[A/N: Don't worry, you haven't accidentally jumped into another story.]

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"Why is life always so cruel?"

Lucas muttered the words under his breath as his black suit clung to him as the rain cried along with him.

He was at his parents' funeral, more specifically, his mother's. He had turned eighteen only a few months ago.

It should have been the start of something bright but all he could see ahead was gray.

Lucas never had much of a social life or anything grand to brag about. But he had a family and that was enough for him.

A mother who greeted him every morning with a warm smile.

A father who was calm, patient and kind.

He had always been happy with that simple life.

Until that day… the day everything changed.

It began quietly.

His father had woken up acting strange and the first thing he did was—start smoking, it was something he never did at home.

He even asked strange questions. About Mom. About whether she had been "acting weird lately."

Lucas hadn't understood any of it.

He had never seen his father like that. His parents had been together in high school, they had eloped immediately after graduation and had him when they were just nineteen.

And now, nineteen years later, they were supposed to be celebrating their anniversary. It should have been a happy day.

But instead, his father had looked at him with haunted eyes and asked questions no son should ever hear.

"Did you… see your mother with another man?"

For a moment, Lucas thought he misheard.

Then the meaning sank in. Rage boiled up before he could even stop it.

He shouted words out without thinking, his voice hurt.

How could he?

How could Dad even say that?

The man who had always spoken softly about her.

The man who smiled every time Mom laughed.

And now… this?

"How could you even ask that, Dad?"

But his father didn't answer. He just sat there like a stranger wearing his father's face. For the first time, Lucas saw him as something completely different.

Not the man he admired.

Not the hero from his childhood stories.

Not the one who used to brag about his high school days and how he had "bagged the most beautiful woman on earth."

No.

All Lucas saw now was a pathetic man.

And the sight of him, that empty and broken version, made his stomach twist.

It repulsed him.

"I don't want to see your face."

That was all he managed to say before his father turned away and stormed out of the house.

The door slammed and the silence returned.

For nearly half an hour, Lucas just stood there, unsure whether to follow or shout or do something.

But then the front door opened again.

His mother stepped in.

Her umbrella dripped water onto the floor and there was that familiar smile on her face… only this time, it looked wrong.

"Lucas," she said softly, her tone trembling, "we need to go."

He blinked. "Go? Why?Where?"

"Your father has gone mad," she said quickly. "He's accusing me of something I never did."

"What are you talking about, Mom?" Lucas asked.

But she never got the chance to answer.

The front door opened once again and his father stepped inside.

This time, there was a wide smile on his face which looked wrong and terrifying.

Rainwater clung to his hair and in his hand shone a sharp knife.

"Everything will be okay if I do this," he said quietly.

"This is the beginning."

"Yes… I'm just making everything correct."

"I need to do this."

Each sentence came out frantic, his words becoming more incomprehensible with every second.

And then, he moved with the knife, toward Lucas's mother.

Lucas moved on instinct. There wasn't any time to think. He threw himself between them, arms outstretched, trying to shield her.

But his mother's hands were faster. She pushed him aside.

"Run, Lucas.."

Her voice trembled, choked with tears that slipped down her cheeks and yet, through it all, she was smiling.

That same soft, motherly smile she always wore when he was scared as a child.

Then the knife struck.

It pierced straight through her chest. Her body trembled. She collapsed in his father's arms… and that impossibly gentle smile still present on her face.

For a moment, everything stopped for Lucas.

The world fell silent.

No sound.

No smell.

He could barely breathe.

Even his father's ragged sobs sounded distant like echoes from somewhere else.

Why…?

Why was this happening?

Why now?

"YOU BASTARD!!!"

Lucas's raw and desperate scream echoed through the silence.

His father stood there, staring at him. Not with anger or with guilt. Just that same, strange, distant look as if he was seeing something Lucas couldn't.

"It was necessary," he said softly.

Then, without another glance, his father turned and ran.

Lucas moved, his body dropping to his knees beside his mother. Her body was still twitching with shallow breaths.

A cough escaped her lips, spilling blood.

.

"Mom…" his voice cracked. "Let me call an ambulance, please, just hold on. Don't leave me, please."

His hands shook as he reached for her, pressing against the wound like he could somehow stop the bleeding.

Her fingers brushed his cheek, weak but warm.

"It's… cough… too late, Lucas."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Your father… he has gone mad," she gasped, tears mixing with the blood on her lips.

"He accused me of… of cheating with a man I have never even met."

Lucas shook his head frantically. "No… no, don't talk like that. You'll be fine, Mom, please…"

But she only smiled, faint and tired.

"Please… live a good life, my son."

Her voice trembled, each word softer than the last.

"Mom is always with you and you… you are the best gift the world has ever given me."

Her hand stayed on his cheek for one a second longer, then it slipped away.

The warmth faded from her fingers and the world went utterly still again.

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