Fortunate to Have You This Lifetime

Though the funeral had ended, many things hadn’t been taken down yet, such as the ancestral tablet, the incense burner, and the fresh flowers sent by mourners.

The Summers Family followed old traditions. Absentees were honored on the 7th, 14th, 21st day, and so forth until the 49th day. Only after the last stick of incense was burned on the 49th day would everything in the mourning hall be completely removed.

Atra Blanc was the first to burn incense for Suzanne Saunders.

Purple Summers followed suit, burning three sticks of incense.

As she left, she passed through the living room and saw her husband, Nathaniel Summers.

He seemed to be drowning his sorrows in alcohol, alone on the sofa, pouring whiskey into his mouth one glass after another.

The once debonair and handsome man’s eyes were now red and his face haggard.

Purple looked at this familiar face and her steps slowed.

Atra Blanc walked far away, completely unaware that her daughter had lagged behind.

…

The deep green curtain by the floor-to-ceiling windows was a thick, dark shade, like the green algae at the bottom of a deep lake, perfectly obscuring Purple Summers’s figure.

She stood there like a ghost, silently observing her husband.

She should go out and acknowledge him…

But just thinking about her own death, possibly caused by him, a sharp pain gripped her heart!

She didn’t believe him!

Even if he had once cherished her, after her death, he had left her alone in the cold, dark waters to swell and rot—

She should hate him!

Purple’s emotions surged. She clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and took slow breaths, trying to suppress her resentment.

The crisp sound of high heels echoed from upstairs. She looked up at the sound, and unexpectedly saw someone… who should not be here.

How could it be her?

Purple was stunned.

Jade Carlson descended the stairs with a box, came to Nathaniel’s side, and softly said, “Nathaniel, I have almost packed Sister Suzanne’s belongings. The rest are work-related documents. I will hand them to the Prosecutor’s Office Archive Department. You should see if there are any personal items you want to keep.”

Nathaniel held his glass, made no response to Jade’s words, and appeared dazed.

Jade sighed softly, put down the things in her hand, snatched the glass from him, “Stop drinking. If Sister Suzanne has a spirit, she doesn’t want to see you like this…”

Nathaniel raised his head to look at her, hoarsely asked, “… Did you do it?”

Jade’s face instantly drained of color and her eyes started to tear up, “You suspect me? Is that the kind of person I am to you?”

“Jade, I’m sorry…” The man embraced her, his voice filled with sorrow, “I just don’t understand why she would…why…”

“Sister Suzanne did it because of you!” Jade, with tearful eyes, hugged Nathaniel, “We can’t let her sacrifice go in vain. If people outside knew she committed suicide, we can’t get the insurance money!”

Purple, watching the man and woman embracing in the living room, was completely stunned.

Initially, she was shocked, then came a sense of humiliation that was borderline embarrassing!

One was her husband, with whom she spent day and night.

The other was her assistant she had worked closely with for many years.

The two people she had trusted and relied upon, not long after her death, dared to openly embrace each other!

The reality that she was never aware of while alive felt like an unmerciful slap to her face!

Jade Carlson, leaning on Nathaniel’s chest, sobbed, “Nathaniel, you have to pull yourself together. Sister Suzanne did this all for you! You need to get the insurance money to save the Summers Corporation then Sister Suzanne’s spirit will rest in peace!”

Nathaniel closed his eyes in pain, murmuring, “It’s my fault…”

Watching this scene, Purple Summers didn’t know what to make of it.

It was as if she had fallen into an ice cave—it was cold all over, even her heart.

Her husband, so easily believed Jade’s words, thinking she had committed suicide…