Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 68858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Not a single fucking person present would care as much as I did. I was positive the woman three rows back—who had shown up in a tight red dress—somehow confused the cemetery with a nightclub. Quite a few were whispering amongst themselves as the reverend spoke. Some had begun playing on their phones as if they couldn’t be bothered pretending to give a damn.
It took everything in me to keep myself calm and not make a scene. I kept my eyes trained ahead on the two identical cream caskets sitting side by side. One contained someone irreplaceable and dear to my heart. The other was a painful illusion, nothing but an empty box. My estranged family thought this was for the best. Let people grieve an imaginary death versus the never-ending theories and rumors that came when someone went missing.
The problem was that I knew the truth.
It kept me awake at night and burrowed into my chest, creating a consistent pain that had me physically and mentally worn down. I wanted to be numb, to feel nothing. It was my curse to feel everything. I’d managed to keep it together thus far, but I wasn’t sure what the point was. The blatant disrespect I had to endure was a harsh reminder that the Castello family wasn’t the powerhouse they’d once been.
There were hardly any of them left. My parents would be sick with rage if they were alive to see what their legacy had become.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the service to conclude. I’d say it lasted twenty minutes tops, but I couldn’t be entirely sure. There were no passionate speeches or last-minute sobs of despair. It was simply over and done with. My aunt would be forgotten before the first mound of dirt hit the top of her casket vault. That was no different than how she’d lived her life, shoved into a decrepit corner far away from Vice City to struggle and rot. She’d never been given a fair chance, but then nothing in life was ever fair, was it?
I stood and smoothed down my black asymmetrical dress. It was so hot outside sweat had begun gathering between my breasts and thighs. My uncle, Luis, stood with me, leaning down to ask, “How are you holding up?”
I hated that question. Were people ever really expected to answer Good? Fine? Doing great?
Giving him a tight smile to appease the nosey masses, I responded quietly. “I’m having the time of my life.”
A flash of irritation marred his features, my sarcasm impossible to miss. I didn’t care. He hadn’t wanted to do things this way. He’d wanted a cremation for my aunt and a burial for the one person that wasn’t present. It had been a large source of tension between us. My grandmother had swiftly shut him down before things got violent. It was a wise choice, otherwise, Uncle Luis would’ve needed an urn for his damn self. Molly may not have been my aunt by blood, but she was more family than he would ever be. She didn’t deserve to die the way she had or to be judged by a man who never knew her.
“Come, my dear, it’s almost over.” Grandma Laurel’s gentle voice broke me out of my bitter reverie.
She held her arm out and I gently took hold of it, letting her guide me back towards the fleet of waiting luxury vehicles. I tried to avoid looking at anyone too long, but I couldn’t do anything about the lingering stares aimed my way. I wished I could make myself invisible, or that all these people would go back to forgetting my existence. It was the fucked-up clandestine world they thrived in that continued to take everyone I loved away from me.
God, I hated this place. My eyes began to burn again, to the point of aching. I bit down on the inside of my lip until I tasted blood. I refused to let any tears fall. I wouldn’t cry in front of these soulless, vile assholes. My gaze wandered to where a cadre of men stood observing from afar. An invisible boundary separated them from everyone else in attendance.
They exuded an aura distinctly their own. Even their suits appeared to be cut from a cloth of regality that the others lacked. Among them was one man who solely captured the essence of their difference. I blinked to make sure I wasn't seeing things.
Why the hell was he here?
Our eyes locked in a silent exchange. It was a fleeting connection, but within those few seconds, I became the sole focus of his intense scrutiny. I tore my gaze away and refocused on where I was going. I didn't know what the hell that was about, but I had a bad feeling about it.
I started to think my grandmother was wrong.