Chapter 95: Mind Control.

Dave was positioned between Vincent and Bryce as they entered the gathering preceding the burial, Vincent at his right and Bryce at his left, the three of them moving together toward the assembled mourners.

Their clothes were almost identical because they had ordered them together, specifying only their different sizes rather than choosing different styles.

Each wore black trousers, a black shirt, and a black coat. Dave had put on black glasses to conceal his swollen eyes, while Vincent and Bryce had decided to wear glasses as well, hoping the slight change would prevent them from being recognized immediately.

They drew attention almost at once. Heads turning away from the eulogy being delivered, as quiet murmurs spread through the gathering, people followed their approach with undisguised curiosity.

Instead of taking the seats reserved for the family at the front, Dave settled into an empty seat toward the back, Vincent and Bryce taking the seats beside him.

"And now, we’ll invite the family members to come forward and say their goodbyes to the deceased," the man leading the gathering announced.

Victoria and the three children were guided toward the front first. A moment later, someone came for Dave, but he simply shook his head without saying a word.

The woman returned to her place, leaving him where he sat.

One after another, emotional speeches were delivered, each apparently designed to draw sympathy from the people gathered there.

Some even brought tears to the eyes of those listening. From the mother to the three children, their words were polished enough to sound rehearsed, almost as though they had spent the entire night preparing them.

Neither Bryce, Vincent, nor Dave was fooled by the performance.

Behind the carefully disguised tears, there was a satisfaction that none of them could completely conceal.

When they had finished, the pastor turned his attention toward Dave.

"Mr. Sinclair Junior, would you like to say your goodbye to your father?"

Dave shook his head again.

Murmurs immediately spread through the gathering again, carrying the disapproval of those who apparently found his refusal unacceptable.

Dave ignored them. He had no intention of pretending to grieve in the manner they expected of him.

"If there’s nothing else, let’s sing the last song to bid our farewell before taking the body to the cemetery for him to rest," the pastor announced.

That caught Dave off guard.

The cemetery?

His eyes moved across the surrounding property. The land was enormous, and it was legally private. Why would they take his father’s body somewhere else to be buried?

It did not matter that Dave was still angry with his father, the man deserved to be laid to rest on the property he had acquired with his own hands.

That thought finally drove Dave to his feet.

"Excuse me. What do you mean, to the cemetery?" His voice was rough but loud enough to carry through the gathering. "This huge piece of land belongs to him, and I don’t see any reason why he should be buried in a cemetery. He’s going to be buried here."

"Son," the pastor said, his tone almost gentle, although irritation simmered beneath the calmness. Dave could hear it clearly. "Your mother already said the land has not been legally verified. She knows better, and we all wish to maintain peace until the end and lay the deceased to rest peacefully."

"If you want to lay him to rest peacefully, then you’re going to bury him here, not in the cemetery. Do you want me to call his lawyer and confirm that the land is legally his?" Dave’s voice hardened. "I even have proof here. Even these heartless freaks who killed him know very well that the land belongs to him. But because they want to enjoy the property as though they contributed something toward it, they don’t want to bury him here. They want him taken somewhere far away. That’s not going to happen."

Gasps swept through the gathering.

"What are you talking about, you spoiled brat?" Angela snapped. "Do you have any idea how dangerous and painful the accusations you’re throwing around are? You’ve been gone since Dad died. You didn’t give a damn, and now you can’t just appear out of nowhere and start disarranging everything. Stop disrupting something we’re already struggling to accept and let Dad be laid to rest peacefully."

Dave stared at Angela in disbelief.

She had been his favorite.

"Don’t mind him," Victoria interrupted. "He was just hurt and devastated by his father’s death, so he ran away from home because there were constant reminders everywhere. Give him a break."

Dave could hardly believe the words coming from the woman who he had never truly understood their relationship in all the years he had called her mother.

There had always been something contradictory about the way she treated him. At times, she seemed to care. At others, she acted as though she could not care less. Dave had never understood the inconsistency.

Only after learning that she was not actually his mother had everything begun to make sense.

"The land is not legal, and I am the one who decides where he will be laid to rest," she added, "I said the cemetery, so let’s finish this in peace."

Dave did not look remotely willing to back down.

Jack and Jake stepped forward.

"We’ll talk to him. Forgive him. We can all imagine what it feels like to lose a father, especially when he had been the closest person to you."

As soon as they reached Dave, he nearly swung a punch at them, but Bryce caught his hand before he could.

"Back off." Bryce spoke quietly, but the command carried directly into their minds. "Leave him alone and go back. No, not to your seats. Stand at the front and tell everyone that the land is legally his and that your father must be buried here."

Jack and Jake turned away without a word.

A satisfied smirk touched Bryce’s face.

On the way there, Vincent had taught him how to enter someone’s mind and control it with ease. He had not expected it to work so effortlessly.

"Dad should be buried here. This land legally belonged to him, and there’s no reason to take him away from home."

The words came from Jack and Jake at the same time.

Gasps erupted throughout the gathering as Victoria and Angela stared at the twins, their eyes widening in disbelief at the sudden reversal.

Vincent, meanwhile, entered the minds of everyone present and planted the same conviction there: the old man should be buried on his own property.

One after another, people began repeating the same conclusion.

Even the pastor changed his position.

Neither Victoria nor Angela could persuade anyone otherwise. Their objections disappeared beneath the growing agreement of the crowd, and before long, the gathering moved on to the song that would precede the burial, while Jack and Jake went to find people who could begin digging the grave immediately.