Lilian reached just when the car from the funeral home arrived. She made a scene as soon as she stepped in.

“You brought bad luck to my family! How unlucky I am to have such a daughter-in-law like you! You must be cursed. That’s why my son died! Now, you want to keep me from saying goodbye to my son!

“Did you get another man? Is that why you can’t wait to cremate my son? How wretched!

“Oh, Lucius! You should’ve taken her with you when you left!”

I watched Lilian make a scene and fall to the ground with cold indifference. She was wearing a mink coat.

Her loud and sharp voice attracted a lot of onlookers. They condemned me.

“How could she be so heartless?”

“She doesn’t look sad but flirty. I’m sure she hooks up with a lot of men!”

“No woman would dress up this well when their husband just died!”

I ignored those words.

However, Rebecca hurriedly walked over to help Lilian up. She gently comforted Lilian and said, “Mrs. Holmes, please get up. I’m afraid you’ll catch a cold if you stay on the ground on such a cold day.”

Lilian got up and yelled at me.

“Get lost, Summer Lloyd! You’re not my daughter-in-law! You don’t have to manage my son’s funeral either!”

I snorted and said, “Lilian, I was worried that you couldn’t handle it if I told you about this. I wanted the best for you.

“But it seems like I was overthinking. You accepted it well enough. Your son is dead, but you don’t even look at him. All you did right after you arrived was fall on the ground and yell at me. People might assume that Lucius isn’t dead, after all.”

Both Lilian and Rebecca looked guilty.

Lilian refused to admit it. “I got anxious because you wanted to cremate my son. I’m going to see him now!”

I glanced at the hearse nearby that was used to deliver the bodies. “Go ahead. He’s in there.”

Lilian glanced at the hearse and got mad again. Her eyes widened, and she yelled again, “Summer, are you out of your mind?! That hearse is full of bad luck! It’s used to deliver dead people! How could you let them carry my son onto the hearse? It’ll affect his luck!

“How dare you?! My son was so nice to you for nothing!”

I widened my eyes innocently and feigned confusion as I looked at Lilian. “What are you talking about, Lilian? Isn’t the hearse used to carry and deliver dead people? Lucius is dead. Why do you bring up his luck?”

Consequently, Lilian was tongue-tied and gloomy. She glared at me because she did not expect me to argue. She was struck dumb.

Rebecca immediately chimed in, “Don’t blame her, Summer. She tried to stop you from sending Lucius for cremation because of a tradition of her hometown. When people pass away, their bodies are to be placed in the home for three days before they’re cremated. If not, their spirits will be burned too since they haven’t left their bodies.”

Lilian hurriedly nodded when she heard that. “Yeah, that’s right! Tell them to carry my son out of the hearse. You aren’t as knowledgeable as Rebecca!”

Of course, I was fearless.

Lucius’s body was delivered to his hometown in the suburbs that afternoon as if they had long discussed it.

Surprisingly, Lucius’s hometown was well set up with a feast in the courtyard. Besides, everyone who came looked happy. It was as if no one had died.

Lilian grinned and entertained the guests in delight. She was all smiles.

Rebecca looked at me in concern. “Summer, you must be exhausted. I’ll help you keep watch here. You should take some rest.”

I calmly grabbed some food before I sat beside Lucius’s coffin.

“That’s unnecessary. He wasn’t your husband. Why would you keep watch here?”

Rebecca felt awkward.

I waved at her. “I just need to keep watch for three days. I won’t let anyone touch my husband! He’s already dead. This is the least I can do for him. I’m going to fight anyone who tries to stop me!”

Rebecca glared at me. Helpless, she ran to Lilian to discuss it with the latter.

Before long, I saw Lilian walk over with a cup of tea. She was full of smiles.

“Summer, I was wrong about you. You must be exhausted. Have some tea.”

I knew this was their trick. They must have added a sleeping pill into the tea to make me fall asleep before they could continue with their scheme.

I waved and looked meek. “That’s unnecessary, Lilian. You should go to bed. Take good care of yourself, so I don’t have to worry about you too. I’ll keep watch here. Lucius was the love of my life. I can’t let anyone take my place.”

Lilian’s face sank. She blurted out, “No, I can’t watch you starve like this.”

I knew that she was referring to Lucius. If not, I might have assumed that she was a good mother-in-law.

“You don’t have to worry about me, Lilian. I’ll grab a bite if I’m hungry.”

Lilian gritted her teeth and nearly yelled at me again. “Have some tea if you don’t want to eat. It’s the dead of winter. You’ve got to eat something.”

It seemed like she wanted to force me to drink the tea. Hence, I accepted the cup and pretended to drink it.

Lilian walked away in satisfaction when she saw that.

I pretended to doze off beside the coffin that day. I heard footsteps after a while.

“My son didn’t get to eat all day because of this madwoman. I’m so angry!” Lilian pointed at me and said.

After that, Rebecca said nervously, “Mrs. Holmes, hurry and let Lucius eat something. He must be starving.”

I heard her pat Lucius’ face. “It’s me, Lucius. Are you awake?”

Lucius spoke up instantly. “Yes, I am. The anesthetic could only last for half a day. I saw Summer beside me when I opened my eyes. I was scared out of my wits. How come she’s doing fine? She loves me so much. She should have cried herself to death when she saw me dead. Or she should have at least fainted and gotten hospitalized.”

Lilian snorted. “Do you see? She doesn’t love you at all. If not, she wouldn’t be this indifferent when she saw you dead.”

I sneered inwardly while listening to them. He could die for real to see if I would be sad or not.

“Hurry and eat, Lucius.”

“Yeah, I didn’t eat anything for the whole day. I’m starving,” Lucius said and was about to eat.

At that time, I pretended to wake up from my sleep. “Who’s talking?”

It scared the three of them. Lucius did not get to eat at all. He lay down and pretended to be dead again even though he was starving. On the other hand, both Rebecca and Lilian hid the food and stood aside.

“Summer, you dozed off because you were so tired. You should sleep in the room.”

I shook my head. “No, I have to watch over my husband.”

Consequently, they looked extremely displeased. However, they did not dare say anything for fear of ruining their plan.

I found a rope and tied my hand and Lucius’s together that night. I would wake up even if he moved slightly.

In the morning, both Rebecca and Lilian glared at me. Of course, they resented me because Lucius had remained hungry all this while.

Another day passed in the same way. Lilian used the same trick and made me drink a cup of tea with sleeping pills in it.

She even used a higher dosage.

I did as I was told and pretended to drink it. Then, I pretended to doze off.

Then, Lilian and Rebecca sneaked over.

Lucius immediately sat up. After all, even a “vegetative patient” needs to stretch after lying down too long, let alone a perfectly healthy man.

But I looked up as soon as he moved. Bewildered, I stared at him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead, hubby? How are you sitting up? Were you reluctant to part with me?”