Chapter 434 Bringing Margaret's Urn Home
She never found peace while she was alive. Why should her death add to her misery?
They arrived at the crematorium. Raymond watched as Margaret was carried into the incineration room, about to be placed into the furnace. His heart couldn't take it. He couldn't bear to watch Margaret's body being consumed by the roaring flames bit by bit. So he stood up and left the room.
The sky was overcast, and snow was still falling. He extended his broad palm, and snowflakes landed on it. The snowflakes were tiny, crystal clear, and sharply defined. Margaret had loved snow when she was alive. Raymond remembered her saying she was named Margaret because it had snowed all day on the day she was born. Born on a snowy day, and now leaving this world on a snowy day. Was this fate?
The heavy snow blurred his vision. Raymond pulled out a cigarette and held it between his thin lips. He lowered his head, ready to light it. The cold wind extinguished the lighter's flame several times. After several attempts, the cigarette finally lit. He took a deep drag; today's cigarette tasted particularly bitter.
He hadn't expected Margaret to really die. Driven to death by his cold words, tortured to death by him. How much must she have hated him, how desperate must she have been, to leap from the balcony?
"Mr. Howard. I spoke with Mary. On the day of the incident, Mrs. Howard gave Mary half a day off. Mrs. Howard said she wanted to go shopping and didn't need Mary to attend to her," Alvin walked over and shared what he knew. "Mary was crying non-stop on the phone when she heard about Mrs. Margaret Howard's death. She kept apologizing. She felt that if she hadn't left that day, Mrs. Howard wouldn't have had the accident."
Raymond looked at the vast falling snow and smiled bitterly. "It's not her fault. Margaret was determined to die. No one could stop her."
"Mary wants to express her apologies to you. She's planning to forgo her pay for this month."
"That's not necessary."
Raymond suddenly seemed different from before. In the past, he wouldn't have been so soft-hearted.
"Margaret liked being cared for by her. Don't make things difficult for someone Margaret valued. Let Margaret rest in peace."
The burning cigarette suddenly scorched Raymond's fingers. He lowered his eyelids and saw that the ash had formed a long segment. Just like his relationship with Margaret, he always thought there was plenty of time, but unknowingly, it had come to an end. Raymond threw the burnt-out cigarette into the snow.
"Mr. Howard, my condolences. You should rest; you don't look well."
"I won't die just yet. I won't collapse. Margaret's funeral hasn't been held."
"I'll start preparing for Margaret's funeral."
Daniel walked over, mocking, "She's dead, and your act of deep affection is useless."
Raymond didn't get angry. Instead, he looked up at him, his tone sincere. "Daniel, thank you for taking care of Margaret while she was alive. I thank you on her behalf."
"That's unnecessary," Daniel sneered.
Raymond exhaled. "The day after tomorrow is Margaret's funeral. I'll invite you to attend."
Daniel didn't respond.
"She'd want you to be there to send her off," Raymond said, sensing Daniel's reluctance.
Daniel stared at him for a long moment, then smirked. "Raymond, if you had considered her feelings more while she was alive, respected her thoughts, she wouldn't have ended up like this. Do you think her death was due to mental illness? No, you drove her to it."
Raymond drove Margaret to her death. His love was too heavy; it suffocated her.
"Raymond, the chance I gave you was wasted. You and Margaret are over, forever," Daniel said as he walked away.
Raymond stood in the cold wind, agreeing with Daniel's words. Yes, he lost the last chance. Margaret was gone forever. He had once wished for Margaret's death, but now that she was truly dead, he couldn't feel any joy.
An hour later, Margaret's body was completely cremated. Raymond chose a pink urn because it was her favorite color. He watched as the staff skillfully used a hammer to crush the broken bones into gray-white powder. A living person, now reduced to a small jar of powder.
"Mrs. Howard watched her parents' bones being crushed like this last Christmas," Alvin sighed. "But Mrs. Howard was strong; she watched the entire cremation process of her parents."
These words made Raymond feel suffocated. He held the pink urn and walked out of the crematorium. Alvin held a black umbrella beside him.
Raymond wondered, 'Margaret, no wonder you hated me so much. Seeing your parents die in one day, watching their bodies burn to powder. Who could not hate, who could not blame?'
At the car, Alvin held the umbrella with one hand and opened the car door with the other. Raymond bent down, holding the urn, and got into the back seat. Alvin walked around to the driver's seat, opened the door, got in, and drove away.
Meanwhile, Daniel's car sped down the asphalt road. His phone suddenly rang. Daniel controlled the steering wheel with one hand and picked up the phone with the other.
"Mr. Taylor, as per your instructions, Mrs. Howard' body has been secretly swapped. Mrs. Howard just boarded a plane to Aquilonia. She'll arrive at Aquilonia's international hospital in two hours. Mr. Jones is already waiting for her at the hospital. But I'm worried that Mrs. Howard has been delayed too long, and it might be too late—"
Daniel looked at the road ahead and calmly said, "I gave her the fake death drug Mr. Jones provided before Raymond returned from his prayers. The drug lasts for 24 hours. She'll arrive in two hours, so it should be fine."
"Fake death drug? There's such a thing?" The assistant exclaimed. He knew David liked to research strange things, but he didn't expect such a bizarre drug. This was something out of a TV show.
Daniel lowered the car window and rested his elbow on it. "You sound so inexperienced."
"Mr. Taylor, Mr. Jones wants to know when you'll be coming?"
"I'll attend Raymond's funeral the day after tomorrow, then head over. If anything happens, contact me immediately."
He didn't want to attend the funeral, but he feared arousing Raymond's suspicion and ruining the plan, so he had to go.
"Mr. Taylor, you're so good to Mrs. Howard. If I were Mrs. Howard, I'd definitely offer myself to you," the assistant teased before hanging up.
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