quiet prayers.

The way Dad kept staring at my mother's coffin as though he was waiting for someone to tell him this wasn't real.

After the funeral, everyone slowly began leaving.

The crowd became smaller.

Then smaller again.

Eventually, it was just our family and a few people who stayed behind to help.

That was when I saw Celine.

She had been my friend since we were little.

She stood a short distance away with her mother.

When she saw me, she walked over.

"Maya."

I looked at her.

She didn't say anything at first.

She simply hugged me.

I buried my face in her shoulder and cried again.

"I miss her."

"I know."

"I want my mom."

Celine hugged me tighter.

"I know."

We stayed like that for a while.

She didn't tell me not to cry.

She didn't tell me that everything would be okay.

She just stayed beside me.

And somehow, that helped.

When we finally returned home, the house felt strange.

Earlier, it had been filled with people.

Now it was almost silent.

I walked into the sitting room and looked around.

My mother's favorite chair was still there.

Her little table was still there.

Even the cup she had used the last time she drank something was still sitting where she had left it.

I stared at it.

Nobody had moved anything.

It felt as if she had only stepped outside and would return any moment.

I turned to Dad.

"Can we leave everything like this?"

He looked at me.

"For now."

I nodded.

That night, I went into my mother's room.

I climbed onto her bed and held one of her pillows.

It still smelled like her.

I closed my eyes.

For a few seconds, I could almost imagine she was beside me.

"Mom..."

I hugged the pillow tighter.

A few minutes later, Dad came into the room.

He looked at me lying on the bed.

"You should be in your room."

"I want to sleep here."

He looked around the room for a moment before sitting beside me.

"Okay."

I moved closer to him.

Neither of us spoke.

We simply stayed there.

My father had lost his wife.

I had lost my mother.

We were both hurting.

And for that night, we were all each other had.

Later that night, after Maya had fallen asleep, Edward quietly left the room and went downstairs.

He sat alone in the sitting room.

He stared at the floor, his mind filled with memories of Natalia.

Her smile.

Her voice.

Their wedding.

Their arguments.

Their good days.

Their bad days.

Everything.

Then he heard footsteps.

He looked up.

Richard and Vivian walked into the room.

Edward's expression immediately hardened.

"I don't want to talk tonight."

Richard sat down.

"You need to."

"My wife was buried today."

"We know."

"Then you should understand why I don't want this conversation."

Vivian looked at him calmly.

"We understand that you're grieving, Edward. But there are things you cannot continue to ignore."

Edward looked away.

His company had already been struggling before Natalia's death.

He had spent months trying to keep it together.

The profits were dropping.

The expenses were increasing.

And every time he thought things were improving, something else went wrong.

He had gone to his parents for help before.

But their help had always come with conditions.

Conditions he had never wanted to accept.

Richard leaned forward.

"Your company needs support."

"I know."

"And you know we can provide that support."

Edward looked at him.

"At a price."

Richard didn't answer immediately.

Vivian did.

"You already agreed to certain things."

Edward's jaw tightened.

His mind immediately went to Elizabeth.

He had never wanted any of this.

He had loved Natalia.

He had loved his daughter.

He never wanted another woman.

But his parents had convinced him that he was doing it for his family.

They had told him that if he lost the company, Natalia and Maya would lose the life they had become accustomed to.

So he had made a terrible choice.

He had betrayed his wife.

He had gotten Elizabeth pregnant.

And he had hidden the truth from Natalia.

Even then, he could still remember the look on Natalia's face the last time she had questioned him.

"Is there another woman?"

He had lied.

And now she was gone.

Edward rubbed his face.

"I don't want to talk about Elizabeth."

Richard's expression hardened.

"You don't have a choice anymore."

Edward looked at him.

"What are you saying?"

"You have a daughter to raise."

Edward immediately became defensive.

"Leave Maya out of this."

"We're not trying to hurt her."

"Then don't bring this up tonight."

Richard sighed.

"Edward, Elizabeth and Suzita cannot remain hidden forever."

Edward froze.

Hearing Suzita's name made his stomach twist.

His daughter.

A child who had never asked to be part of this mess.

He looked toward the staircase.

Maya was upstairs.

She had just lost her mother.

He couldn't bring another woman and another child into her life now.

Not now.

Not when she was still crying for Natalia.

"I can't do this to Maya," he said quietly.

Vivian looked at him.

"You need to think about her future."

"I am thinking about her future."

"Then you should understand that your company must survive."

Edward lowered his head.

He knew what they were doing.

They were using the one thing he couldn't ignore.

Maya.

His daughter.

The only piece of Natalia he had left.

He had already convinced himself once that betraying Natalia was necessary to protect their family.

Now his parents were asking him to make another decision.

And once again, they were making him believe it was for Maya.

Edward closed his eyes.

He didn't know that the decision he was about to make would change his daughter's life forever.

He only thought he was trying to protect her.

But sometimes, the choices we make to protect the people we love can become the very things that hurt them the most.

A life that would never be the same again.