Chapter 247 - 245: Laid to Rest

Blair had always been so strong, but right now, she looked as fragile as a sheet of paper.

Cecilia’s heart twisted painfully.

She slowly walked over and stopped in front of Blair. Her lips moved, but she was speechless, unable to offer even a single word of comfort. All that remained was the heartache reflected in her eyes.

Blair slowly lifted her head. The corridor outside the morgue was a stretch of pristine white, its silence disorienting. She looked at Cecilia and murmured, "Cecilia, this feels like a dream."

Her eyes felt dry, too dry for tears, but her heart felt like it had been run over by a bulldozer—broken and aching.

Cecilia knelt beside Blair, her hands gently cradling Blair’s head and pulling her into an embrace. In the face of death, words were pale and powerless. All she could do was let Blair know she was there for her, that she would stay with her.

Blair wasn’t the only one who felt like it was a dream; Cecilia also found it all so sudden.

Not long ago, Blair had told her she had already contacted a hospital abroad. However, her mentor’s wife was in no condition to be moved. The transfer would require a meticulously planned private medical flight with a full professional medical team on standby to ensure everything went smoothly.

Yet here they were, less than two weeks later, and she was gone.

Estelle Goodman also rushed over. She still had a bandage on her own forehead, but she was completely focused on Blair, not giving her own injury a second thought. She knew that Blair needed her and Cecilia right now, and she had to be there.

"Blair..."

Estelle Goodman knelt and took Blair’s hand. The moment she opened her mouth, her voice was already thick with unsupressible sobs.

She had always been sensitive and couldn’t control her emotions.

Estelle’s choked voice directly triggered the emotions Blair had buried deep inside. Blair looked at Estelle, her lower lip trembling, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. The teardrops rolled down her cheeks like pearls.

The next moment, she burst into loud sobs.

The grief suppressed deep in her heart, the frustration and regret of being unable to save her mentor’s wife, was completely unleashed. She wept her heart out, her cries echoing down the white corridor, sounding all the more desolate and drawing tears from both Cecilia and Estelle Goodman.

The two of them embraced Blair from either side, crying with her...

They lost track of time, crying until Blair was hoarse and her body went limp.

With red eyes, Cecilia and Estelle Goodman helped her onto a chair and sat with her in silence until Bruce Coleman and Theodore Coleman arrived.

Theodore Coleman’s eyes were red and swollen, clear evidence that he had also been crying. Bruce Coleman wore an expression of heavy sorrow.

"Master Coleman, Theodore."

Cecilia and Estelle Goodman politely rose to greet them, saying in unison, "Please accept our condolences."

Bruce Coleman glanced at Blair, then nodded silently. "I’m so glad you could come. Blair, she..."

"Don’t worry, Master Coleman. Estelle and I will stay with her."

Estelle Goodman nodded quickly as tears welled up in her eyes again. She hurriedly turned to wipe them away.

"Thank you," Bruce Coleman said softly. "We’ve already made arrangements for what’s next. Cecilia, thank you for all your help during this time. I’m very grateful."

"Please, don’t say that. As for the courtyard, once you’ve handled your wife’s funeral, if you want to buy it back quickly, we can process the paperwork at any time."

Bruce Coleman had sold the courtyard to Cecilia to pay for the treatment. Now, not much of the money had been spent, but his wife was gone. It was only right that the property be returned to its original owner.

"Good."

Bruce Coleman took two steps forward until he was in front of Blair. "Blair, if you’re willing, you should be the one ’holding the photo’ at your master’s wife’s burial."

Blair slowly lifted her head to look at Bruce Coleman, her eyes filled with shock. Then, her gaze slowly moved to Theodore Coleman’s face.

’Holding the photo... Isn’t that something only a biological son or daughter is qualified to do?’

Theodore Coleman choked out, "I’ll carry the urn. You hold the photo. Mom always treated you like her own daughter."

Tears streamed down Blair’s face once more as she nodded forcefully.

After three days in the morgue, the body of Blair’s master’s wife was sent to the funeral home for cremation. She was then laid to rest at South Hill Cemetery.

As Blair’s friends, Cecilia Sterling, Estelle Goodman, and Jane Sterling attended the service to offer their condolences, all dressed in black and wearing white flowers.

After the burial ceremony, Bruce Coleman pulled Cecilia aside.

"Cecilia, I might not be able to buy the courtyard back just yet. I hope you can give me a little more time. We hadn’t spent much of the money, but my wife’s funeral ended up costing a lot. I’m afraid I won’t be able to make up the difference in the short term."

Never mind the other expenses; a plot with good feng shui at South Hill Cemetery alone cost nearly a thousand Dollars. In a city like Lorcain, where every inch of land is as precious as gold, a few square meters for the deceased cost as much as an entire house.

But this was money that had to be spent. Bruce Coleman didn’t hesitate; his wife had to have a dignified burial.

"That’s no problem, Master Coleman. Don’t worry, I won’t sell the house to anyone else. Whenever you’ve gathered the money, we’ll handle the transfer right away."

Cecilia’s promise put Bruce Coleman’s mind at ease.

Blair knelt before the gravestone for a long, long time, a heartbreakingly sorrowful figure from behind.

The others stood watching from a distance. Jane Sterling sighed softly. "She was already thin, and now she’s clearly lost even more weight. It’s so sad to see."

"She’s been staying at my place for the past few days, with Estelle keeping her company," Cecilia said with a helpless sigh. "She isn’t crying or making a fuss, but she has no appetite. It’s a good day if she eats even a couple of bites."

Estelle Goodman was wiping her tears again. "Poor Blair... Her parents died when she was young, and she finally found a master and his wife who treated her like their own daughter. Now her master’s wife is gone. She’s only twenty, why does she have to endure so much? Life is so unfair!"

"Why don’t I move in for a couple of days to keep her company?" Jane Sterling suddenly suggested.

Cecilia nodded readily. "That’s a good idea. More people around might distract her. Hopefully, she can get through this soon."

And so, that evening, Jane Sterling arrived with a small suitcase and moved into the guest room at Cecilia’s house.

During this difficult time, Cecilia barely left the house for non-essential matters, staying home to watch over Blair. Today, however, there was news from Jeb, and Cecilia had to go to their meeting.

The appointed meeting place was none other than Aetherium.

Cecilia had never had the chance to visit Aetherium. Now that she was here, she found the place to be truly unique.

It wasn’t the ostentatious flash of the newly rich, but a subtle, low-key luxury apparent in every detail. The place had class and substance.

The entire club was operating in an orderly fashion, just like any other day. Who could have imagined that its parent corporation was in turmoil, on the verge of collapse, and that this very place was about to get a new owner?

A waiter in a white shirt and red vest led her all the way to a private room. When the door was pushed open, she realized she was the last to arrive.

Jeb and Mr. Young were already seated opposite each other: Cryos and Frostfang.