~Hort's family House~
It was already mid day. Hort's family mansion lay in a peaceful quietness.
The servants were all busy with their tasks, their steps careful not to disturb.
Lady Monica sat at the head of the dining table, her posture straight and elegant, her eyes focused on the files before her.
Despite the reading glass perched on her nostrils, one could see those unfathomable deep eyes, cold and emotionless.
Her phone rested on the table. Several files were spread out before her.
James Shaw had been on the phone for a brief moment. His voice was calm, yet the slight tremble at intervals betrayed his fear.
After the call ended, he slowly lowered the phone from his ear, his posture stiff.
Lady Monica stared at him. Her expression was blank but James knew better. She had listened to every detail of that call.
James swallowed. He didn't know how to broach the topic. He had been there when she called her grandson Alex.
And as his assistant, he had called him right after that.
For a lady who had been in the corporate world for a few years, James knew she would have put things together and understand whatever it is that is in play.
"That was Alex right?" she asked without lifting her eyes.
"Ye…Yes Ma'am," he stuttered.
The old lady chuckled softly. "And he might have also instructed you to handle the funeral arrangement of his wife, right?"
James felt as though a lump was buried deep down his throat. Right from the time Alex mentioned it, he had felt uncomfortable.
How could he as an assistant handle such a task?
More importantly…
Sonia had been a good wife while she was alive. She definitely deserved at least this simple courtesy from her husband.
James couldn't believe his boss's heart could be so cold that he wouldn't care about her life or even her death.
He nodded, his neck stiff, his back breaking out in cold sweat at Lady Monica's gaze.
"You've been his assistant for a few years right from the moment he took up the Hort's corporation."
Lady Monica's voice was too calm, too collected that James heart raced with trepidation.
"Yes, I was." He answered after he drew in a deep breath.
James wished he had not been called over by the old lady. At least he wouldn't be pulled into their family drama.
Hearing Alex ask him to prepare his wife's funeral, he had been shocked to his bones, he was never aware he lost his wife.
He had not even informed him, not in the slightest bit.
But he had thought that being in the presence of the Old Lady, he wouldn't have the opportunity to ask further.
So, he had swallowed the question that was at the tip of his lips. And agreed to handle the task.
But right now, James had a few questions racing through his heart with no clear answer.
If Alex lost his wife, shouldn't he be at home since he wasn't at the company.
The company.
Right, it was the Old Lady who had called him over to bring over a few files that needed approval.
Who would have thought his boss would be nowhere to be found?
"Are you married?" The Old Lady asked.
James' head lowered slightly and he shook his head.
The Old Lady nodded in acknowledgment. "That's fine."
She closed the file in front of her and leaned back slightly.
"About the funeral, don't worry. I will handle it." Her voice remained composed.
"And when he asks you…tell him you are working on it."
She paused for a moment before adding quietly, "Though I doubt he would ever ask you."
James's brows furrowed.
"Why, isn't the funeral for his wife?"
The Old Lady leaned back slightly against the chair, her gaze into the distance. "She is…but I guess it was all my fault."
James was beginning to lose the connections in this statement. "Your fault," his voice was a whisper.
Old Lady Monica smiled tiredly. "If I didn't tell him to marry Sonia, maybe all these wouldn't have happened."
James shook his head. "But he never said no that he wouldn't marry, right?"
The Old Lady nodded. The usual coldness surrounding her dissipated for a moment.
If he had said no, there would be no need to go through the wedding.
She could feel the guilt gnawing deep into her old bones.
Sonia had died far too young.
For Lady Monica, bringing Sonia into the Hort family had now become her greatest regret.
Sonia had been a good girl and this ending…isn't what she deserved.
James drew in a deep breath.
His chest tightened painfully at the thought that Sonia would never again appear with that warm smile.
Though she was mostly a housewife and rarely visited the company except to deliver lunch occasionally…
Whenever she came, she always brought an extra portion for him.
Because James worked closely with Alex, Sonia had always been thoughtful enough to include him.
And whenever he visited the house for work, she would personally attend to him.
She had never once treated him like a mere employee.
"Ma'am," James called carefully. "This isn't your fault. You only gave a suggestion and he had the chance to object if he wasn't comfortable with it."
"Besides," his voice came off as a whisper. "Lady Sonia was a good woman. I just think my boss didn't appreciate her."
Lady Monica stared at him for a moment, emotions flickering in her eyes.
If James thought Sonia was a good girl, why had Alex not treated her well…and even in death, he still didn't bother.
Was he that blind?
Lady Monica shook her head. There was no need to cry over spilled milk.
"I understand," she said quietly. "But things have already turned out this way. I will arrange the funeral myself."
"Just tell him you are working on it when he asks."
She exhaled sharply.
"Although I am quite sure that a man who wouldn't remember his wife's body was in the morgue would not be ready to handle that."
James nodded.
The Old Lady mood shifted to work as though she wasn't the guilty one moments ago as she threw herself into work.
Reviewing and signing off the documents.
"I will take my leave now," James said quietly.
"Come back later to collect these," she replied without looking up.
"And bring the report from the Northern Gate Group."
James nodded and left.
Lady Monica watched James walk away, a soft sigh escaped her lips.
She lifted the phone and dialed a number from the speed dial and placed the phone to her ear.
"Where had Alex been, even his assistant doesn't know."
"I will check now." The voice answered calmly. Then the swift tapping on the keyboard.
"Hospital.
"What is he doing there?"
"Keeping someone company."
"What?!" Her voice rose several decibels as she abruptly sprang to her feet, the chair scraping sharply against the floor.