When Elsa came back, she brought several pairs of unique shoes. Damien Vaughn had helped her unpack her suitcase at the time, so he remembered her distinctive footwear vividly.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t gone out since arriving in Veridia, and he had never once seen her wear them.
Damien Vaughn couldn’t believe his eyes. A park ranger pulled him forward a couple of steps.
"It’s you, right? You’re the family member? Come take a look, is this the person you’re looking for? There was a phone next to her. It seems like this was planned. Why would she choose to come here... Such a nice scenic area, and now she’s gone and done this, I mean, really..."
Now, Damien Vaughn had no choice but to believe it.
Elsa was lying right there in front of him, so tall and straight. But tragically, the vibrant color had drained from her face forever.
A searing pain gripped Damien Vaughn’s heart, and he suddenly, uncontrollably, collapsed.
"What’s wrong? You’ve confirmed it, right? It’s your family member? Don’t do this, you can’t collapse now. You need to take her away! Sir? Sir?"
The crowd erupted in a clamor.
Although Brandon Jacobs didn’t want to believe it was really Elsa lying over there, he had been keeping a close watch on the situation.
When he saw Damien Vaughn’s tall figure disappear, he panicked completely and stumbled over.
The sight of the figure on the ground and Damien Vaughn’s slumped form made his legs go weak, and he collapsed as well.
"What, another one? Come on, you guys! You need to take her away!"
After a chaotic flurry of activity, Elsa’s body was brought back to the park management office.
The police and paramedics arrived, confirmed she had no vital signs, and determined she had ended her own life by taking pills. The case was quickly closed.
Brandon Jacobs and Damien Vaughn sat stunned in the park management office, unable to process what had happened for a long time.
Brandon Jacobs held Elsa’s phone, which was playing the last video she had recorded before her death on a loop.
"Damien, Brandon Jacobs, hello. Don’t be sad for me. Right now, sitting in the desert, looking at the brilliant starry sky above, feeling the cool breeze as I record this for you... I’m very happy. Really. I studied medicine, so I understand better than anyone that death comes for us all. To be able to die while I’m still young and beautiful, while I’m still in control, and to let you remember me at my best forever—that’s a very happy thing."
"These past days since returning to Veridia, especially after getting to know Brandon Jacobs, I’ve felt so much love. I’m very content. To end my life at a time when I can feel love so strongly is far better than wasting away in a hospital bed. I feel my life is complete, and I hope you can sincerely see it that way too."
"I used to always think there was something wrong with me. I felt like my parents didn’t love me, and my first love pursued me only to abandon me. I wondered if I had some serious flaw. For a while, I was filled with self-doubt and fell into a deep depression and anxiety, which led to me developing breast cancer. If I had gotten to know you all sooner, if I had met Brandon Jacobs earlier, maybe things would have been different. But that doesn’t matter anymore."
"This is my life, a path I’ve walked step by step. It’s interesting that it’s different from others, isn’t it? Please don’t tell my mother just yet. I’ll be very happy in heaven. One day, I’ll meet her there, and I’ll tell her myself. Thank you for being so accepting of me all this time. I’m sorry for causing you trouble at the very end. I hope you never doubt yourselves and that you’ll always be happy. Goodbye."
After her fight with Damien Vaughn, Cecelia Archer couldn’t bring herself to go back to the Vaughn residence. She checked into a hotel and had Candy brought over.
It was the first time the two of them had stayed in a top-floor presidential suite.
Standing before the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, they could overlook the entire city’s magnificent nightscape. Candy was excited, but also felt a twinge of regret.
"Why isn’t Daddy back yet? It would be so nice if he could stay with us. We could have a candlelight dinner together, look at the view from the window together, and play games together. I would be so happy. But I’m happy now, too. Daddy said he went to work and he’ll be back to see me soon. We’ll always be a happy family forever, right, Mommy?"
Cecelia Archer was at a loss for words.
She had given Candy a beautiful fantasy, but after just over ten days, it had all become an illusion.
’If Candy finds out I’m going to divorce Damien Vaughn, she’ll have a broken home all over again...’

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