Chapter 4

Everything I'd been holding back burst out of me at once.

I raised my hand and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. A red mark bloomed on his cheek.

"You bastard! How dare you do this? I'll kill both of you!" I screamed until my voice gave out.

Guilt hit him hard. He took every blow I landed and pulled me against his chest anyway. "Nadia, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... I'll arrange a beautiful funeral for Ms. Ward to show you how sorry I am..."

The rage overwhelmed me, and I passed out against him.

While I was unconscious, Orlando had Sonia taken to the crematorium.

The moment I woke up, I went there. I wanted to carry her ashes myself and lay her to rest properly.

Orlando stopped me. "Nadia, let me do it. You're not strong enough for this."

I wanted to insist, but my head was spinning, and my legs could barely hold me up. I had to nod.

I watched him go inside. Mistakes happened at places like that all the time, so I'd made a point of telling him to watch everything closely.

I waited a long time. A very long time. He didn't come out.

My stomach twisted. "Orlando? Orlando!"

I went in and looked around. He wasn't there, and neither was Sonia's urn.

I had the staff pull up the security footage right away.

The footage showed Orlando about to collect the ashes when he answered a call. "Cecilia, what's wrong? Stay where you are. Don't move. I'm coming to get you!"

Then he rushed out, completely forgetting the ashes and the fact that I was waiting outside for him.

Another man picked up the white porcelain urn containing Sonia's ashes.

My chest kept tightening. I hadn't kept Sonia safe, and now even her ashes were gone.

I questioned everyone I could find and followed every lead. In the end, I found the man who had taken the wrong urn.

He was completely wasted. "Ashes? I smashed the urn! Those were my brother's ashes. He was a gambler. Gambled away everything the family had, ran up debts, and got beaten to death in the street. As soon as I got outside, I scattered them."

Something inside me turned to ash right then. The person I cared about most had died because of me. Now even what was left of her was gone forever because I'd trusted the wrong man.

I wanted to howl, but my throat closed up. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Tears fell and splashed against the ground.

A bad feeling came over Orlando while he was out shopping with Cecilia, as if something were slipping away from him. He started calling me over and over.

I didn't answer. I blocked all their numbers and boarded a plane, hating them both the entire way home. I was going back to reclaim my place as my father's heir.