New Life : A Second Chance

Their prescence in the front row seat also gave Lianne and Joseph some comfort. They didn\'t need to do anything. Just being there, steady, was enough for them.

As they had to stay there the entire day, Kyle would often go out and get food for the kids. It was something easy to eat, and light, like sandwiches. He even got their favourites. For Lianne, it was custard cream pie and for Joseph, it was a local fried dessert known as \'karipap\', or curry puffs. In Joseph\'s case, he liked the fillings to be of potato.

Both of them accepted his kind gesture without a thought, not even wondering how he knew what they liked eating. They were too numb.

At the end of the day, the family members started paying their respects and saying goodbye to the deceased before the casket is closed. The order was determined by the importance and closeness of the family to the deceased, so it was Stephan first, followed by the eldest son (Joseph) and remaining children.

Then, it went to the deceased parents, siblings and so forth.

Once the casket was closed, it was carried to the funeral van outside.

Family members would lead the van towards the cemetery. In this case, they could do so by foot as the cemetery was close-by.

The order of the procession was similar to that when they paid their respects.

Kyle, being just a friend, was right at the back.

Kyle watched it all with an ache in his heart.

They followed slowly behind everyone until they reached the cemetery.

Stephan had decided on a burial rather than cremation. He felt, to burn her twice, was cruel beyond words.

After the burial was over, everyone slowly started leaving.

Kyle stood at a distance, just observing everything.

Soon, Kylie\'s parents left, taking their grandkids with them. Stephan was left alone, sitting there as he stared at the fresh soil and tomstone.

Kyle turned to Kay and Sayuri, saying, "You guys go back. I need to talk to him."

They nodded.

Kyle hugged Kay, then Sayuri, and thanked them.

"I\'ll be fine," he assured them, "I have things to settle with him."

He stood there for a while, watching them go before he turned around and headed towards his former spouse.

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Stephan just sat there, staring blankly at the fresh mound of dirt.

His mind was swirling over the events in the last 48 hours, and he couldn\'t quite grasp it all.

His house was burned down. His wife was dead. His family was being threatened.

What was happening?

He found it hard to keep his grip on sanity, and not snap at his kids who were grieving so much. Luckily, his in-laws were around to help but how long could he depend on them?

It was Kylie that held them together.

And now, she was gone.

Forever.

He sighed.

"Why did you have to leave me?" Stephan cried out suddenly.

"She didn\'t want to," Kyle said, coming up from behind him.

"WHAAAAA" Stephan screamed, partly in shock at him suddenly appearing, partly due to the words Kyle had spoken.

Stephan stood up angrily, grabbing Kyle by the collar, "What the hell are you talking about? What do you know about all of this?!"

Kyle grabbed Stephan\'s wrist and pressed a few acupuncture points, making him release his hold, "Relax, Mr. Yang. I am not your enemy. I want to catch these bastards as much as you do."

Stephan\'s eyes narrowed and he took in the young man\'s figure.

Sure, he looked rather intimidating and cold, but he was still just a young boy. Hardly much older than his own son. What the hell could he do?

Donnie had killed his wife and even threatened to kill his kids.

"I don\'t need your help," Stephan said.

"Yes, you do," Kyle replied firmly, "Don\'t be stubborn. Your wife died because she was in way over her head. Do you want your kids to die because of it as well?"

"What can YOU do?" Stephan asked with a sneer, "These men are killers!"

Kyle didn\'t say a word, and showed him an ID. Stephan looked at it, his face looking puzzled. He saw a holographic badge behind Kyle\'s picture, and an emblem that looked similar to the United Nations, with the bold words "MIB" on it.

"What is MIB?" he asked.

"MIB is a secret international organisation. Our role is counter-terrorism," Kyle said with a straight face, "Our jurisdiction is worldwide, our power higher than any Leaders of State. We\'ve been investigating Donnie Yang and your wife just happened to stumble across something she should not have."

Looking at Stephan straight in the eyes, "Now, do you want to cooperate with us to catch him, or do you want to risk your kids\' lives?"

While Kyle was busy talking to Stephan, Kay was at home and gripping the report she had just gotten.

"What is it?" Sayuri asked, seeing the tension Kay was under.

Kay gave Sayuri the report. Sayuri\'s eyes skimmed over it quickly and gasped.

"He\'s the one?!"

"Yes," Kay said, "Our team triple-checked it already."

Sayuri shook her head.

Being a loyal citizen of Country Tz, Sayuri could not believe such a thing could happen in any country.

With the thumbdrive that Kyle had retrieved and the information that they had gathered over the years, they found that \'human trafficking\' was just the tip of the iceberg.

It turned out that there were also drugs, and weapons involved. The main organisation that was doing all of this, was a terrorist group that used Country M as it\'s main base.

The mastermind behind it all. The one who had started it and made it possible …

Was the Minister of Defence of Country M, Mr Syed Xavier.