What Separates Me and You

Lewis' gaze darkened before he bolted toward the funeral home.

There weren't many employees there, so the space felt cold and grim. An unwelcoming vibe filled the building. Not to mention, the lights were dim, and some urns sat around. Those were enough to make the space scary for anyone.

The funeral home was spacious. It had a mortuary where the people stored dead bodies. On top of that, it also had halls for memorial services and a crematory. One needed to walk a path to travel between the latter two.

Someone had held a memorial service in the next hall, so their agonized sobs and cries would occasionally ring out. Death lingered in every corner of the space.

Conrad peered at Lewis and realized the latter's face was frostier than ice. Even if Josephine were still alive, she would have died after getting placed in the mortuary for an entire afternoon. After all, it preserved dead bodies at a dangerously cold temperature.

In truth, Conrad didn't understand why Lewis was so obsessed with Josephine's dead body. After all, she was already dead. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Lewis ran into the crematory at once. Little did he expect to see his bodyguards sprawled on the floor.

Meanwhile, a conveyor belt nearby carried a familiar figure toward the fiery cremation chamber. A blinding glow came from inside the chamber. It gave the room a reddish tint.

"Josephine..." Lewis instinctively lunged toward the body. It was like when Josephine fell off the cliff. Lewis ran toward her without concern or hesitation, as if his body reacted before his brain could. Yet, before he could approach her, Conrad held him in place.

"Calm down, Chairman Alvarez!" Conrad hugged Lewis with all his might. Fortunately, Lewis' wounds hadn't healed, so he was able to hold Lewis down.

Because of Conrad, Lewis couldn't even touch the hem of the corpse's top. He stood and watched as the body became engulfed by the flames. "Let me go, Conrad!"

"Chairman Alvarez!"

"She's not dead! I need to save her! Let me go!" Lewis blew up with sheer rage as he shoved Conrad aside.

Conrad stumbled but quickly returned to stop Lewis. He bellowed, "Mrs. Alvarez's body has already entered the chamber, Chairman Alvarez! Even if she wasn't dead before, she's unlikely to survive that!" Lewis gawped on the spot. His gaze focused on the reddish glow like it captured his total attention. He froze like a statue and forgot to react. Lewis only snapped out of his daze after seeing the cremation chamber's door close. He shoved Conrad away and tried to force the doors open.

"Jos-Josephine!" He cried out desperately while prying the doors open like a panicked child. Since the doors wouldn't budge, he frantically searched the area for the kill switch.

Seeing the former in such a state made Conrad's eyes sting with sorrow.

After a while, Lewis returned to grab Conrad's shoulder. He then tremblingly said, "H-Hurry. Open the chamber because Josephine's still in there ..."

Conrad shot him a complicated gaze.

Yet, Lewis pushed him away again and turned to look at the other bodyguards. "Open the chamber now! Do you hear me? Do it now!"

As he yelled that last part, his eyes reddened. He even picked up a bodyguard and threw the latter over. "Open it!"

The bodyguards looked at each other as if thinking that Lewis had gone mad. They soon lowered their head and dared not move. Not only did they find him insane, but they were also scared he would enter the cremation chamber if they opened it.

On the other hand, Lewis behaved like an unhinged beast. He grabbed and threw several bodyguards across the room.

No one could tell if Lewis was trying to get them to open the chamber or if he wanted to make up for Josephine's death with theirs.

"Open it! Open it now!" His voice had grown hoarse as he gripped a bodyguard by their collar. There was even a hint of pleading. "S-Save her."

The bodyguards lowered their heads. None of them dared to move. Silence engulfed the room, and they only heard the cremation chamber's crackling fire sounds.

With a blank look on his face, Lewis froze on the spot. He shut his eyes, then stumbled two steps back.

Conrad instantly stepped up to support the former. A frown crept onto his face. "Chairman Alvarez."

It took a moment, but Lewis later opened his eyes and turned to look at the cremation chamber. "That looks painful. Isn't it?"

Conrad couldn't respond to that question.

Lewis waved the former away. He then walked toward the conveyor belt and sat down near it. His attention remained on the cremation chamber's doors. Conrad shot the bodyguards a look that hinted them to leave, which they immediately obeyed.

Only Lewis and Conrad remained inside the crematory.

"Conrad."

"Yes?"

Lewis gently stroked the cremation chamber's doors. His voice had regained its calm by then. "Find Kiran and Yannis, no matter what it takes."

Conrad nodded. "Yes, Chairman Alvarez."

"I want them to know how it feels to be burned alive."

"Understood."

Even now, Lewis believed Josephine was still alive. A better way to put it was he refused to accept the truth. He blamed everything on Kiran and Yannis, thinking the two had burned her alive. That was the first time Conrad felt pity for the powerful man before him.

"Josephine will never forgive me now that I failed to save her. She must be disappointed in there," Lewis murmured to himself.

Conrad lowered his head and didn't know how to respond.

"Have someone open the chambers now."

"Please don't try anything, Chairman Alvarez ..."

"I promised her I'd live for as long as possible." Lewis' lips tugged into a bitter sneer. Then, he shut his eyes and added, "I will keep all the promises I made to her."

Conrad secretly sighed before turning to ask someone to open the chamber.

An employee soon came with a tray. He looked at Lewis' back while he said, "Sir, the cremation chamber is currently in use. We can't open it now. Even if we do, the body wouldn't be complete anymore. I don't think the departed would want their loved ones to see themselves in an unideal state."

After that, he stepped closer with the tray. "Sir, please wait for an hour. These are the departed's belongings. Please check if they're accounted for."

That was when Lewis' head whipped over to see the items on the tray. There was a set of clothes with a pendant, which he took to inspect. Then, he dumped it on the ground. Lewis picked up the shirt next. Yet, as he lifted it, something fell out. It was a white smartwatch.

Lewis was briefly stunned but bent over to pick it up. He tapped on the screen, which lit up to show a picture of Josephine's smiling face. She stuck her tongue out at the camera. Her innocent gaze was full of happiness. She seemed unburdened by life.

He then sat on the stagnant conveyor belt and went through the smartwatch's gallery.

The cremation chamber beside him continued to crackle. No one knew what he felt as he went through videos of when Josephine was alive while waiting for her body to turn to ashes.

Even Conrad, an outsider, had a heavy heart upon witnessing that. He even got slightly choked up.

Lewis was still engrossed with the photos and videos after an hour.

That was when the employee approached to say, "Sir, the process is complete."

Lewis stiffened, then raised his head to look at the employee.

The employee sensed the former's murderous stares and instinctively took one step back.

That only lasted a moment because Lewis had retracted his gaze while standing with the smartwatch. He hugged Josephine's clothes while leaving.

Lewis' every step felt heavy, like he struggled to move. He had just stepped out when his body wavered. Following that, he fell over.

"Chairman Alvarez!"