08
I had barely driven off when I got a call from the cemetery manager.
“Someone wants to buy the plot you purchased, offering triple the price. I told them to wait, but they couldn’t. They’ve already started digging. You better come quick.”
It felt like a bomb went off in my head.
Matt’s audacity knew no bounds–to dig up a grave without consent.
I sped to the top of the hill as fast as I could.
Matt was efficient; he’d already dug up Charles and Margaret’s urns and was carefully placing the small urn in their stead.
“Stop right there!”
Enraged, I charged and kicked Matt squarely in the back.
He tumbled to the ground.
As I was about to kick him again, Emily rushed over and shoved me away.
“Steve, you’ve lost it! Planting an empty urn and engraving my parents‘ names on a headstone! You think I’d fall for that? My parents shouldn’t have taken you in! You’ve become a heartless monster!”
“So you saw their names and decided to bury Matt’s cat here?”
How convenient that they chose this exact spot.
Emily scoffed, “We were at the park when a skateboarder hit Orange. He helped me; I owe him a proper burial! Steve, you curse my parents, you’re worse than an animal!”
Tired of arguing, I yanked the small urn from the grave and threw it far away.
This enraged Matt.
As I picked up Charles and Margaret’s urns, he kicked one from my hands. The urn shattered on the ground, ashes scattering everywhere.
I screamed and dove to gather them, but the wind cruelly blew most away.
Unable to grasp the ashes, I howled in anguish.
“Dad, Mom, I’m so sorry… I failed… Even in death, you can’t find peace…”
I broke down, shaking as I tried to collect the ashes, my eyes burning dry with pain.
At that moment, my hatred for Emily reached its peak.
If only she had called the hospital, she would’ve known about her parents‘ deaths, but she stubbornly trusted every word Matt said.
How could someone be so willfully blind?
It was ridiculous!
“You really know how to put on a show! Where’d you get that fake ash? The Oscars owe you one, Steve! You look like a damn clown right now!”
I stopped, fixed my gaze on her, and said each word deliberately, “This is really my parents‘ ashes! Don’t believe me, call the hospital right now!”
The last few words were a cryout echoing above the graveyard.
I had never been so angry with her. She hesitated, then sneered in disbelief, “Fine! I’ll expose your lies right now and see what you have to say next!”
Matt sarcastically added, “Steve, if I were you, I’d apologize now. Don’t make a fool of yourself. If it were me, I’d just jump off that cliff over there!”
I ignored him, just staring down Emily.
Emily made the call on speaker.
“Dr Dickens, why are you only calling now? Your dad was in a car accident two nights ago and was severely injured Your mom had a heart attack from the stress. If you’d been here sooner, maybe we could’ve saved her…”
Emily’s face turned ghostly, her eyes red with horror. “And my parents 7″
“Your dad didn’t make it. Steve left to find you but missed his final moments. As for your mom, Steve was the only one by her side when she passed. She was whispering your name as she took her last breath…”
