09:10 A.M.
Sayuri Memorial Garden Chapel II.
June 25th, the year 2018. Monday.
"We are here to wish Margo a peaceful death, Carmela, if you may permit us to be here for a few hours," Sammy muttered to her. Everyone knew what they were witnessing. Xian and Carmela both stared into the depths of their eyes. Carmela panted and closed her eyes. She shook her head aggressively and pointed towards Xian.
"He's the reason Margo received a threat. I do not want to see his face right here and there while we were mourning for Margo's death," Carmela hissed. She glared at Xian. She took a step towards Xian and slapped him hard on the right cheek.
Sammy widened her eyes and opened her mouth wide. She crouched down immediately beside her son. The people were gossiping about what Carmela did. Sammy looked up at her as Carmela said something.
"You cheated on Margo and you want to show the hell up off your face here after what you did to her?! How thick your face must have been now, Xian!" Carmela yelled as Xian looked up at her with tears in his eyes. She felt the hotness on her cheeks as angry tears streamed down.
The camera flashed on them and Carmela didn't want to break her gaze from Xian. He stared at her. Nanny Margarette stood up from her seat and whispered right to Carmela.
"Carmela, everyone is watching," Nanny Margarette mumbled behind Carmela's back. She didn't even listen.
"You were the root of why Margo was killed! If it weren't for you, she would be alive now!" Carmela yelled, sobbing, as the glass doors opened. She saw in her peripheral vision the baffled Mina ahead of their two friends, Abbey and Zoey.
Mina panted and looked over the backside of the wheelchair as he glared at the person sitting in it. Mina walked behind Carmela, knuckling his fists. He was wearing another ivory, turtle-neck sweater and tight jeans. He was wearing an angry face while staring right through Xian, who was still holding his face.
Zoey and Abbey halted right on the backside as they saw how Carmela was so in a rage with the person in the wheelchair. They both looked at each other and swallowed. They were all wearing white, and the funeral should be at peace. The atmosphere changed after a second.
Carmela held Mina's arms on his side as she felt he would punch Xian in the face. She looked at him. Carmela shook her head a little, saying that Mina shouldn't punch Xian. Sammy stood up from crouching down and glared right through Carmela.
Noisy chatters of reporters and Margo's avid fans erupted as the argument intensified.
"How dare you slap my son right on Margo's cremated body?! We should be peaceful today, we should mourn for her death, not this, Carmela!" Sammy yelled. It made Carmela glower at her. She stayed there for a few moments, the reporters jutting down an article on their notes.
Carmela took a step ahead of her and she stopped right in front of Sammy's nose. They were facing each other, their faces were inches away, and Sammy tilted her head backward.
She stared right through the depth of Carmela's eyes. She didn't know what to do. Sammy felt the raging fire in its pupils.
"Tell me, Aunt Sammy. What would you feel if Uncle Sailor cheated on you for a different woman much more beautiful than you?" Carmela mumbled that made Sammy's eyes widened. Xian grabbed a hold of Carmela's arm with his left hand and she glared at him.
"Don't listen to her, mom. She's talking nonsensical things," Xian hissed. Mina clenched his jaw over. He controlled himself from saying something. It may heat into a brawl. The last thing Mina wanted to do was to punch Xian in front of Margo's cremated body.
Carmela snickered, saying, "I am talking nonsensical things for you now, Xian, huh?"
Carmela removed his left hand from her arm rashly and turned to everyone. She lifted her chin.
"This famous painter here was the reason I am lost in my dreams. That was when I became a single mother. Bearing a child wasn't easy," Carmela announced, glaring at Xian. Abbey looked up with her mouth open as Carmela brought Hannah again.
She remembered the day they fought about the promise she had committed. She closed her eyes as she realized Carmela would file a case for her brother if she didn't say it any time now. Abbey clenched her jaw and sighed as Zoey looked over her rapid breathing.
"Are you okay?" Zoey asked. Abbey nodded, glimpsing at Carmela.
She saw how angry Carmela's eyes were right now. It must be the feeling of loathing for her ex-boyfriend, whom she was blaming to be the root of these. And also why Margo was murdered.
"It's not yours, Xian. How you were born as a cheater led me to that darkness I never experienced. It was because I met you," Carmela sobbed in between her lines.
The cameramen on the backside of the room placed the cameras on a better angle. The reporters recorded it live. Posting it also on social media gained them a bigger audience.
"This painter. He was a born betrayer. As Margo's former assistant, I would like to say that this cheater... is my ex-boyfriend," Carmela called out. She raised her arm towards Xian that made him grit his teeth. Everyone gossiped about it.
Sammy took a careful glance towards the reporters. She saw how disgraceful their looks were. She realized it will destroy their reputation and dignity in their successful field.
"And... this famous painter was the one to blame for why Margo got killed," Carmela barked. Everyone joined in the chaotic chatter. Xian and Carmela both looked in distaste at each other.
"I didn't cheat on Margo. It trapped me, Carmela. You don't know what happened," Xian retorted back, which made Carmela snigger at her place. She crossed her arms over her chest and bent down her head until their eyes were on the level.
Abbey and Zoey didn't know what to do and observed what would happen to both of them.
Mina creased his forehead and was about to punch Xian hard on the face when Carmela halted him. Mina glanced at her suddenly and Carmela shook her head a little again. Xian was still staring at Carmela in disdain.
"You don't know what happened, Carmela! So don't blame me for my lover's death! I am here for her, not you!" Xian shouted over the throbbing of the veins in his neck. He felt the pain on his right arm as he moved it only centimeters away and he grimaced as he felt the tears in his eyes.
"No matter what I did to believe that you didn't betray her, Xian, I saw it with my own two eyes! You did it again!" Carmela shouted over the confines of the room that made Xian widened his eyes towards her. The reporters were all fussing with their scene.
Zoey stepped up to both as she said, "We should all calm down, Xian and Carmela. We should be quiet in this place and for Margo too."
Carmela shook her head, didn't even bother to listen to Zoey.
She raged, "Do you know what happened to Margo, Xian?! She lost her career and worse, she was even in a brawl with our best friend, Katrina! Don't you know how much it must have been hard for her to accept your betrayal!"
Xian looked down and gasped a lot of air as he felt the tightness in his chest. Sammy crouched down again and asked if his son was okay. Xian closed his eyes as his shoulders shook and his sobs came.
"She was in grief, Xian, and I watched how she lost everything. And how... how Katrina threatened her... I can't bear that she was one of those kind-hearted people who were experiencing this kind of betrayal." Carmela clasped both of her hands on the lower part of her body and wept. Mina hugged her right away, and she howled in front of his chest.
Xian panted in his wheelchair and slammed his chest with his left hand. Abbey didn't want to look at the heartbreaking scene and Zoey sat down on one of the long wooden chairs. She put her hands over her head and couldn't bear to hear the entire room crying over Margo's death.