She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 725

She would pack away all the emotional attachment she had projected onto Zelie and ensure she lived out the rest of her days in total comfort.

The funeral for the little girl was elegant and dignified, set in the most prestigious cemetery in Metropia. Loyce orchestrated every single detail herself.

Marcella, having lived a long life, immediately sensed the invisible wall that had shot up between Loyce and Zelie.

Sitting at the dining table, Loyce calmly outlined the funeral itinerary to the family, specifically directing her words at Zelie. No one else spoke; they simply exchanged uneasy glances.

Loyce politely asked, "Zelie, is there anything in the arrangements you'd like me to change? Anything else you want to add?"

The itinerary was flawless, executed to perfection. Zelie couldn't find a single fault. She knew Loyce had poured her heart into it. Nodding slowly, she spoke in a voice ragged from crying. "Thank you for doing this... for my baby..."

Saying the word "baby" made Zelie freeze. Instinctively, her eyes darted toward Loyce.

Loyce fell silent for a moment. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a bank card and a set of keys, sliding them across the table along with the funeral itinerary.

"I bought you a villa surrounded by mountains and a lake. The property fees are already paid in full for the next fifty years."

Zelie's eyes went wide. "Are you... kicking me out?"

Loyce pressed her lips together. "I know your mental state has improved drastically. You're completely lucid now. I noticed it the morning you woke up early to cook breakfast for the whole family."

For a brief, shining moment back then, Loyce had truly believed they could just lean on each other, licking their wounds and living out their lives as mother and daughter.

"The villa is only a thirty-minute drive from the cemetery, and the area is well-connected. It'll be easy for you to visit her."

"Also, this card has thirty million in funds deposited into it." Loyce tapped the sleek plastic. Her tone was impeccably polite, yet entirely detached. "This money is my compensation to you and your daughter."

The words were perfectly polite, but Marcella knew exactly what they meant—they were drawing a hard line. Debts paid, emotional ties severed.

Since Morris wouldn't speak openly at the table, Marcella pulled him aside later. "Loyce finally wanted a mother. It was such a beautiful thing—the two of them healing each other. What on earth went wrong?"

Unable to dodge the elderly woman's relentless questioning, Morris recounted exactly what had happened in the morgue. He finished by saying, "You know how Loyce is. Once a line is crossed, there's no going back. The words Zelie said... you can't just take them back."

Marcella, who had desperately wanted to mend the rift, fell silent. The next time she saw Zelie, she took the woman's hands in her own, her voice heavy with heartbreak and disbelief. "Zelie, the one person you should never have hurt was Loyce. We all see your suffering, and we'll never forget what you sacrificed. But no matter how much pain you're in, you had no right to drive a knife into her heart like that. When it all happened, wasn't she just a helpless orphan with no choices of her own? Do you have any idea what she's endured to survive? I thought, out of everyone in the world, you would be the one to understand her pain the most."

"I... I completely lost my mind..." Zelie buried her face in her hands, tears spilling through her fingers. "When I saw her... my baby... everything just shattered. I couldn't understand why it had to be her. Why my baby? And... and Loyce was right there, so I just..."

She couldn't finish the sentence. Looking back, that volatile mix of primal agony and blind rage terrified even her.

"We know you're hurting. We know it's agonizing," Marcella's tone softened slightly, though the reproach remained. "But no matter how deep the pain goes, you don't turn your blade on another innocent child who's been drowning in misery her whole life. Loyce has walked a harder path than any of us. The tiny sliver of hope she had left for a real family was fragile as glass. She only stepped toward you because she wanted to feel warm... not to be stabbed again."