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Camilla
Cold rain drizzled down on the party gathered around a recently placed tombstone. The freshly turned earth looked especially dark and gloomy against the patch of spring grass and wildflowers growing around it.
Soon, the grass and wildflowers will cover your grave, Mom, I thought as quiet sobs wracked through me.Rest until then...
There were merely ten people who’d gathered around Mom’s grave to say their last goodbyes. Large black umbrellas kept their faces hidden from my view but I was able to discern the four prominent male figures standing in the front. Their luxurious black suits easily separated them from the rest of the crowd.
The priest read from a small bound book but I couldn’t hear what he said.
I stood several feet away, hiding behind a tall, broad tombstone, knowing it was important to keep my distance until everyone left. There was no way I could let Noah, Corey, or Caleb catch me and make me pay for what I’d done in retaliation.
The video that Noah used to blackmail me was out in the world now.
Every friend and acquaintance in my phone’s contact list must’ve seen my shame and humiliation at the Amhurst brothers’ hands by now. Not only that. The world was now aware of their monstrous hearts that they hid behind those beautiful faces.
I was sure people had questions, but I wasn’t in the mental state to answer any of them. The only reason I did it was to make sure the Amhurst brothers couldn’t blackmail me again.
They thought they owned me. For a while, I’d believed it too.
I burned myself and used the fire to burn them too.
It didn’t matter I was destroyed in the process. It didn’t matter what happened to me anymore when the only person who cared about me was gone.
Everything changed the moment I saw my mom’s unmoving body on a hospital bed. No matter how much I screamed for her to wake up, she remained stoic and silent.
I couldn’t even say goodbye to her. Noah made sure of that.
A distant part of me understood that he didn’t cause the accident intentionally. He couldn’t have known she’d been admitted to the hospital.
I didn’t blame him for that, but he was responsible for everything else.
He was the reason I kept secrets from my mom. He was the reason I suffered through every torment he and his brothers unleashed on me.
I wanted to protect my mom from heartbreak and sadness.
In the end, it was all for nothing. She died without seeing her only daughter. Even though Brian stayed by her side until her last breath, she was sure to have missed me. No one could take my place in her heart.
“I’ll never be so weak again, Mom,” I whispered through a choked throat as tears poured down my cheeks. “I’ll never let them hurt me again.”
A weight seemed to have lifted off me though the moment I shared that video clip. The Amhurst brothers could never force me into submission again. I’d finally broken free of their control.
From now on, I’d fight them with everything I had.
My mom was the only person I cared for. She was my one and only weakness.
And now, she was gone.
Nothing could touch her anymore. She’d rest for an eternity now, unburdened by the unfairness of the world she left behind.
I took in a trembling breath, brushed the tears clinging to my lashes, and watched the proceedings of the funeral ceremony.
One by one, people came forward to say a prayer and lay down a white rose or a lily on her gravestone. Three tall male figures gathered around the lone man who stood at the front. It looked like they were speaking to him.
After a few minutes, they stepped back.
Noah, Corey, and Caleb joined the small group as they followed the priest across the cemetery grounds. Their black attires and umbrellas made a sharp contrast against the bright green grass and the gray sky.
