Chapter 294 - Two Hundred And Ninety-four: Let Love Reign
The third point of view
A funeral is a time for people to come together and share their thoughts, life, love, and loss, expressing how they're feeling when nothing seems to make sense.
"How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?" ~ Niklaus, son to the deceased.
"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another." ~ Reina, daughter-in-law to the deceased.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." ~ Emily, daughter to the deceased
"The best portion of a good man's life is his little nameless unremembered acts of kindness and of love." ~ Eden, nephew to the deceased.
"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." ~ Isabella, granddaughter to the deceased.
"Gone from our sight, but never from our hearts." ~ Anabelle, grandniece to the deceased.
Everyone had a heart-touching epitaph to commemorate the late Adam Spencer at his funeral, but who were they kidding? Every single one of them was happy to have him dead.
Apparently, Adam's regime was the reign of terror; he ruled with an iron hand that no one dared to challenge his authority. Even his father, their Grandfather, had no choice but to let this slide since Adam had all the authority. Moreover, his son, Eric who could have challenged his power, was gone. So Adam was inevitably made the next Family Head.
When the news of Adam's death was revealed, the family members had breathed a sigh of relief. But there was nothing more heartbreaking than to relay to the grandpa that his son, Adam, had been the cause of his other son's death, Eric.
Though there had been suspicions and whispers of Adam's involvement, there was no evidence to support the claim, hence dismissing all accusations as speculations.
But finally, the truth eventually came to light - nothing can be hidden under the sun forever - and justice was finally achieved for the late Eric Spencer.
As punishment for what he did, Adam was not buried in the family graveyard rather a separate land owned by the Spencers and no one objected against it - the man tried to murder his own son for the love of God.
To avoid public criticism and unnecessary plunge of the company's share, the Spencer's hid the truth of the incident. To the public, Adam Spencer died on his birthday from a heart attack, and no investigation was organized. No matter how it looked, what happened was forbidden and had to be settled internally without public interference.
"This still feels surreal," Reina muttered, staring at Adam's gravestone, "I still have nightmares of him coming back to life,"
The funeral service had come to an end and most prominent guests who had come from far and near had left already, leaving family members behind.
"He's gone, you're safe now, Reina" Niklaus pressed her to his side, rubbing her shoulder affectionately.
Reina had saved their life on that day. Though she was pretty mad at her father Sakuzi for lying to her, the girl had swallowed her pride to ask for help from him. Since she couldn't come along with him to the party thanks to the incident, she had ordered her Oldman to take care of Niklaus - an act of remission for his sins.
"And thank you,"
"Huh?" Reina glanced up at him confused, "Thanks for what?"
"Thanks for saving me from staining my hands with my father's blood," He said, staring her straight in the eyes.
Reina laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head,?"What are you talking about?"
Niklaus didn't say anything rather flashed her a smile, "It's nothing," he hugged her. Since she wouldn't admit it, he'd let her be.
But Niklaus knew the truth, Sakuzi had done him the favor of Killing Adam. Sakuzi was an experienced, accurate shooter who had a clean shot on Adam and would have shot the grenade out of his grasp, but he choose to fire at his vital organs - Adam died instantly-?and left without even as much as a word to them.
"She's a beautiful lady," Niklaus and Reina were startled. They both turned around only for their sight to fall on the old man coming over to them with the help of a walking stick.
"Grandfather," Niklaus was surprised,?coming to support him "You should have gone home already, I told you I'd settle everything else here,"
"No, it's okay," the old man stopped him, " Just because my waist is frail doesn't mean I can't stand on my own,"
That comment brought tears to Reina's eyes since she remembered her granny Octavia. Unfortunately, the old woman died two years after her own alleged death. The old woman had returned to drinking as a way of combating her loss - she thought Maya died. It was heartbreaking but there wasn't anything she could do nor did she have the ability to reverse time.
"How's my granddaughter doing?" The man asked, flashing a smile that revealed a few of his missing teeth.
"I'm fine, father," Reina replied with a bashful smile. The man had not hesitated to show his extreme likeness towards her since they met.
"Such a fine lady and you happen to fall for my lousy grandson of all people," He complained, glaring at Niklaus.
Niklaus' mouth quirked, why was this old man bad-mouthing him. Besides, he was his grandson, wasn't he supposed to support him in every of his endeavors?
"You have suffered so much," the man had a sympathetic tone. He then turned to Niklaus with a furious gaze and hit him with his walking staff, "You rascal!"
"Ouch! Grandpa!" Niklaus yelped using Reina as a shield against the man's attack since he was sure the man wouldn't afford to hit her, "Why are you maltreating me like this? I'm a grown-up man,"
"Grown man?!" He scoffed, "Then behave like one! When are you planning on marrying her? Instead, all you're capable of is impregnating her? Who taught you that?"
Niklaus tried to defend himself, "Grandfather -"
"Who's your grandfather?" the man was furious, " Listen here, if you don't marry Reina before the end of this month, I'll send her and her kids away to a better man,"
"What?!" Both Niklaus and Reina said at the same time.
Well, come to think of it, it favors her more, Reina thought.
This man was becoming his enemy of progress, Niklaus thought.
"Grandpa, I'm already working on it but weddings are not a small issue. There's a lot of preparation -"
"That does not change my mind," The old man insisted.
"Grandfather - Reina, do something..." He turned to her for help but Reina in question chose that moment to say, "I think my kids are calling me,"
As if the universe was in support, they undoubtedly heard Ailee's voice,
"Mom, help!"
The kids must have gotten themselves in trouble again.
"You'd be fine," She pecked Niklaus on the lips, patting him on the back tenderly.
"Rei-"
"Bye. Ailee, Mommy's coming," she fled away.
Niklaus turned to meet his grandfather, "End of the month is less than two weeks from now,"
"So?" the man was not moved.
"There's no time to prepare, I haven't even organized my bachelor party - "
At the mention of bachelor's party, grandfather stared at Niklaus from his head to the sole of his head and back again and then burst into a boisterous laughter that attracted the rest of the family members schmoozing with one another.
"You? A bachelor?" the man pointed at him mockingly, " Have you seen a bachelor with three kids," his laughter continued to the point that Niklaus' face was as dark as shit.
What was wrong with wanting a second bachelor party? Reina was going to have one anyway? Why was his case different?
"Goodbye, Grandfather," Niklaus said sarcastically, mood sour.
"Where are you going?" the old man asked with a tone of ridicule, " Come back, grandson, we can organize a bachelor party together - I'm a bachelor too,"
However, no matter how hard the old man laughed, a trace of sorrow still crossed his eyes when his eyes fell on the gravestone beside him.
"In loving memory of Adam Spencer, Loving son, husband, and grandfather.?Died on 1st April 2018, Aged 60.
Close to our hearts, you will always
Stay, loved, and remembered every day,"
Where had things gone wrong? He had worked hard to give his children the best, yet, one of them was never satisfied.
He looked back towards Niklaus who was currently chatting with Eden and hoped in his heart that the kids would learn from their father's mistake and let love reign. The thorn in the family has been removed and now peace follows - he wished.
Money wasn't everything, he realized. Even with all the riches he had, his son turned against the other just to have it all. Maybe, he should have inculcated more morals into Adam. He knew how stonehearted his eldest son was, hence the reason for his refusal to hand over the company to him. Looking at it now, he might have seemed a little biased.
The man rubbed his chin, seems he would have to speak to Niklaus one on one tonight concerning his kids -Isabella and the twins- so history doesn't end up repeating itself.
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