Next One Is a Babe

---

Sean was the first one to ask, “What are you doing here?”

Aurora let out a sigh of resignation. “To pay my last respects.”

An ivory cloth had been draped over the coffin, and upon hearing Aurora’s reply, Sean turned to pull the cloth away, then lifted the lid of the casket.

Aurora slowly made her way over, and when she came to a stop next to the coffin, she lowered her gaze at the person lying within.

If she had to be honest, she didn’t recognize Bryce right away; there was a green tinge to his waxy-looking skin, and his face was sunken. With his sallow cheeks and his degenerating jaw muscles, his mouth had dropped open by a fraction, and Aurora felt her skin crawling at the sight of this.

She had seen Bryce back at the hospital, but even then, he had looked like an entirely different person. Now, however, it seemed as if the person lying in the casket was not Bryce at all; she wasn’t even sure if the corpse had been human at some point.

Aurora had been thinking about this moment, and she had changed her mind about coming to see Bryce countless times. But now that she was standing here looking at him, she wasn’t sure why she felt nothing but an odd sense of calm, and with Leah absent, she was at ease.

She leaned closer and bent down slightly to stare at Bryce. In actuality, she wasn’t sure if she was far too sentimental or if it was something else.

Even though she had seen how Bryce looked during his hospital days, she still found herself thinking about how he had looked in his prime. The youthful silhouette of him had seemed carved into the back of her mind, and she couldn’t bring herself to replace it with the image of him in his old age.

It wasn’t until now, when she was staring at his slack-jawed face in the casket, that she felt her memory of him fade.

Meanwhile, Sean was standing next to her as he muttered gravely, “He was thinking of you when he passed. He kept feeling sorry for what he had done to you.”

Aurora nodded as if in a trance. It was hard to tell if she believed Sean, but she turned around and started lighting up one of the candles at the placard. She recited a quick prayer after that, then said under her breath, “Behave yourself while you’re crossing over to the other side. The days will still go by, albeit slowly, and there’s no use rushing through your new life if you ever get reincarnated. You still have red in your ledger from your days here, but you’ll clear it up sooner or later; you can do whatever you want as long as you keep a lifeline for yourself. I mean, you’ve been here for long enough to know all that, I’m sure, but just let me nag for a bit.”

When the wax started to pool beneath the candle she had lit, she walked away. Cindy came after her, and after she lit a candle in memory of Bryce, she bowed her head out of respect, as though bidding a quick farewell.

The three of them didn’t stay at the Morgan Residence for too long. Cindy wasn’t as much public enemy number one to the rest of the Morgan Family as Aurora was, and for the latter to stay any longer would be tantamount to inciting an outburst.

If Aurora had been an old friend who came to pay her last respects, the outburst would not be a remote possibility, but given her history with Bryce, her hovering here would only make the others think she bore ill intentions.

After all, Bryce’s will had yet to be read out by his attorney, and even though the man was gone, the legacy and fortune he left behind were as prominent as he had been during his lifetime. There were still plenty of those in the family who pined after a share of the fortune.

Presently, Aurora and Cindy gave Ian a heads-up following their prayers, then left the scene.