Chapter 706: We Are All Here for You
Michael shut his eyes and took a deep, long breath. Then he turned to the doctor, "Shut it down."
The doctor nodded solemnly. He did a final assessment of Anthony’s condition to ensure that there were no signs of recovery. Then, he proceeded to turn off the life support that was keeping Anthony alive.
The machine blipped one last time, a sure indicator that Anthony would never wake up again. Just then, Michael’s cellphone rang. It was Evan Boyle.
Inhaling sharply, Michael took some time to rein in his emotions before taking the call, "Hi, Evan..."
"Hi Michael, I’m calling on Christian’s behalf," Evan said. As he watched Christian being led to the execution chamber, he continued, "He wants me to tell you that he’s sorry he couldn’t help Leah."
Michael knew that Christian was not merely apologizing about Leah. He was in fact apologizing to Michael. His grip on the cellphone tightened instinctively. Michael asked, "Is today the day..." He swallowed hard and tried to finish his question.
Evan knew what he was about to ask. Grunting in acknowledgement, Evan said, "They’re already at the execution chamber. I did ask if he wanted to apologize to you in person, but he didn’t want to. He wants me to apologize to you on his behalf."
As Evan spoke, Michael knew that Christian was already dead. At the same time, Anthony’s vital signs monitor indicated that he had passed away.
Overcome by grief, Mrs. Lucas wobbled on her feet and finally broke down. Heavily pregnant, Wendy was not able to support Mrs. Lucas.
Michael stepped forward to hold onto his grandmother. His cellphone dropped onto the floor.
At that moment, a woman clad in black was hovering outside the execution ground.
She could not see or hear anything. But she knew that Christian had been executed.
She dug hard into the wall in front of her, causing her nails to split. She paid no heed to the pain as the blood flowed.
Zen adjusted her cap to obscure her face, and then walked away quietly before anyone noticed her. She had long recovered from her injuries, but had opted to stay in Rheinsville City because she wanted to be closer to Christian in his last days.
She knew that he would be executed today. That was why she had made this trip alone. She wanted to send him off on his final journey.
Over the past three months, Christian had willingly cooperated with the Drug Enforcement Administration. With the information he provided, Alberto’s drug cartel was totally annihilated.
Unfortunately, because Christian had committed grave crimes, there was no way he could get his death sentence revoked despite his full cooperation with the authorities. For him, death was the only outcome.
Zen turned up her collar. Despite the warm sunshine, she felt cold. Her vision blurred as the tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
She had told herself many times that she must not to cry. With Christian dead, she could now start a new life. It was time she left Rheinsville City and head back to Zeilheim City, back to her parents.
She could finally start life anew. But why was she crying? She wandered aimlessly as her feet took one mindless step after another.
Eventually, a car stopped in front of her. Rolling down his window, the driver started hurling abuses at her. She then realized that she was walking in the middle of a road.
Zen broke down, wailing loudly and crying out that she was sorry. The driver was stunned by Zen’s reaction. He couldn’t believe that she had a meltdown simply because he had yelled at her. Not wanting to hang around any longer, the driver hastily drove away.
...
Anthony’s funeral took place three days later.
It happened to be drizzling on the day of his funeral.
Michael and his grandmother simply wanted to get Anthony buried without any pomp.
Even though Anthony’s reputation was completely destroyed before he died, he was from the richest family in town. So, all their friends and relatives hurried over to the funeral when they caught wind of his death.
Leah did not know what it meant to die yet, but she could detect how sad everyone was.
Leah raised her tiny head and asked Wendy quizzically, "Mummy, what does it mean when someone dies? What does it mean when someone passes away?"
Wendy did not know how best to answer a child such as Leah.
Wendy pondered before she said, "It means someone is going to leave our world and go somewhere else."
"I see." Leah let go of Wendy’s hand and walked up to Mrs. Lucas quietly. She reached her hand out and tugged Mrs. Lucas’ sleeve before she tilted her head sideways and comforted Mrs. Lucas with her child-like voice, "Great-granny, don’t be sad. Great-grandpa has gone somewhere else, but Mummy, Daddy, and Jake are all here for you."
Someone had to help Mrs. Lucas along since she was unable to stand steadily on her own.
Ever since Anthony died three days ago, Mrs. Lucas’ health deteriorated seriously.
She was unable to walk without any assistance.
Mrs. Lucas touched Leah’s tiny head and nodded with teary eyes.
"Great-granny, we will all be here for you," said Jake as he walked over.
"Thank you. You are such lovely kids," Mrs. Lucas nodded as she smiled sadly.
Mrs. Lucas knew that Anthony deserved this end.
However, she could not help feeling sad about losing a son.
"Dead? Is Anthony dead?" Winnie’s voice rang in the air. "Hahaha! He is finally dead!
He is dead! He is finally dead..." Winnie had snuck out and suddenly showed up at the funeral.
She went right over to pick up Anthony’s picture and smashed it on the ground when she saw it.
"Take her back to her room," sighed Michael. He said powerlessly, "Don’t let her come out again today while the funeral is going on."
The family claimed Anthony had died of illness.
In reality, no one cared about his cause of death.
Since Winnie was legally insane, she could not be charged with murder.
Everyone in the family felt Anthony deserved this end, so no one bothered to report the matter to the police.
"Feed his ashes to the dogs, my son. Remember to feed his ashes to the dogs..." Winnie continued shouting as the maids took her away.
Michael sighed when he heard what his mother said.
They used to be such a picture-perfect family, but Anthony single-handedly destroyed what he had.
Isabel picked up Anthony’s photo from the ground and cleaned it before putting it where it belonged.
Isabel knew about Anthony’s infidelity all along, so she barely came home ever since she started going to university.
She did not want to come home and face her unfaithful father.
It was completely unexpected that the next time she was home, she would be here for Anthony’s funeral.
Michael reached his hand out and patted Isabel’s shoulder without saying much.
After the funeral, Michael, Wendy, and the children did not go home right away.
Isabel also spent the night with Mrs. Lucas at the mansion.
Mrs. Lucas knew they were worried since she was grieving over the death of her son.
Mrs. Lucas spent the night with Isabel.
Wendy and Michael slept next door with the children.
The moment anything happened next door, they would know immediately.
...
They spent two days staying with Mrs. Lucas until she finally said over breakfast one morning, "Why don’t you just go back to your lives? There are plenty of servants taking care of me at the residence. I will be fine."
Mrs. Lucas was affected by Anthony’s death.
Her health clearly deteriorated, so she looked wan of late.
"Isabel, it must be hard to get time off from the film crew, right?" said Mrs. Lucas.
"Why don’t you go back to work?"
Mrs. Lucas turned her head and said to Michael as well, "I am sure you have a lot of work to do at the office too. Why don’t you get back to your routine? Leah and Jake need to go to school too. They can’t stay at the mansion forever, right?"
"Granny..." said Isabel and Michael in unison.
Mrs. Lucas raised her hand and interrupted them. "Get back to your routine after breakfast. You can visit me whenever you are free."
"Granny, why don’t I stay with you at the mansion?" suggested Wendy. "Since I have nothing to do in the day and they are busy working or going to school, I tend to get quite bored."
Mrs. Lucas naturally knew Wendy was trying to find a reason to stay.
So, she gave in and nodded.
Time would pass easier if she had someone to talk to while she was at home.
In the past, Mrs. Lucas could at least chat with Winnie. Now that Winnie had ended up in this state, Mrs. Lucas genuinely had no one else to talk to at home.
Isabel and Michael got chased away by their grandmother after breakfast.
Leah and Jake also went back to kindergarten.
Wendy helped support her grandmother and said, "Granny, the weather is great today. Shall we go enjoy the sun in the backyard?"
Her grandmother nodded in agreement.
Wendy’s phone rang soon after she helped to support her grandmother.
She checked the caller ID and noticed it was Zen.
Wendy helped her grandmother take a seat before answering the phone.
"Wendy, I am back in Lake City. Shall we do lunch?" Zen’s voice came from over the phone and sounded particularly cool.
Wendy glanced at her grandmother and said, "Well, I am at my granny’s place. Why don’t you come over for lunch?"
Her grandmother did not know who she was talking to on the phone. However, she raised her head and, when she overheard the conversation, said, "If you have something to do, then go ahead. Don’t worry about me. I am really fine."
"Okay. I have never been to the Lucas residence before," said Zen. "I can take the opportunity to check out the residence belonging to the richest family in this city. I am sure it will be an eye-opener."
"Where are you? Shall I send someone to pick you up?" asked Wendy.
"I am at the airport," answered Zen. "I just got off the flight. It is fine. I can hail a cab on my own."
Wendy did not insist on sending a car.
It was genuinely faster for Zen to get a cab from the airport. Zen would probably have to wait a long time before the chauffeur could get there.
After hanging up the phone, her grandmother said, "Wendy, stop wasting your time on me. Why don’t you just get back to your old routine?"
"It was Zen." Wendy put her phone away and sat down beside her grandmother before she continued, "Zen just got off a flight and asked if I wanted to do lunch. I invited her over to our place since she has never been here before."
"I see," her grandmother nodded. "In that case, get the kitchen to whip up something fancy. We have to play good hosts since she is your friend."
Her grandmother knew Zen and Wendy were friends. She stood up to tell the kitchen staff about their guest.
Wendy made her grandmother sit down before she smiled and said, "Sit down. I will tell the kitchen about it."
"Go on then," her grandmother waved her hand and urged Wendy to get it done immediately.
"Sure. I will get to it now," Wendy let go of her grandmother and turned to leave.
