Chapter 524 Funeral
Aurelia had no appetite, her mind heavy with worry. After Jacob and Dorothy finished their meal and played for a while, both children grew tired. Aurelia took them upstairs to wash up and prepare for bed.
Usually when they returned to Imperick, Aurelia would handle Dorothy's bedtime routine while Nathaniel took care of Jacob. Tonight, however, they hadn't seen their father since arriving home. Jacob asked, "Mommy, where's Daddy?"
Jacob considered himself too grown-up for such childish things as needing help with baths and getting dressed—he could manage perfectly well on his own. He only tolerated his father's insistence on helping because it gave the man a chance to bond with him. Without his father there tonight, something felt oddly empty.
Aurelia paused before answering quietly, "He had something important to take care of. You two need to get to sleep now—we're getting up early tomorrow. Mommy's taking you to see your daddy."
"Yay!" both children cheered.
The next morning, Zack was already waiting outside with the car. Aurelia wore a somber black dress with a matching coat, and both children were dressed in black as well. The car pulled away slowly, heading toward the Heilbronn Villa.
Aurelia spoke gently, "Dorothy, Jacob, we're going to the place where Daddy grew up—your great-grandfather's house. Mommy needs to tell you something important about your great-grandfather. He has..."
Her voice caught, and she wiped away tears. "Your great-grandfather has left this world to join the stars, where your great-grandmother is waiting for him. We're going to say goodbye to him one last time. He loved you both so very much. When we get there, we'll stand together by his casket, say a prayer, and remember him with love and respect."
The car fell silent. The children stopped their cheerful humming, and Dorothy stared with wide eyes. "Mommy, what does it mean that great-grandfather went to the stars? Isn't he going to live with us anymore?"
Aurelia hesitated. "You could think of it that way. People are born into this world, and eventually they leave it. When people reach a certain age, they return to the stars. We won't be able to see great-grandfather anymore, but he'll be watching over us from heaven, watching you both grow up."
Jacob burst into tears. "Mommy, I don't want to say goodbye to great-grandfather! I want to play chess with him and learn boxing!"
Dorothy began crying too. "Mommy, I don't want great-grandfather to go to the stars! Can't you ask him to stay? I love great-grandfather..."
Both children wept inconsolably, and Aurelia found herself unable to hold back her own tears. She pulled them both into her arms, trying to comfort them, though she was crying hardest of all.
Meanwhile, at the Heilbronn Villa, Nathaniel had spent the entire night sitting by his grandfather's casket, unable to bring himself to leave. Still recovering from surgery just ten days earlier, his body was weak, his knee far from healed, and Reed's death had left him utterly shattered.
He understood exactly what had happened to Reed—his grandfather's faith had crumbled, and with it, his will to live. Reed had chosen his own way to seek redemption, and it was all because of him.
Nathaniel sat motionless, refusing the food and water Beatrice brought him. No one could persuade him to move. He was convinced he had caused his grandfather's death, consumed by guilt and self-recrimination. He saw himself as nothing but a sinner who had failed to care for Reed when it mattered most, who hadn't even been able to say goodbye.
Ashley approached with a cup of warm milk. "Nathaniel, please. Grandfather is gone—that's something none of us can change. But you can't destroy yourself like this."
Beatrice stood nearby, tears streaming down her face. She had repeated the same pleas countless times, but she knew her son's stubborn nature too well to expect success.
Ashley pressed the milk into his hands. "At least drink this. You'll need to accompany grandfather to the cemetery soon—don't collapse before we even get there. You may not care about yourself, but remember you're not alone anymore. You have children, and a woman you love."
Ashley's voice broke on those last words. Though she despised the woman Nathaniel loved, she would say anything now if it might reach him.
Nathaniel stared at his grandfather's photograph, his eyes raw from crying. He had only ever wept for two people in his life—first for Aurelia, and now for Reed.
After a long moment, he drank the milk, feeling some warmth return to his body.
When Aurelia entered with the two inconsolable children, every eye in the room turned toward them. The children, usually so well-behaved, couldn't be reasoned with about this loss. Aurelia had given up trying to calm them and simply led them inside, their cries echoing through the halls.
The family of four knelt together. Nathaniel glanced back as Aurelia guided the children through the proper way to bow before their great-grandfather's casket.
"Daddy," Jacob sobbed, "I don't want great-grandfather to leave. I want him back!"
"Daddy," Dorothy wailed, "will great-grandfather ever come back? He didn't finish telling me the story!"
The children's heartbroken cries brought tears to everyone present. Nathaniel didn't know how to comfort them when he couldn't even console himself. He gathered both children in his arms.
"Sweetheart, we just can't see great-grandfather anymore, but he's still watching over us. He's with us in a different way now, and he wants you both to grow up strong and good. He loved you both so much."
The children had cried for half the journey and were now hoarse from weeping.
Seeing their distress, Beatrice went to the kitchen and returned with two glasses of juice, offering them hopefully to her grandchildren—she had never had the chance to properly bond with them before.
Both children rejected her gesture. Dorothy looked at her suspiciously. "I don't want it. Daddy says never to take things from strangers."
Jacob was more direct: "You were mean to my mommy. You're a bad person, and I don't want anything from you."
The timing couldn't have been worse. Reed's friends, business partners, students from the schools he had funded, and numerous company shareholders had all come to pay their respects—all prominent figures in the community.
Beatrice felt publicly humiliated by her own grandchildren's rejection, but given the solemnity of Reed's funeral, she had no choice but to swallow her pride and retreat.
The memorial service began. Reed had been well-loved and respected in business, maintaining lifelong friendships with many who had traveled from distant cities and even flown in from abroad to attend his funeral. A long line formed in the courtyard as mourners waited to pay their final respects.
Despite his physical pain and emotional anguish, Nathaniel forced himself to stand with his children, accepting condolences and returning the courtesy of each visitor.
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