Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
The funeral director hosted the funeral.
Just as the nail was about to descend, Celeste suddenly pushed past her husband and flung herself onto the casket, sobbing, “No, don’t, don’t nail it.”
Tears welled up in Alger’s eyes, and he covered his face, unable to hold back his sobs.
Clutching the casket, Celeste tearfully asked the hundreds of mourners, “Is there a chance, just a chance, that we got it wrong? That Crystal isn’t really dead. There have been many cases like this, haven’t there? Everyone thinks the patient is dead, but they’re actually still alive, still breathing. Can we check Crystal again?”
“Celeste.” Louisa held back her tears. She wanted to pull Celeste aside, but seeing her cry so desperately, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“L can feel that Crystal isn’t dead. She doesn’t want to be suffocated inside there. She’s begging me for help.”Hope filled Celeste’s words as she pleaded with those around her, “Let’s open the casket and check again.
Maybe a miracle will happen!”
Her darling daughter had already given them a sign by “making it snow’, she must have the ability to open her eyes again.
“Madam, let the deceased rest in peace,’ the funeral director advised, “Opening the casket again would be disrespectful.”
“No, she’s not dead. How can she be considered deceased? Please believe me. She’s really still alive.
Let’s just open it and see.”
As she spoke, a thought struck Celeste, and she turned to look for a slender figure behind her.
Upon seeing Mirabella, she exclaimed excitedly, “Bella, out of everyone here, I trust you the most. Can you help me see if Crystal is still alive? We’ll open the casket, and you just have to take a look, okay?”
Filled with compassion, Mirabella was about to respond when, “I beg you.” Celeste was about to kneel.
If it weren’t for Mirabella catching her in time, her knees would have hit the ground.
“Please help me see if Crystal is still alive. I have this strong intuition that she can be saved. Really!”
Celeste held Mirabella’s hand as she pleaded through her tears, “Good girl, help me take a look:
Mirabella glanced at Alger. His eyes were filled with a glimmer of hope, as if he, like Celeste, also wished for their daughter to be alive.
Relatives of the Temple family sobbed quietly, not attempting to intervene.All the guests were silent, lowering their heads.
The funeral director turned his face away, his eyes slightly moist.
Romeo looked at the girl’s profile, seemingly predicting her decision.
“Alright.”
Upon hearing Mirabella’s response, Celeste immediately ordered, “Open the casket.”
Her voice was filled with anticipation, as if she was confident that her daughter would awaken.
The casket lid was opened, revealing Crystal dressed in her finest attire, her face peaceful. As Mirabella’s hand brushed against Crystal’s wrist, she felt how soft her skin had become.
This phenomenon was known as “postmortem lividity’.
After death, the body lost all muscle tension, resulting in the relaxation and softening of the muscles throughout the body.
Not just soft, her skin was also cold to the touch.
The kind of “deathly cold” that only a corpse would exhibit.
“How is it, Bella? Is there any hope?” Celeste’s eyes were filled with anticipation as she looked at Mirabella, waiting for her to deliver a miracle.
Mirabella’s gaze fell on her, and with a hesitant voice, she said, “Mrs. Temple, there’s no sign of life.”
“No, no.” Celeste shook her head, refusing to believe, “Please check her again. I feel that she’s still with us.”
If Dr. Bella said she was alive, then she must be!
The girl in the coffin, after the undertaker’s makeup and groaming, looked like a sleeping princess, no different from usual.
“She really isn’t breathing anymore.” Mirabella said sorrowfully, “She’s already gone.”
Celeste couldn’t handle the blow. Her daughter was still lying there, just like how she remembered from their trip to a popular flower field last year. Her daughter was lying amongst the colorful blooms, eyes closed while they took beautiful pictures.
Her daughter was just like that now, lying amongst the flowers.
She was just sleeping.
She was only sleeping!
“Closing the casket.” the funeral director announced.
“No, don’t close it. Crystal, don’t leave me.” Celeste cried out, fainting from the emotional strain.“Celeste, Celeste.” Alger rushed to her, tears streaming down his face, “Someone, call the doctor.”
“Let’s lay her down. I’ll take care of this.” Mirabella had anticipated this situation and brought the acupuncture kit that Romeo had given her.
“Bella, how’s Celeste? Did she faint from excessive grief?” Louisa anxiously asked from the side.
“Yes, an emotional overload can cause insufficient blood supply to the brain, leading to fainting. I’ll give her a few acupuncture treatments.”
“Okay”
With Mirabella’s words, Louisa felt somewhat reassured.
After Mirabella applied a few needles to Celeste’s acupuncture points, she finally opened her eyes. But seeing everyone dressed in black, and remembering her daughter’s funeral, tears welled up in her eyes again.
“Celeste, are you feeling better?” Alger asked through his tears, “My heart can’t handle another shock.
Dont scare me. I lost Crystal. I can’t lose you too.”
“Alger.” Celeste couldn’t help but burst into tears holding him.
After a while, the funeral proceeded.
Clark, standing at the side, clenched his fists. He would avenge Crystal, he couldn’t let Mr. and Mrs.
Temple bear this pain in vain.
After the casket was sealed, four pallbearers carried it forward.
Celeste held her daughter’s portrait, following behind in a daze.Behind her, members of the Temple family were sobbing.
A hundred steps ahead was Crystal’s burial site.
“Prepare for burial.” With the funeral director’s strong voice, the casket was lowered into the grave.
As the soil fell on the casket, it seemed to slowly fill the grave.
Celeste cried out in agony.
Alger knew that once the dirt was in place, he and his daughter would truly be separated by the barrier of life and death. He let out a mournful cry, his grief consuming him.
The entire congregation was swept up in their grief, tears glistening in their eyes as they watched the casket being lowered, and the gravestone being set.
“Please, everyone, bow to the departed three times.”
The officiant’s words prompted everyone to bow their heads, time and time again, bidding their final farewell.
With the heavy snowfall, the world turned white.
Celeste knelt on the snowy ground, clutching the gravestone, unwilling to leave. Alger knelt beside her, staring at their daughter’s portrait on the stone, weeping bitterly.
The Temple family relatives couldn’t persuade them to leave, so they thanked the quests on their behalf.
The quests left in an orderly manner.
Kenneth and Louisa wanted to stay longer with them.
Clark watched the two kneeling figures from a distance. They seemed to have aged twenty years in an instant, their backs hunched as if crushed by their grief.
“Crystal, I promise to take good care of your parents and ensure their safety; Clark said, looking at Crystal’s photo on the gravestone, his eyes welling up with tears. “I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
Crystal’s portrait on the gravestone smiled brilliantly as always.Seeing Clark standing in the snow for a long time, like a statue, Mirabella couldn’t help but approach him. “Clark, let’s go. Let them stay with Crystal a bit longer”
There was no use staying. Alger and Celeste just wanted to be alone with their daughter.
All the apologies and guilt were futile.
“Okay.”
Clark eventually looked away, leaving the cemetery with a heavy heart.
“Clark, I found a few leads last night, related to those people. I sent them to your WhatsApp;’ Mirabella said, knowing that what Clark wanted most at this moment was to avenge Crystal.
“Same here. I sent you the details from my guys; Romeo added, forwarding all the information he’d received to Clark.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.