“You don’t have to leave, Ollie. I’m the one who approved this anyway. I told you we’d hold a little memorial for Luffy during the party—and I meant it.”
Then Eliane turned to me, clearly losing her patience. “Jerome, enough is enough.”
I stared at the funeral setup behind me and could feel my jaw tightened. “Eliane, you told me you were letting your assistant handle the decorations. This is what I got out of that arrangement?”
“I don’t care if it’s ‘bad luck’ or what not. What I care about is that I’m not the kind of person who wants to celebrate his birthday in the middle of a damn funeral. Take it all down. Now.”
I didn't give a compromise to this madness. At that, Eliane’s frown deepened. She stepped forward and gently grabbed my wrist, trying to soothe me in a hushed voice.
“Jerry, please,” she said. “We’ve got so many guests here tonight. They all came to celebrate your birthday. Ollie’s just a young guy—he’s got no family in this city, no one to turn to. He’s sensitive. Do we really need to make a scene over this? Can’t you just let it go… for me?”
I pulled my hand away and let out a bitter laugh. “For you? And what about me, Eliane? Where’s my dignity in all this?”
“You do realize who’s attending tonight, don’t you? Practically every major figure in the Capital’s Elite Circle!”
“Now imagine word gets out that Jerome Carrington celebrated his 25th birthday in a shrine, next to a dog’s casket. You think the Carringtons are going to be taken seriously after that?”
As the words left my mouth, I watched her face slowly fall. She knew I wasn’t wrong.
My family, the Carringtons weren’t the most powerful family in the capital, but we weren’t nobodies either.
My father’s network ran deep across the capital’s elite. The people in this room tonight? Many of them owed him favors. And this party was meant to reflect that standing.
But then Eliane’s tone turned cold, “Jerome, don’t be so cruel.”
“That dog was Ollie’s only companion—practically his family. Life is life. Just because you're from a privileged family doesn’t make your feelings more important than his. What gives you the right to act so entitled?”
Her words hit me like ice water, but not in the way she expected.
So all that hesitation earlier, it wasn’t because she felt bad for me. It was because she thought I was being unfair to her assistant’s dead dog.
“Well then, Fine. I apologize—for saying the wrong thing.” I turned to my security team. “Now get this crap out of this hall.”
The guards stepped forward without hesitation. Eliane immediately rushed in to stop them, throwing herself between the wreaths and the men.
“Jerome, no. Ollie spent all night putting this together. I’m not letting you trash it.”
“It’s just symbolic, for God’s sake. What’s the harm in leaving it up for a few hours? Can’t you show some empathy for once?”
“And what about Ollie? If you tear all this down, everyone will blame him. You’ll ruin his reputation at the office—he’ll have no place left there. Is that really what you want? You’re too heartless!”
I almost laughed. She was really spinning all this like I was the villain. Every ounce of excitement I’d felt about this birthday—and the woman I was supposed to marry—vanished completely.
“Oh! You remember that you’re Ollie’s boss, but did you forget you’re also my fiancée?”
Just then, Ollie dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face.
“Mr. Carrington, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it through. I just… the party’s already happening and Luffy’s casket is already here. Please—just let us hold the memorial. It won’t take more than thirty minutes. I swear, it won’t interfere with anything.”
“No.” I pushed him away with icy calm. “This place, is my home. Today is my birthday. And you had the audacity to turn it into a funeral?”
