Grandpa Bale was sitting in the main seat of the living room. The moment he saw me walk in, he waved me over, signaling me to come forward, "Hendry, I've heard everything. You've suffered a lot these years."
"Tomorrow is the children's funeral. After it's over, you can leave if you wish. As for Helen, I will make her give you an explanation," he said.
I turned to look at Martha who was sitting nearby. Her eyes were red and her gaze toward me was filled with pain and sorrow.
Just then, Helen's voice rang out through the room, "It's so late, what's so urgent that you had to call me back? I'm still pregnant, you know …"
Before she finished, she noticed me standing in front of Grandpa Bale. She sneered, "Huh, so it is you. What? Tried to trick me again with that lie about the kids being dead and now you're here complaining to Grandpa? I'm telling you …"
Grandpa Bale was so furious he panted heavily, slamming his cane hard onto the ground, "You ungrateful woman! Kneel before me!"
Helen looked indignant, "I just don't get it. What did Hendry do to brainwash you both into protecting him like this? Isn't it just about money? Just because the Pratt Family bailed us out five years ago, so what?"
She continued, "In your eyes, is money more important than my father?"
Her angry shout was cut off by a loud slap from Martha, "Shut up! Are you even human? Your own children's bodies aren't even buried yet and you're out there with your lover. Helen! Is this how your father and I raised you?"
Hearing her mother's words, Helen staggered, nearly losing her balance, but still raised her chin stubbornly, "You've all been bought off by that useless coward, haven't you? Making up this garbage to lie to me!"
Grandpa Bale's booming voice exploded through the living room, "Silence!"
Helen froze. Her face turned pale in an instant. She knew, even if her mother might lie, Grandpa Bale never would.
She let out a scornful laugh, though her eyes seemed to glisten with tears, or maybe I imagined it.
"So, they're really dead? Good. They paid for my father's life …" Before she could finish, Grandpa Bale rose and swung his cane, striking her again and again.
He shouted, "You monster! You animal! If not for Hendry's grandfather, I would've died on the battlefield years ago. And five years ago, if not for Hendry's parents, would the Bale Group still exist? They were your biological children, for god's sake! You're no better than a monster!"
Helen stood stiffly in place, tears streaming down her face, "So, because his grandfather saved you, my father had to die for it? Just because they have some damn money, you all think it's okay to forget about my dad?"
Grandpa Bale froze mid-swing, clutching his chest and gasping for air, looking like he might faint. Martha frantically pulled medicine from his pocket and helped him take it.
Only then did he catch his breath, trembling as he pointed toward the door, "Get out! Get out of my sight! The Bale Family has no place for an evil woman like you!"
Helen wiped away her tears harshly and left the house without looking back.
***
The next day at the funeral, as expected, Helen didn't show up.
Standing before the children's graves, Grandpa Bale's eyes were bloodshot. He stomped his cane on the ground with a loud bang, "That unfilial woman! Today's the burial of her own children, where the hell is she?"
Martha glanced at both Grandpa Bale and me, then spoke softly.
