All Chapters of The Funeral That Ended Us: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The funeral chapel was so quiet that even the faint hiss of the candle flames seemed loud.Three days ago, my father told me the crash was bad. He said he'd handled all the paperwork and all I had to do was sit through the vigil. Don't look. Don't ask.I cried until I was dizzy. I never even looked at the death certificate.The casket was empty beneath its white cloth.My father had told me her body was too badly damaged for me to see. He warned me not to open it.There was no cremation authorization. There had never been one.My father, Robert Whitmore, had simply rented the chapel. As far as the staff knew, we were holding a memorial service. No one was getting cremated.Even the countdown was fake. My father had made up the "ten minutes before the cremation" and sent it to me himself.The hotel stream hadn't been live either.By the time the video reached my phone, they were already sitting in the funeral home parking lot, waiting for me to see it.My mother, Carol Whitmore, stood i

I picked up the torn bags and walked out.Adrian followed me for a few steps."I'll text you the hotel address."I didn't turn around."Adrian, after eight years together, did you ever stop to think that I could get hurt too?"He didn't answer.The keypad lock beeped behind me.I wasn't just locked out of the condo.I was locked out of my own life.By the next morning, the family group chat had exploded.Someone had posted a video of me in my black mourning dress, demanding to know why my mother was still alive.Everything that happened before that had been cut out. They kept only the moment I finally snapped."You might as well have let me finish burying her."Nina posted online claiming I couldn't accept that she and Adrian were together. She said our mother was perfectly fine and that I'd staged a funeral because I wanted her dead.Our relatives immediately turned on me.I tried to explain, but then a second video appeared.In the video, Nina was crying, saying she'd give Adrian bac

The first voice message was from Adrian.When I played it, his voice was hoarse."Evelyn, the hospital said you had surgery."There were two seconds of silence. Then he asked, "Where's the baby?"I didn't reply.The arrivals hall was crowded, filled with voices speaking a language I didn't understand.No one there knew I had just held a funeral for a woman who was still alive.No one knew I had just lost my baby.Helen, the project lead, was waiting for me.Her smile faltered the moment she saw me."You look awful. What happened?""I didn't sleep on the flight."She didn't ask anything else. She just draped her coat over my shoulders."Let's get you to the apartment. Your room is ready. You don't have to worry about anything right now."My eyes burned.The apartment was small. Helen set the keys on the table."Rest for a few days. Come in when you're feeling better."After the door closed, I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time.My phone kept buzzing.Adrian, Mom, Dad, Grant, Nin

Nina kept going."Didn't you stay with her for eight years because you couldn't let go of her? Did I come up with this whole plan on my own? Sure, I edited the video. But you never told anyone the truth."A vein bulged at Adrian's temple."Shut up."Nina laughed, tears still streaming down her face."Don't forget, Adrian. You said it yourself that day in the car. You said she grew up with no one loving her, so all you had to do was be nice to her once in a while and she'd never leave you."Adrian said nothing.Nina went on through her tears."When she left the group chat, didn't you look relieved? You said she was finally behaving."He remembered standing outside the hotel that day with breakfast in his hand.When Evelyn left the group chat, he had been relieved. He'd even rubbed Evelyn's head and said, "That's my girl."He'd thought he'd finally gotten Evelyn under control.He didn't know that was the last time Evelyn would ever give in.He raised the cup as if to smash it against the

Later, he sold the condo.It sat on the market for months. After paying off the mortgage, he wired me what was left with a note."Down payment, renovation, interest."I sent the money straight back.My note was two words."Not needed."Adrian looked at the refund record and sat there all night.Money had never been what I wanted from him.It was drizzling the day Helen came with me to see my new condo.It was small. I could barely turn around in the kitchen without hitting a cabinet, and the balcony had room for maybe two flowerpots.Still, I looked at the papers for a long time before I signed.On the line marked "Owner" was my name, plain and clear.Evelyn Whitmore.I had once sold my grandmother's cottage to buy a home I eventually got locked out of.This place was small.But I was the only one who knew the door code.The next winter, Mom really did get sick.Grant emailed me. The doctors had found a heart problem, and she needed surgery.He didn't ask me to come back. He only wrote