Second Chances Protecting Mrs. Hall

Chapter 54

Aria’s funeral was a subdued affair. The Wilson family had seen better days, and the attendance was sparse, with few relatives or friends present. Zoe was confined to her bed, leaving only Nora and Mateo to attend the graveside service.

Tears streaked Nora’s face as she watched a woman emerge from a black luxury car on the cemetery road. Her eyes, red and swollen from crying, widened in anger. “It’s you! You’re the reason Aria is gonel How dare you show up like this? I’ll make you pay!” she shouted.

Emma’s choice of attire was no accident. She often wore black and white, but today she had chosen a striking deep red dress, complemented by sunglasses and an unusual touch of red lipstick. Her outfit was more of a statement than an expression of grief.

“I dressed this way on purpose, but believe me; I had nothing to do with Aria’s death. If you want someone to blame, go after Sebastian. Go ahead; kill him. Get your revenge, and see where that gets you.” Emma replied, her voice icy.

“Enough, Emmal” Mateo interjected, raising his hand as if to strike Emma, but her bodyguards quickly stepped in to hold him back

Emma’s sneer was cutting. “We both are your daughters. When Aria was causing me trouble, where were you?”

Mateo’s response was muted. He knew he had been unjust to Emma for various reasons, and his quilt made him avoid her. Even now, he favored Aria. “Aria was always with me. She was the closest to my heart. She was my daughter, not you,” he said, his voice strained.

Hearing this confession, Emma felt a sharp pang in her heart, but she masked her pain with a colder, more mocking smile. “That’s sad because Aria never really saw you as her father.”

Her words became increasingly pointed. “You may have provided for her, but after she was released, she couldn’t even be bothered to call you. But of course,” Emma continued, her tone cold and detached with a hint of malice, “the dead are beyond our reproach. Arguing about it now is useless. She’s gone, and she’ll never have the chance to show you any gratitude.”

Nora, driven to madness, lunged at Emma but was swiftly restrained by the bodyguards.

lips. Hidden behind her sunglasses, her

tragedy. Fate gave you two daughters, and yet you’ve lost them both. Now, you’re left with nothing but this selfish, heartless woman by your side. You’re going to pay for your fault with those final words, Emma turned and

Mateo hurled insults at her retreating figure. “You and your mother are nothing but monsters! I regret ever having anything to do with her, just for the company, and having a

sharp, and unsettling, as she shifted from grief to verom. “Aria may be gone, but she knew our love for twenty years! Your mother, on the other hand, never saw a good day. Do you know how miserable she was? She suffered a thousand times more than Aria. I’ll tell you. I was the one who killed her! I knew about her depression, so I messed with her meds. I taunted her daily with massages and pushed her toward suicide. I watched her jump!

hadn’t anticipated the sharp pain that shot

flesh. “My arm, my hand… it hurts! Someone

overtaken by raw matice. It was as if she was on a battlefield, where everything

air in the cemetery was heavy with the scent of blood. Mateo stood frozen, overwhelmed by fear.

apart. Today it’s the arm, tomorrow it

Chapter 54

helps!”

squirmed in agony, like an insect in its death

the ground, the shock knocking her unconscious. She slid off Aria’s tombstone, leaving a smear of blood

atmosphere oppressively heavy. He had offered to go with Emma to the cemetery, but she had.

Emma sat alone and slumped over, clutching a glass,

Aria is dead,”

cheeks flushed, a smile playing on her lips, but her

reached out and

found out that my mother had died because… Nora deliberately messed with her meds. Damn it! Why didn’t I realize sooner?