Chapter 89: Chapter 89

The funeral was a somber, quiet, and quick affair. In all, there were not more than twenty people present as they stood under the scorching sun that late afternoon at the burial ground to bury Victoria. Carol stood beside her father and Belinda, who had not acknowledged her presence since she arrived at the house this morning. She had also not acknowledged the money that Carol had sent to her, not that Carol cared one bit. She had done her part and that was that. There was a tension between the three of them, Carol, her father, and Belinda that kept mounting until it threatened to burst. Her father was supporting Belinda, who did not look like she needed any support at all. She stood stoically beside Donald, her face impassive, all but looking like a dam about ready to burst. Carol stole glances at her warily, wondering if she was mentally fit to be attending the burial.

A few paparazzi were lurking around the graveyard while the ceremony was going on. Carol glanced at them and shivered, glad that Sebastian had insisted on sending at least one bodyguard along with her. With all that was happening around her lately, her sister getting killed, and Jessica getting shot at, she was becoming really afraid and the presence of the heavily built man with a tendency to fade into the background despite his size was a relief to her.

Soon, they were done with the whole thing and all walked slowly back to their cars and drove back to the house where they had planned a small reception for the people who had come for the burial. Carol could not eat anything as her stomach felt really tight and grief had all but ruined her appetite. Not everyone who had come for the burial came back home with them, but there were still about twelve to fourteen people there, making small talk about how full of life and vivacious Victoria had been and how the people who had done this to her deserved to rot in hell for all eternity.

All of a sudden, Belinda, who had seemed to have it together all this while, got up from her chair, walked over to where Carol was sitting and yelled at the top of her voice.

"You should have died instead of her." She proclaimed. There was a stunned silence as everyone froze, some with spoons of food halfway to their mouths, others with their drinks held to their lips without them sipping or drinking from it, and others with their mouths open as they froze and held back whatever it was they had been about to say.

"Excuse me?" Carol said quietly, looking for her father with her eyes, but he was nowhere to be found, not that if he was even around, he would have done something. He was firmly under Belinda's thumb.

"You should have died in place of my baby girl," Belinda repeated, the vacant stare in her eyes unnerving Carol who was trying desperately to ignore her because of the people who were present. She did not care that the woman was grieving. This was the end of whatever relationship, or lack of it, that they had, as far as Carol was concerned. All of a sudden, she wanted to leave this place and go far away. Go home, where she could look into Sebastian's eyes, have him rub her back, and everything would be alright once again.

"I know you're mourning, Belinda, but I will not allow you to say morbid things about me."

"I should have snuffed the life out of you when you were a little kid. You've always been jealous of my little girl, and now you're here, pretending as though you loved her when she was alive? You did not even allow her to come to visit you when she wanted to do so, and yet, you married her fiancé after putting thoughts into her head to deceive her. Also, do you think that I do not know what you did? I know very well! You gave your worthless father twice as much money as you gave me and told him to keep that fact away from me. I know. What you don't know is that I saw the money come in before he moved it. To think that my Victoria was the one who was supposed to have married Sebastian! She would never have treated me like this."

"That's enough, Belinda!" Came the thunderous voice of her father. They all turned as one to see him standing in the doorway, his face red with anger. People were looking between them and talking in hushed whispers to themselves. Carol could see someone trying to record the whole thing discreetly, and she sighed inwardly. There was nothing people loved more than gossip, especially when famous people were involved. She did not consider herself to be famous, but the fact remained that she was a billionaire's wife, at least for now and that meant that some of Sebastian's fame would rub off on her at least.

"Don't yell at me because of her. Don't you dare." Belinda yelled and then burst into loud, wracking sobs that made people uneasy. It was the first time Carol had seen her cry since she came. Nobody tried to comfort her, not even Carol's father, who went to sit in the dining room and poured himself a drink. The atmosphere was so awkward that soon, people began to make their excuses to leave one after the other until it was only the three of them left, together with Carol's paternal aunt, Aunt Alice. For the first time since Carol knew her, it seemed that Aunt Alice was at a loss as to what to say. She fiddled with her hands nervously, glanced at Carol, who managed to summon up a smile for her benefit, and asked if anyone wanted some food.

"The fridge is stocked with food, you know. Margie from across the street brought a truckload of food and others brought different dishes too. They're all in the fridge so if anyone wants anything, just let me know and I'll get it immediately." Aunt Alice said into the silence after a while.

"Don't worry yourself about that, Alice," Donald called from the dining room. "We have a maid for that."

"Oh. Yes, that's right." Alice said, standing up and going to the kitchen to dish some food for herself anyways.

"I always eat when I'm nervous and sad." She explained when she came back from the kitchen and saw Carol look in surprise at the mountain of food that was on her plate.

"What's making you nervous? Am I the one making you nervous?" Belinda asked. She seemed to be looking for a fight with anyone. It did not seem to matter who it was. Carol felt a little sorry for her. None of her own parents and siblings had even bothered to come for the funeral, so it was no surprise that she was this cranky and bitter. However, Carol could not say that she blamed them, considering that the funeral was a rushed one.

"Of course not, dear."

"Is it Carol, then?"

"Why would Carol make me nervous?" Alice asked, shoveling a spoonful of food into her mouth, her expression implying that she wished Belinda would just shut the hell up.

"Because she's a witch who has brought bad luck to this house. I have no doubt that the devils who killed my baby did so because they felt that her stepsister is a billionaire's wife. If my Victoria was the one married to the billionaire, Carol would have been the one who was dead.

"That's an awful thing to say to someone, Belinda."

"Oh, please. You know it as well as I know it. I'm just glad that I was able to get the truth out in front of people." Belinda said, eyeing Carol maliciously.

"You'll keep your dirty mouth shut, or you'll leave my house this instant." Donald threatened, coming back into the living room where the three were still seated.

"Oh, please. I'm still very much married to you, so it's our house, not your house. Besides, I have every right to talk and I'm going to do whatever the hell I please."

"I'm going to bed," Carol announced, wanting no part in the drama that seemed about to unfold. It was a good thing that she was now an adult and did not have to come back here if she did not want to ever again. No one protested her leaving, so she went to her old room, and sank into her bed. The maid must have prepared it for her coming because it was pristine and there was no sign that it wasn't being used. She reached for her phone and called Sebastian to inform him that she was coming back the next day. There was no way that she could stay in this house for another day. No, not with Belinda in it.