After we entered the venue, perhaps because she noticed we were foreign guests, a waitress explained the funeral proceedings to us. She could not help but add a warning, "According to Eravalen aristocratic customs, wailing is not permitted during the service..."

The moment the waitress walked away, Mia raised an eyebrow.

"Hmph. She's just jealous because I'm prettier than her. She's afraid her employers will notice me!"

Paige nodded eagerly in agreement. "Women who serve the nobility are always scheming."

I could not stop myself from laughing out loud. Mia was far too confident.

Did she really think she was beautiful enough to make every woman in the world green with envy?

When she saw me laughing, something seemed to click in her mind.

"You were awfully chummy with that waitress. I bet you paid her off!

"You'd go this far just to stop me from mourning? How low can you stoop?"

Robert immediately jumped in and barked at me.

"Celine, behave yourself! Prince Charles from the Eravalen royal family will be attending this funeral! If you ruin my chances of inheriting this estate, I swear you'll regret it!"

At the mention of "prince," Mia's eyes lit up. Paige rushed to warn me as well.

"Celine, don't you dare cause trouble! If you ruin my chance of becoming a prince's mother-in-law, I'll make Robert divorce you!"

I almost laughed. Did they really think Mia was capable of that?

That one fleeting glance would be enough to hook Prince Charles Russo into marrying her and no one else?

They knew royalty would be present, yet they still planned to use mourning as an act of matchmaking. I could not wait to watch it all blow up in their faces.

As more guests gathered, Mia latched onto every eligible man she spotted, shaking hands left and right. She spoke in a clumsy foreign accent, radiating self-satisfied charm.

Suddenly, she clutched her chest and pretended to be short of breath, turning to me.

"Celine, go get my inhaler from the car. I'm worried I'll get too nervous and won't be able to breathe."

Ha. She was preparing for the wailing performance later. She really did need that inhaler.

Without thinking much of it, I headed to the car. The moment I pulled open the door and climbed inside, my hands and feet were grabbed and bound.

Then came a slam. The doors locked shut.

Mia stood outside the window, looking at me with contempt.

"You've tried to stop me over and over again. It's because you're scared I'll marry a noble and outrank you, isn't it?"

Paige shot me a cold glance as well.

"You're already married, you washed-up hag. Your chance is gone! With all these fine young men here today, our Mia can take her pick!"

I saw Robert standing outside, completely unmoved. I glared at him viciously.

"You're just going to let them lock me in here? It's boiling outside, and there's no air in this car. Are you trying to suffocate me to death?"

He frowned, his voice full of irritation.

"Stop playing the victim. I'm sick of watching you compete with Mia every single day! Just sit tight in the car until the funeral is over!"

With that, the man turned and walked away. Mia was still touching up her makeup in the rearview mirror.

Watching her slap powder onto her face, I could not help but sneer.

"Pile on a little more. Anyone who doesn't know better might think they're here for your funeral!"

She frowned for a second, then curled her lips into a smirk.

"You know, Celine, you should actually be hoping I land a rich husband. Otherwise, if I can't find a good man, I don't mind stealing my brother from you!"

From the moment Robert pushed me off that snowy mountain, I saw everything clearly. I finally understood the shameful feelings he harbored for Mia.

He had pinned the blame for her accidental death on me and plotted to have me killed without hesitation.

On the surface, he was my husband, but in his heart, there was only ever room for his adopted sister.

Once I figured that out, I stared at her and let a smirk pull at my lips.

"Steal him? I stopped wanting that piece of trash a long time ago. He's all yours!"

After the funeral began, Mia stood before the crowd and started reciting her eulogy.

At first, she only sniffled softly. Gradually, it turned into uncontrollable sobbing.

Everyone around her stared in bewilderment, but Mia was completely oblivious. She mistook the shock in their eyes for admiration, convinced that her grief had deeply moved them.

A gentleman noticed how heartbroken she seemed and offered her his handkerchief as she stepped down.

Mia's eyes lit up. She took it as him flirting with her. Her crying instantly grew louder, tears flowing like she had turned on the waterworks.

The woman at the gentleman's side let out a scoff and mockingly jabbed her, "You're from overseas, so I suppose you don't understand our customs? This is a solemn funeral. Who exactly are you putting on this crying show for?"

Mia was certain the woman was just jealous that a man had shown her attention. She lifted her chin defiantly.

"You clearly don't feel any grief over the Duke's death. That's why you think shedding a few tears isn't worth it!

"Someone as cold and heartless as you has no right to lecture me on manners!"

After putting the woman in her place, Mia noticed something.

Her crying really had attracted a man, and it had even made the noblewomen beside him sour with envy!

She was now certain her act was working. She immediately grabbed Paige and they wailed together, loud enough to wake the dead.

Every guest in attendance furrowed their brows. Wanting to avoid a scene, several of them urged the priest to step forward and intervene.

They figured if he explained the funeral customs, perhaps this foreign woman would listen to reason. However, the moment the priest raised his hand, intending to pat Mia's shoulder in comfort, she looked up.

Seeing it was just an old man, she flung his hand away and shoved him back.

The priest's expression darkened at her rudeness. He warned her sternly, "Stop crying! Our aristocratic funerals require quiet mourning! This kind of commotion is deeply disrespectful to the deceased!"

Mia convinced herself that this old man was just bitter because he had tried to take advantage of her and failed. Now he was picking a fight!

She turned on him immediately.

"God himself teaches us to show compassion, yet here you are clinging to your stuffy old rules!

"You won't even let people cry! Why would you suppress basic human nature like this?"

She hurled this twisted logic at him, and the priest stood frozen, unable to find a response. Then all eyes in the room turned toward her, and Mia swelled with pride.

She was certain her unique perspective and sharp tongue had dazzled the entire crowd.

As for those unfriendly looks? Just jealous women losing their minds, nothing more.

She immediately leaned over and whispered into Robert's ear.

"Robert, start crying! Don't you see how much everyone admires me? Don't you want to make connections with the nobles? This is the perfect chance to get noticed!"

Robert heard there was something to gain and immediately burst into loud, dramatic sobs, as if he were at his own parents' funeral.

At that moment, I had just been unexpectedly rescued by a nobleman and was standing on the second floor of the funeral hall. I had a clear view of the whole crying spectacle Mia had dragged the family into.

Those fools were wailing their heads off, completely oblivious to the expressions of the nobles watching from upstairs.

The real show was only just beginning.

The wailing had disrupted the funeral so much that the ceremony could not continue.

The Duke's head housekeeper could no longer hold back. She stepped forward to reason with Mia.

"Miss, you never knew the Duke. You have no idea what kind of man he was.

"I served him for 40 years. In his later years, he often said that what he hated most was people putting on a crying act at funerals."

However, Mia was convinced the woman was just bitter about not getting a share of the inheritance.

"Some people serve for 40 years and only ever earn a paycheck. You never even got a title, so how could someone like you possibly understand the Duke's suffering?

"The Duke died all alone, and you, the one who spent 40 years by his side, are this cold-hearted?"

Those words cut like a knife. The housekeeper's eyes instantly turned red.

She could no longer contain her grief for the man she had mourned in silence. She turned and walked out.

I immediately followed, wanting to offer some comfort.

Mia caught sight of me and shouted.

"Why are you everywhere? Pretty impressive, escaping when you were tied up!

"You'll cozy up to anyone, won't you? What do you think you'll get out of sucking up to some housekeeper?"

I shot Mia a look of contempt. She had the nerve to claim she understood the Duke's life?

She had no idea that this housekeeper, Margaret Hale, was the person the Duke respected most while he was alive.

She had been the first in line to inherit according to his will, but out of gratitude for how well the Duke had treated her, and feeling she was getting on in years, she had turned down the entire inheritance and left it for those who needed it more.

Now Mia dared to humiliate her in public?

Once Margaret left, Mia saw that no one else would get in her way. She waved Robert and Paige aside.

Then she dropped to her knees with a thud, threw her arms around the Duke's coffin, and wailed as if her heart were being torn apart.

She was determined to make sure that when Prince Charles arrived, the first thing he saw was how "devoted" and "deeply moved" she was.

The woman was truly shameless. The lawyer who had invited us to the funeral was beside himself.

"Stop wailing! Prince Charles will be here any moment, and he takes aristocratic etiquette very seriously!

"If he sees you making a scene like this, he'll have you thrown out on the spot!"

Mia exploded immediately.

"You're just a lawyer, and you dare make up lies like this to the inheritance recipients? You're using Prince Charles to intimidate us so you can pocket the fortune yourself, aren't you?!"

The lawyer, Harold Sinclair, sputtered, fury blazing in his eyes.

"You're the ones disrupting this funeral and denying the Duke his peace, and yet you have the nerve to slander me?!"

Mia let out a dismissive snort and ignored him. She glanced up just in time to see me escorting Margaret upstairs. Something seemed to dawn on her.

She whipped around and rushed over to block my path, her voice low and venomous.

"So this is your game! You went to all this trouble to find people to stop me from mourning!

"You just can't stand the thought of me catching Prince Charles's eye, can you?"

I curled my lips into a cold smirk.

"The way you look right now, you're like a cat in heat. Who do you think wants to watch you yowl all over the place?"

Mia trembled with rage. Her eyes darted, and then she deliberately twisted her ankle and threw herself down the stairs.

She landed hard on her backside and immediately let out a piercing wail, pulling out every trick in the book.

"What did I ever do wrong? Why do you have to treat me like this, Celine?"

The moment those words left her mouth, the gazes of the surrounding guests turned ice cold.

Wonderful. The crying act was not enough. Now she was playing the victim.

"You're that jealous? You had to push her at a time like this! You've completely humiliated our family!"

Robert rushed over and tore into me without a second thought. Still not satisfied, he slapped me across the face.

"Prince Charles is about to arrive and you're still picking fights out of petty jealousy? Get out! Get out right now!"

The moment he finished speaking, Paige and Mia lunged at me, dragging me toward the door.

I was about to be hauled outside, my arms gripped so tightly they ached.

"Stop!" A sharp command rang out, and everyone froze.

The crowd parted to make way. The only sound left was the click of polished shoes against the floor.

A man stepped forward, a royal crest pinned to his chest. The nobility radiating from him was so overwhelming that no one dared make a sound.

"You've already committed the offense of wailing before the casket and now you dare to get physical in public? I see no reason why this inheritance should be passed on to you at all."