Chapter 74


    Funeral


    I was d that I didn’t have to walk the entire way to the mansion’s main building on foot. Marcus waited


    for us a little further away from the main gate. We drove away, leaving Vanessa, who looked as if she


    had gone mad. A tiny little part of me felt sorry for her. She had lost her son, and even if her braincked


    neurons, she must have suspected that he didn’t kill himself. I would love to tell her that we shared the


    same suspicions, but that would only make her me us for Can’s death more. I think we would never


    be able to guess what had caused her hatred, but especially now, that woman should be locked away


    from society for some serious treatment.


    As we entered the main building, my second favorite person in the mansion showed up-the chambein,


    Lucious Maffei. I didn’t think that was possible, but this guy looked at me with more disdain than before.


    “Hello Lucious,” I greeted him with a warm smile. “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” I couldn’t help but turn on my


    very dark sense of humor.


    Lucious frowned even more, unlike my husband, who barely stifled augh. As we walked past him, Aren


    turned around and smirked. “Oh, Lucious. You should help your mistress. If she acts like a lunatic a little


    longer, someone might call for paramedics toe over, and it will not look pretty.” The chambein’s


    eyes widened in terror. With his mouth sealed, barely restraining him from cursing us, he darted out of


    the building toward the main gate. Aren chuckled mischievously as he watched him go. I couldn’t help


    but stand on my toes and kiss his lips.


    “What was that for?” he asked, surprised.


    I shrugged. “You just think that you are sexy when you’re acting all devilish.” He leaned over my ear and


    whispered, “You make me want to do something very devilish and inappropriate…”


    I blushed and pushed him away. “Wrong time and wrong ce, Mr. Devil… You should wait until we get


    home.” I winked.


    Aren kissed my forehead. “Don’t tease the Devil, sunshine,” he said, lowering his voice as he led me


    deeper into the hall.


    Can was supposed to be buried at the Wintons’ private cemetery at the back of the garden that


    belonged to the residence. All guests were to march up the hill to participate in the ceremony and then


    go back to the main building for meals and drinks. I truly wished it was thetter part because the current


    situation was rather… awkward.


    Aren and I stood in the middle of a spacious hall among people who came to greet and express


    condolences to James Winton and Vanessa, who joined him as she walked back to the mansion. The


    rumors must have already spread since everyone looked at us with disdain, murmuring that we shouldn’t


    havee here in the first ce. Finally, it was our time to officially greet the hosts.


    Aren bowed respectfully. “Hello, Fa-”


    A hard p from James cut off his words. I gasped, my eyes restlessly shifting from James to Aren and


    back to James.


    “You killed my son,” James Winton hissed.


    His words started a wave of vicious muttering, spreading like venom within the hall.


    Aren smirked coldly, “I am your son. And I didn’t kill anyone.”


    James stepped closer, ring at Aren. “You made a promise that you would never touch Can. If you


    broke your promise” – he looked at me with eyes filled with hatred before turning his gaze back at


    Aren-“then I will break mine. Blood for blood.”


    Aren grabbed my arm and pulled me, hiding me behind his back. “Don’t even think of hurting Cora!”


    James huffed mockingly at him and turned around to greet the other guests. I watched the whole scene


    with my heart aching.


    “Are you all right?” I whispered, my hand reaching out to stroke Aren’s painfully burning cheek.


    He caught my hand before I touched him, even though he kept his cold stare locked on his father. Then I


    noticed one corner of his lips curling up, forming a vicious smirk. A secondter, I realized the whole


    scene…


    “Have you gone mad?!” Augustus’s voice thundered over James Winton and everyone around him. “How


    dare you cause a ruckus in my home!”


    James stood before him, gritting his teeth in anger, but he said nothing. Of course, Vanessa wasn’t as


    restrained as her husband. “James had every right to punish Aren for what he did!”


    she burst out in Augustus’s face while tightly wrapping her hand around her husband’s arm.


    Perhaps I shouldn’t interfere, but if she could defend her husband, so could I. “And what did Aren do


    exactly? If you are so eager to spit venom, then how about exining to everyone what has truly


    happened?”


    Augustus went pale. I knew that he didn’t care about how James treated Aren or about the way James


    threatened me; he only cared about the fact that it had happened in front of other people. He also knew


    that Can meant everything to Vanessa and that her grief had made her absolutely unpredictable and


    irrational. He could never allow her to speak freely and let the whole Winton family drown with her dead


    son.


    “Cora, my dear!” Augustus rushed my way with an apologetic smile. “We are all grieving today, aren’t


    we? Emotions can get the best of all of us, so please forgive my son and his wife, “he said, before


    shifting his gaze to Vanessa and ring at her.


    A spiteful grunt escaped Vanessa’s lips, but she didn’t dare say anything. I guessed her sanity won the


    internal battle against the desire to vent her rage on Aren and me. Too bad. I would love to hear her


    drowning in the ugliness of her son’s doings.


    Suddenly, Aren turned my way, gazing at me with sad eyes. “Sunshine, perhaps the fact that I am the


    son of that family isn’t enough to be weed here,” he imed, loud enough for everyone to hear.


    Augustus cleared his throat. “What are you talking about, Grandson?! You are an important member of


    this family!” he called out, more toward the guests around than to him.


    A brief smirk shed on Aren’s lips as the whole room filled with murmurs again. It became clear that the


    old man favored Aren far more than his son. I could see that James’s blood was


    boiling in his veins. After so many years, he could only rely on Augustus’s wealth and power, and the old


    man wasn’t eager to hand it over. I wouldn’t be surprised if James tried to assassinate his own father just


    so that he could fully get his hands on the Wintons’ money, but right now, he had to act coy and


    obedient. It must have been driving him insane to see how the son he had never cherished had grown up


    to be independent and even wrapped Augustus around his little finger.


    Finally, we all left home in a soaked in hypocrisy funeral procession. Fortunately, it was a brief ceremony


    mostly filled with the sound of Vanessa’s whining. Was I a bad human because I felt seeing Can’s


    coffin going down to the ground? I wished that he lived and suffered his long life in prison, slowly learning


    to regret everything that he did, but would he ever regret it or apologize for what he did? I doubt it…


    “Can we go now?” I whispered to Aren once the ceremony was over and people started heading back to


    the mansion. I hoped that we could skip the food and drinks and get out of this hateful ce.


    Aren stroked the back of my hand, his lips forming a crooked smile. “Unfortunately, not just


    yet.”


    “What are we waiting for?” I exhaled with frustration.


    He kissed my forehead and said softly. “Augustus has to make his move. Don’t worry, he wille


    soon… very soon.”


    Aren was right. As soon as we walked back into the hall, I could see Augustus’s eyes on us. He watched


    us as we got a cup of coffee. I wondered why he acted so strangely. If he wanted to talk to Aren, he


    could juste closer, and yet he chose to observe us, standing across the grand hall. Suddenly,


    someone else walked over, asking Aren if he could take five minutes of his time. Aren agreed and


    stepped away, leaving me alone by the coffee table.


    “Cora, would you agree to talk with me for a second?” Augustus’s voice startled me.


    As I raised my eyes from my coffee cup, I saw Aren’s grandfather standing beside me. I smirked,


    realizing that he didn’t want to talk to Aren, but he waited for the moment he could talk to me without


    Aren around.


    I nodded. “Of course, what it is that you wanted to talk about?”


    The old, cunning man cleared his throat. “I heard that you are in possession of quite a fortune… As you


    know, I’ve got years of experience in handling money. I would like to offer you an investment that could


    double your wealth,” he said, stretching his lips to a sly grin.


    I couldn’t believe it. He acted exactly as Aren predicted. He wanted me to sell the diamond and invest


    the money in his business. Was that the “move” that Aren was talking about? I bet that he would like to


    discuss the details of the investment in his private office, the ce where the evidence Aren wanted was


    hidden… But I couldn’t go there unprepared. We needed a n.


    I took a deep breath. “That is amazingly thoughtful of you, but this is the day of Can’s funeral and…”Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    He raised his hands in surrender andughed. “Oh, of course! How about meeting here in my office at


    the mansion next week?”


    “All right. I will dly meet you and listen to your advice,” I replied with a polite nod.


    “Excellent!” He sped his hands together, forming a wickedness-dripping grin.


    My inner smile was just as wicked as his. Too bad he didn’t even realize that he might have just given me


    a way to bring the whole Winton n down.