Chapter 611: Who Might This Lady Be?
(Author’s POV)
Although Myra now believed Jacob was Fabian’s grandfather, yet she still couldn’t quite fully accept it. She stared at him without blinking, as if he had grown two horns out of nowhere.
Chris frowned, hearing their conversation. Interrupting them, he said, "Sir, everyone has arrived in the hall. The funeral can commence now."
Jacob nodded and let go of Myra’s hand. "Myra~... dear~ ... Come," he said, his voice dripping with strange familiarity as he led her toward the hall where Fabian’s funeral was going to be held.
Dion noticed Jacob’s uncharacteristic behaviour towards Myra and didn’t like it one bit. He jumped in, "Mr. Larson, I will take Myra. You should focus on the guests."
Jacob stopped, shooting him an icy glare. "Myra is one of my guests. The most important one at that. She will be standing with me."
Dion clicked his tongue. ’If Myra were to stand alongside Jacob, all eyes would automatically be on her. We have to keep her identity low-key. She can’t get noticed by those people.’ He was ready to go head-on with him when Myra spoke, "Mr. Larson, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to stand with you at the front. I will just~ ...."
Jacob looked at her, his eyes softening as he cut her off mid-sentence. "You are family to Fabian and will always be. That boy~ ..." he sighed, his eyes holding deep pain, "~.... You meant a lot to him. You should be the one to stand ahead of everyone."
Myra pressed her lips tightly and lowered her head. She knew what the indication meant. With a heavy voice, she agreed, "Alright. For Fabian~ ... I will."
Dion’s jaw locked tight as a vein bulged on his forehead. Before he could intervene, Myra and Jacob had already crossed half the room. He quickened his steps and tried to follow them, but a sudden, sharp clatter made him turn.
"WHAT THE HELL! ARE YOU AN IDIOT? CAN’T YOU SEE?" Chris’s annoyed, shrill voice cut through the air. His face wrinkled as his pristine white shirt was thoroughly soaked with sticky liquid. A girl wearing a maid’s uniform bowed her head over and over again, mouthing words of apology: "I am so sorry, Sir Shadow. I am truly sorry. I am new here. My hand slipped." Her body was trembling.
Chris gritted his teeth and looked down at his haphazard clothing, then in the direction of the funeral hall. After muttering a curse under his breath, he went to the other side to change his clothes.
Dion arched his brow, listening to the all-too-familiar voice. He narrowed his eyes as his gaze landed on the girl, then they widened.
The girl looked at him, smiled and winked, then pivoted around, walking towards the kitchen.
"So, she made it. Just as I expected," he mumbled to himself and marched towards the funeral hall in a hurry.
The closer Jacob and Myra got to the funeral hall, the more the latter felt her palms getting slick with cold sweat. She hardly knew the people around them. They were all dressed in dark, black formal attire and greeted them when they saw Jacob.
Jacob paid them no heed and just walked ahead, chin up. But Myra was damn nervous. Of course, everyone had noticed her. And she could feel countless piercing gazes on her.
She kept avoiding any eye contact with anyone. Adjusting her mask and keeping her head lowered, she followed Jacob like a tail.
At the entrance, Myra finally saw someone she knew. Prof. Zachary Johnson, Prof. Oswald Mitchell and the other professors from Red Stone were standing, all of them wearing solemn expressions. They must have been shocked too. After all, Fabian was their colleague. The one they called a prodigy, the one they all praised. Fabian was adored by everyone on campus. Losing him all of a sudden wasn’t easy for anyone. ’
She met Oswald’s red-rimmed eyes as he nodded to her. Oswald Mitchell, the one stoic professor who hardly showed any emotions, was almost crying. That made Myra feel even worse.
With a heavy heart, she stepped inside the hall. Her eyes immediately landed on the glass coffin placed in the center. She held her breath as her hazels fell on Fabian’s figure lying inside it.
The image of him vanishing in her dream overlapped with his cold, lifeless body, and her chest ached. Unconsciously, she took a step forward and rested her hand on the cold coffin. The light reflected his sharp facial features. His face was pale, his eyes closed; he looked at peace.
Jacob didn’t stop her. But her action made a lot of people gasp in the room.
A round of suppressed murmuring started right then and there. "Who is she? Who dares to step ahead of Chairman Larson?" someone said.
"No idea; I have never seen someone like her before in our circle. Look at the way she’s dressed," another one answered.
Myra couldn’t hear any of it. But the brothers who were standing nearby heard every single word loud and clear. They had clearly instructed Dion to bring Myra with him. But when they saw her with Jacob, they were all stunned.
Elio even wanted to go and bring her to their side, but Brave and Alaric both stopped them. Alaric mindlinked him, ’Eli, don’t. If you step in now, that will garner even more attention.’
Brave agreed, ’I agree with Al. When the time is right, and no one is paying attention, we will bring her by our side. She is still wearing the mask. So let it be for now. Don’t make it worse, Eli.’
Elio took their advice, but when they all saw Myra willingly walking towards Fabian’s dead body and the look of pain in her eyes, an inexplicable feeling of hurt and distress settled inside each one.
After a moment, Myra reigned in her emotions and lifted her head to meet their gaze. Their expressions were complicated: hurt, annoyance, understanding- all of it was written at once.
A knot formed in Myra’s throat, but she quickly retrieved her gaze and backed away.
All of a sudden, a peculiar voice dared to ask, "Chairman Larson, who might this lady be?"
To Be Continued . . . . . . . .