According to the information he had, Skender's younger sister was just an orphan without any influence.
"But why is she accompanied by so many bodyguards like a royal family member?"
Being astonished, Baird asked, "Whose wife is she?"
He did not need to bother much with her if she was just an orphan, but if she had married into a wealthy family, he would need to put in some effort to persuade her.
However, Baird thought that as long as she had not married into the Evans family here, he wouldn't need to take her too seriously.
The tall and sturdy Andrew stood in front of Amelia and said condescendingly, "She's the wife of James Evans, the CEO of Evans Group."
Taken aback for a few seconds, Baird gradually let out a look of disbelief, "Ms. Garcia is married to Mr. Evans? How come I haven't heard about their marriage?"
Andrew said coldly, "Their wedding will be held soon. Mr. Johnson, I advise you not to offend Mr. Evans' wife at this juncture."
A hint of embarrassment appeared on Baird's gentle face, "We're just discussing where my son should be buried. How would I offend her?"
"With the backing of the Evans Group, no wonder Ms. Garcia spoke so firmly. However, she's only so confident because of her future husband." He thought.
Baird somehow looked down on Amelia, thinking that she was just like her sister, who had nothing and only clung to Aaron all her life, causing so much trouble and Aaron's death even after she died. "What's so good about women like this?" He wondered.
Amelia could sense Baird's disdain for her, but her mind was not on this at all, so she didn't say much except, "Mr. Johnson, please. think about my suggestion and give me a reply within four hours."
In four hours, James' plane should have arrived in Ireland, and she could then decide whether to join him.
As Aaron was his son, Baird didn't need to ask Amelia's permission to claim the body. He only invited her over to tell her of their decision because Aaron told her his last wish, and he was going to take the body back whether she agreed or not. However, if she was the woman James Evans going to marry soon, things. would get complicated.
Baird told his wife about the situation and asked her to make a decision. "We either let Skender be buried in the family cemetery and acknowledge her as our daughter-in-law, or take Aaron's body away by force against the wish of the future wife of the Evans Group's president. What do you think?"
Hearing that Amelia was the fiance of the Evans Group's president, Jocelyn was taken aback for a moment, "You're saying she is the future wife of James Evans?"
Baird nodded impatiently, "I also thought she was a nobody, but she turned out to be his fiance."
Wiping her tears, Jocelyn's hand trembled slightly, "Do you know who gave birth to her and Skender?"
Baird did not care about this, "Who cares who their mother is? It has nothing to do with me..."
"You're right, but it has something to do with me! If not, why wouldn't I let our son marry Skender despite how much he liked her?" Jocelyn wanted to tell her husband.
She thought she didn't need to worry about Amelia because she was a nobody who knew nothing and didn't expect her to be engaged to such a powerful man.
"Could it be that some secrets simply cannot be kept from others?" Jocelyn wondered.
Shivering all over in fear, Jocelyn tightened her embrace of her son's cold body as it lay on the tray.
Baird thought she was too sad and didn't think much about it. He just caressed his son's body and wept.
In the executive office of the hospital, Eva and Stella sat aside and quietly stared at Amelia with occasional glances between them.
Amelia was grasping her phone anxiously as she waited for James' call. Four hours had passed by now.
When it was time, Amelia quickly gave him a call, and it was picked up after ringing twice.
"Amelia..."
Hearing his voice, Amelia gradually relaxed while feeling that she had been bullied by him, "James, you lied to me! I'm not marrying you when you come back, okay?"
James knew she was upset and tried to soothe her as he got off the plane, "Amelia, don't worry. I'll only be here for two days at the most."
However, there was no way Amelia could stop worrying, and even her voice was quavering, "Casare is treacherous and has even caused Aaron's death. I worry about that..."
Leading a group of people, James walked quickly. His aloof and dignified face revealed a prideful look, "I'm not Aaron."
He wanted to tell her that he was not Aaron and had his means. To him, getting Casare to hand over Grace was a simple task.
He was fully confident and didn't say much, "I'll bring Grace back to see you two days later. Just wait for me, okay?"
Amelia felt as if she could do nothing but wait, "You're right. I can't help you with anything anyway."
After disconnecting the call, she sat on the sofa and helplessly hung her head low.
James sensed that she was upset and quickly wanted to call her back, but someone stood in his path.
He slowly looked up...
A moment after Amelia hung up the phone, she received a message from James that read:
"Amelia, it's not that you can't help with anything. I simply don't want you to face any danger."
"I promise you that I'll be back in two days. Don't get upset, okay?"
Rubbing the back of the phone with her fingertips, Amelia stared at the message and pondered for a few seconds, then bowed her head and typed:
"Okay, I'll wait for you at home."
She knew that she couldn't be of much help. If she joined him, he might have to waste his energy protecting her instead, so it was better not to go with him.
Knowing herself well, Amelia saw James' reply and put down her phone.
When she was going to look for Aaron's parents, George entered the office and handed her a thumb drive.
"I found this in Casare's home theater. It contains the video your sister left for Aaron. You never met your sister, so I thought you might want to watch it."
George's eyes were still red from crying. He had sobbed uncontrollably, especially after watching the video.
When she heard that it contained her sister's video, Amelia's heart ached, and her hand that took the thumb drive trembled slightly.
Stella lent her the computer and then left the office with Eva so that Amelia could have some privacy.
Amelia inserted the flash drive into the computer. When she clicked on the video, her sister's face appeared on the computer screen.
Not as beautiful as she was in the photos, Skender looked sickly with a dull complexion and atrophied muscles.
But even though she was ill, she maintained a dignified and elegant temperament as she looked at the camera from afar with a beautiful and relaxed half-smile.
She had put on makeup and dressed herself up, probably wanting to look the best for Aaron for the last time.
"When I knew I was dying soon, I also put on makeup to look the best for my loved ones." Amelia thought.
From the time her sister called Aaron's name, Amelia could tell the woman loved Aaron very much. Such love was deeply ingrained in the woman.
Amelia stared closely at her sister's face and thought the woman's tone and smile were affable.
Even though she was just watching the woman on screen, she felt she was familiar to her, as if she had known Skender for many years.
Amelia had never known what it was like to have a blood relationship with someone until she saw Skender.
Skender's calm explanation and her claim that she did betray Johnson made Amelia cry uncontrollably.
She firmly believed that her sister had never betrayed him, but never thought that Skender would be set up.
After all, her sister had suffered much more than her.
However, she knew her sister was much stronger than her.
Amelia dared not love someone so openly, let alone romantically pursue a man,
"Skender stayed true to her feelings and yet had to die in regret." She thought sadly.
She reached out her hand and touched the screen. As if touching her sister's face through the cold screen, she curled her lips into a smile.
"Skender, do you regret it? Do you regret falling in love with Aaron?"
What responded to her was Skender's words at the end of the video.
"Aaron, I'm sorry, and I love you."
"How would she regret it if she had loved Aaron until her death?" Amelia told herself.
Amelia put down her hand and replayed the video again and again while fixing her gaze on her sister, trying to ingrain the image. deeply into her mind.
She didn't wipe the tears off her face until George knocked on the door and came in.
"What's up?" She asked.
Holding the door, George said wearily, "Aaron's parents have made a decision. Go see them in the rest area."
Amelia nodded and got up to go to the restroom to wash her face.
She pressed her eyes, which had gone puffy from crying, then turned to go to the rest area.
Having made a decision, Baird and Jocelyn saw her coming and went to the point, "Since Aaron's last wish is to be buried with Skender, then move her remains to our family cemetery."
Amelia didn't expect them to agree to it so easily, "What would you put on her gravestone?"
Baird pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said calmly, "It'll be nameless."
If Amelia was not James Evans' fiance, they would never have compromised.
However, they were only willing to bury Skender in their family cemetery, and recognizing her as Aaron's wife was out of the question.
Amelia's face fell, "Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, if Aaron hadn't told me his last wish, I would never let him be buried with my sister. You might think my sister had ruined Aaron's life, but I think it's Aaron and Casare who ruined hers. I'll never agree with her having a nameless gravestone."
As if not expecting her to be so firm, the couple exchanged a look. Baird got up and wanted to say something nasty to Amelia, but Jocelyn held him down.
Carrying herself as a wealthy lady should have, Jocelyn explained to Amelia decorously:
"Ms. Garcia, when Skender tried to romantically pursue Aaron years ago, I told her that I would never let my son marry him, and she said it was fine as long as she could be with him. As you might know, a family like ours would never accept a daughter-in-law with unequal status, so we can't acknowledge her as our daughter-in-law."
Amelia studied her up and down and felt strange as the woman. never dared to look her in the eyes, "Mrs. Johnson, do you know me?"
Grasping her husband's hand, Jocelyn's hand shook slightly, but she tried to look calm and curled a corner of her lip, "I live in Ireland. How could I possibly know you?"
"Then why don't you dare to look me in the eye?"
Just as Amelia was about to ask this question, Jocelyn stood up and looked directly at her, "Ms. Garcia, I've made myself clear. It's your elder sister's decision to stay by Aaron's side without marrying him. If she didn't mind it when she was still alive, I doubt she would care about it now."
As Jocelyn had told Skender that she wouldn't let her son marry her, Amelia knew she didn't like her sister. Therefore, she doubted the woman's words.
"Mrs. Johnson, my sister did try to romantically pursue your son, but Aaron loved her too and was even willing to die for her. Don't lie about her after her death just because of your bias."
As Amelia had seen through her thoughts, Jocelyn guiltily lowered her gaze.
Seeing such an expression, Baird thought Amelia was bullying his wife and bolted to his feet angrily, "Ms. Garcia, what exactly do you want?"
Amelia sighed again, "Mr. Johnson, I just want you guys to acknowledge my sister's lifelong devotion to your son."
Standing aside quietly for a long time, George said at this moment, "Skender always wanted to marry Aaron, and he wanted to marry her too, but you separated them on purpose, Mrs. Johnson. Since they couldn't be together when they were alive, why don't you fulfill their wish now that they are dead?"
Jocelyn was upset that George revealed to Amelia what she did.
To her, it was better to keep these secrets to themselves, as they could cause embarrassment.
After Jocelyn scolded George inwardly for being "vulgar", she shook her head in disagreement, "She had not given birth to Aaron's child, so it's truly not appropriate to bury her in our family cemetery..."
"It's better not to bury that woman's daughter in the family cemetery, or else I might not be able to put my mind at rest." She thought.
George snorted coldly, "Skender gave birth to Aaron's daughter, who's already six years old. Why is it not appropriate?"
Before George said it, Amelia gave him a look, but he didn't see and blurted it out.
Baird and Jocelyn were taken aback, "Aaron has a daughter?"
George said icily, "There was also a son. If you guys didn't stop them from marrying, they wouldn't even lose him."
Aaron and Skender had been together for six years, but his parents always stood in their way.
If they had approved their marriage, Skender would have given birth to a child long ago, and they would not have suffered so much.
Baird asked anxiously, "Where is the child?"
Even Jocelyn softened her tone and wanted George to take her to see her grandchild.
With only one son, she thought that his death would spell the end of the bloodline of the Sherwood family and didn't expect that she still had a granddaughter.
It was a huge surprise to her. Although it was Skender who gave birth to the child, she at least had someone to carry their bloodline.
George answered, "Casare has taken that child away. You should ask him, okay?"
When Jocelyn heard that it was Casare again, she became angry, "That bastard killed my son and has taken my granddaughter away. The Sherwood family would never spare him!"
She spoke through clenched teeth, then yelled hysterically as she pointed at her husband, "Listen! If you don't kill Casare, I'll make sure the Johnson family has no place in Ireland!"
When the Evans family forced the Johnson family to move to Ireland, it was the Sherwood family who bravely lent a helping hand.
"The Sherwood family treated the Johnson family with the utmost kindness, and how did they repay me?" Jocelyn thought angrily.
"They let my then fiance keep his bastard son, who ended up causing my son's death!"
She couldn't tolerate this and was determined to have Casare pay with his life.
After Jocelyn finished yelling, she staggered unsteadily, and Amelia reached out her hands to support her.
Jocelyn froze immediately and would rather hold onto the wall than let Amelia touch her.
Feeling the woman was a bit scared of her, Amelia did not know why and could only observe her in secret.
Jocelyn probably realized that her reaction had been too conspicuous and quickly raised her hands to straighten her sleeves before casually looking at Amelia.
"Ms. Garcia, since your sister gave birth to my son's daughter, then we'll bury her in our family cemetery as Aaron's wife."
While making the compromise, she also made a request, "However, you will have to let me raise that child."
Seeing that Jocelyn wanted to raise Grace, George realized he had revealed too much and quickly said, "But Aaron wanted Ms. Garcia to take care of the child."
Aaron's parents had prioritised their own interests. When Aaron obeyed them, they nurtured him to be the heir, and when he didn't, they would rather give his inheritance rights to their nephew whom they could manipulate. "They had treated their son this way, let alone their granddaughter?" George thought.
Amelia understood this as well and quickly answered, "His last wish was stated in a written agreement, and he wanted me to take care for the child."
Jocelyn was extremely upset. "How could the mother's sister raise the child when the father's parents are still alive and well?" She wondered angrily.
However, Jocelyn did not say it out loud and said, "Ms. Garcia, don't worry, I won't mistreat the child and take good care of her by showering her with love and sending her to the best elite school. The Sherwood and Johnson families would treat her like a princess."
These words might have come from the bottom of Jocelyn's heart because she still loved her son, but Amelia somehow felt that Jocelyn seemed to be hiding many secrets concerning her and her sister. She wondered if Jocelyn would truly treat Grace well if they turned out to be enemies.
Not trusting Jocelyn, Amelia thought that even if she needed to go to the international court, she would fight to keep her sister's child by her side. However, what mattered now was to bring Grace back.
As Baird had lost one son, Amelia thought that even if Casare was an unpopular illegitimated child, Baird would not act cruelly toward him. Therefore, it was a waste of breath talking to him.
Jocelyn, on the other hand, seemed to have come from the old Sherwood family of Ireland, and the fact that Baird didn't dare to offend her showed that her family was more powerful and influential. Therefore, Amelia believed the woman's hatred toward Casare would make it easier to get Grace back.
After analyzing the situation, Amelia said directly to Jocelyn, "Mrs. Johnson, let's put aside the matter first. What matters now is to get Grace back from Casare, wouldn't you agree?"
Seeing that she did not budge, Jocelyn could tell Amelia didn't want her to raise the child. However, she knew the woman was right that it was not the time to fight for custody. "What we need to do now is to take care of Aaron's funeral, get back the child, and then make sure Casare pays with his life!" She thought angrily.
Amelia saw the viciousness in Jocelyn's eyes and shuddered inwardly, but she didn't say anything more.
Baird planned to cremate Aaron's body in the country and then transport the ashes back to Ireland.
To bury the two at the same time, Baird asked Amelia to retrieve Skender's ashes and then go to Ireland with them on their private jet.
Hearing them inviting Amelia to go with them alone, Andrew immediately refused, "No, we will wait till Mr. Evans is back."
As the previous generation of the Johnson family had a grudge against the Evans family, there was no way Andrew would allow Amelia to be with them alone.
If something were to happen to Amelia, he knew James would probably twist his head off, and he could not take the risk.
With Andrew not budging and the Johnson family insisting on burying the two at the same time, the two sides argued for a moment.
In the end, Amelia suggested the couple hold the funeral first in Ireland because James would likely be back when the funeral was over.
After the two parties decided on the specific date for the joint burial, Amelia hired someone to relocate her sister's remains.
Before the relocation, she touched the
tombstone, reluctant to part with Skender.
"Skender, Aaron's parents now acknowledge you as their daughter-in-law and have agreed to bury you and Aaron together in their family cemetery."
Skender had loved Aaron until her death, so Amelia believed that her sister would be willing to relocate. Otherwise, she wouldn't agree to it.
"Skender, I have another piece of news to share with you. James and I are getting married."
"And thank you, my dearest sister..."
It was her elder sister who gave her a chance to live on and reunite with James. Otherwise, she would never know he was in love with her until she died.
"However, by giving her heart to me, she became the one who had to die in regret." She thought sadly.
The siblings had never met each other, but Skender ended up giving her life for Amelia.
Amelia would return her kindness by taking care of Grace. If she couldn't, she wanted to make it up to Skender in the afterlife!
After staring at the tombstone for a long time, Amelia let someone take out the urn.
It was a sunny afternoon, and her sister was thus brought out into the sun. "She no longer has to stay in this cold and unfamiliar place all by herself." Amelia thought.
Amelia held the urn and caressed it a few times, "Skender, I will visit you often in Ireland in the future."
She then covered the urn with a black square cloth.
Eva held an umbrella for her, and the two took Skender's ashes back to Amelia's own villa.
By the time Amelia finished these, two days had passed. During this period, James would tell her how he was every hour.
Therefore, she felt less worried. She lay wearily on the bed, and after a deep sleep, she reached behind the pillow for her phone.
Last night, James sent a message to inform her that he had got Grace back.
And his private jet would arrive at the Arcadia Airport at 10:15 am the next day.
She looked at the time. Guessing that he was about to get off the plane, she brought up the call log and gave him a call, but his phone was turned off.
She thought he hadn't gotten off the plane yet, so she got up to wash up first. After getting dressed up, she packed up a few sets of clothes.
After she finished preparing for her trip to Ireland, she picked up her phone, and her heart sank when she saw he hadn't returned her call yet.
She sat in front of the dressing table and tried to call James several times, but no one picked up.
Hearing the call failure tone again and again, Amelia grew anxious.
She got up quickly, and as she walked out the door, she asked Andrew to drive her to the airport.
Sitting in the car, she kept calling James, but he never answered.
Feeling that something had happened to James, Amelia's heart pounded anxiously.
Whenever she called him or sent a message, he would always answer and reply immediately, but not this time.
Holding the phone, her palm was covered in tiny beads of sweat while she kept shivering as if having fallen into a cold pool.
When the car pulled over at the airport, Amelia got out before Andrew could open the door for her and ran like a mad woman to the arrival gate.
People from one flight after another came out of it, but she couldn't see James. Amelia's face slowly turned pale.
She stopped calling on her cell phone and leaned against the cold wall. Wrapping her arms around herself, she tried to comfort herself.
Unable to reach James on his phone, Andrew tried calling the bodyguards that went with him, but no one picked up either.
By now, even Andrew felt that something might have happened to Mr. Evans. He hurried to an obscure corner to give Zack a call, but he also didn't pick up.
"It can't be. They were just getting the child back. It's not possible that Mr. Evans couldn't get this done, right?" He wondered.
"Could they be ambushed by Casare on their way back here?"
Andrew quickly contacted their men in Ireland, but they told him that the plane had already taken off.
Andrew checked the information on the private jet and learned that it had long stopped flying. However, its passengers had yet to get off.
Puzzled, he let the airport staff know who they were and brought Amelia straight to the plane.
Just as they were about to rush inside, a man who was nearly 6.3 feet tall emerged at the aircraft door, holding the hand of a little girl with a doll in her arm.
As if he had just woken up, his gaze was dreamy, and his flawless face was pallid. He also stood unsteadily.
It was too dark to see his expression. However, seeing James, Amelia couldn't help shedding tears.
Standing where she was, she looked at the figure from a distance.
The long wait made her feel like a century had passed, and she was anxious to see him.
For the first time, she rushed forward carelessly and threw her arms around James, "You scared me to death! I thought something happened to you."
James grunted and paled, but raised his hands and pulled her into his chest.
Hugging her tight, he said in a low voice, "I promised you that I would be back after two days, so I would surely make it."
As he had promised her, no one could stop him from returning, no matter what that person did to him!
Holding him, Amelia smelled the familiar scent of cedarwood on him and gradually relaxed, "Why didn't you answer my calls?"
She wanted to look up at him, but his hand held her head down from behind. "Why is he not letting me raise my head?" She wondered.
James held her head to his chest and said huskily, "I guess your niece was too noisy, and I didn't hear my phone ringing."
Standing beside him, Grace looked up and quietly threw him an odd look.
It was only when he mentioned Grace that Amelia shifted her attention to her.
When she saw that chubby girl had suddenly lost weight, her heart ached.
She quickly let go of James, squatted down, and held Grace's small face.
"Grace, why have you lost so much weight?"
Seeing her aunt, Grace parted her lips and wanted to say something, but didn't do so in the end.
Seeing Grace with her head down, quietly playing with the doll in her hands, Amelia were deeply saddened.
"Forced by Casare to play the shooting game and having to witness the death of her father, she must have been overwhelmed, and that's why she's become so quiet." She thought.
James braced his trembling body and explained, "She's been traumatized and needs to see a shrink."
After Casare forced Aaron to kill himself, he had also become cruel to Grace. He locked the crying child inside a small cage in a dark room for the past few days, only giving her a little food and water. If James hadn't come in time, Grace might not have lasted more than three days.
Hearing what happened to Grace, Amelia felt so bad for her that she held her tightly between her arms and comforted Grace as she patted her back, "Grace, from now on you will stay with me. I'll take good care of you, and I won't let anyone harm you ever again."
Grace's long and curly eyelashes moved slightly, but she made no verbal response. As if her inner world had crumbled, she had turned from a lively, chubby girl into a withdrawn child.
Seeing her like this, Amelia felt very sorry for her. She lovingly held Grace up, and as she rose, she saw James had suddenly put on a heavy coat.
Suspicious, she looked at him carefully and saw his face was bloodless. Alarmed, she asked him what was wrong.
James held a fist to his mouth and coughed, "It was windy. Probably I caught a cold..."
He then pointed his chin at Andrew who stood in a daze beside him, "Carry the child."
Amelia wanted to tell him to let her carry Grace, but the little girl struggled to get off her and stretched out her arms toward Andrew.
Grace was already an obedient child before this, and now she was even more eager to do what they told her.
Seemingly afraid that they would abandon her, Grace didn't dare to cause them any trouble and had keenly observed them.
Amelia had mixed feelings as she looked at Grace, who leaned on Andrew's shoulder holding her doll and acting ridiculously obedient.
James took her hand and put it in his coat pocket, "Let's go home, Amelia."
Touching his thick hand, Amelia felt it was usually cold and turned her gaze to the ashen-faced man.
"Are you okay?"
His skin had always been fair and rosy, but now he looked so pale that even his thin lips seemed bloodless.
She did not believe that it was caused by a cold, "James, if something's wrong, please tell me. Do not hide it from me or lie to me, okay?"
James' eyes sparkled wearily, but he patiently lowered his head.
"It's really just a cold. Feel it if you don't believe me."
Amelia stood on her toes and reached out her hand to touch his forehead, which felt warmer than usual, "Have you taken cold medicine?"
James nodded lightly with a faint smile on his lips, "Mrs. Evans, you must love me a great deal to be so concerned about me, huh?"
She didn't try to hide her tender look, "Yes, that's why you must be well, Mr. Evans."
James wanted to tease her so that she could relax, but hearing her answer, his expression froze for a moment.
"Yes, she will only be well if I am. We cannot do without the other, and I must keep my promise."
With that in his mind, James raised her chin and kissed her lips, then held her soft hand and got off the plane with her.
Under the dim light of the airport, their figures, one dignified and another lady-like, cast long shadows.
Emerging from the plane with a group of doctors, Zack frowned as he stared after James.
Not too far away, he happened to see red liquid dripping down from the man's heavy coat.
Fishing out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, Zack took one out with his trembling hand, lit and put it in his mouth before taking a deep drag.
He seldom smoked and trembled like this. However, seeing Mr. Shawn suffered such a serious injury, he couldn't help wanting to smoke.