“Ugh, corpses look so ugly. Ethan, don’t let Buddy get scared!”
She grabbed a flower basket and hurled it onto Mr. Hayes’s face, the lush stems and petals covering his features.
A few neighbors couldn’t stand it and shoved the hysterical Chloe aside.
“Ethan, are you really going to watch this lunatic desecrate your father like that?”
Chloe’s eyes were rimmed red. Ethan pulled her close, scowling at the people who’d stepped in.
“Mind your own business.”
“This is a family matter. Who are you to tell us what to do?”
“Out. Now. Don’t delay Buddy’s recognition ceremony!”
Seeing a son indulge others in trampling his father, the onlookers shook their heads as if he were insane. No one wanted to waste anger on such an unfilial man, and they drifted away.
After the guests were gone, Chloe “accidentally” knocked over a candle beside the casket.
The wreaths and funeral offerings stacked nearby caught at once—flames roared up around the coffin.
“Chloe, the dead deserve respect—aren’t you afraid of divine punishment?”
I barely touched her, yet Chloe threw herself to the floor and began to sob theatrically.
“Nora, did I give you too much face? How dare you hit Chloe in front of me?”
I met Ethan’s blazing stare and pointed at the casket, my voice hoarse.
“Are you blind? Can’t you see how they’re defiling your dad?”
Ethan turned by reflex—and froze when he saw the watch on Mr. Hayes’s wrist.
“Why is my dad’s watch here?”
He’d bought that watch with his summer job wages his freshman year. The hands had broken later, and though the family could afford a new one, Mr. Hayes had refused to replace it.
He’d said it was his son’s heart, a keepsake for life.
Panic flickered across Ethan’s face. He started forward to look closer, but Chloe yanked his arm.
“Ethan, she’s tricking you again.”
“Last time she Photoshopped ‘proof’ your uncle died; now she’s waving a busted old watch around. Her father died, so she can’t stand to see anyone else’s dad rest in peace.”
“How dark can someone’s heart be? Come here, let me hold you…”
They clung to each other. Ethan tamped down that quiver of doubt and glared at me with disgust.
“The dead get cremated anyway. Chloe’s helping you save energy for the cremation chamber.”
“Perfect timing—before your dad turns fully to ash, we’ll finish the ‘recognize-your-dog-dad’ process. He can rest easy then!”
At his gloating, I suddenly laughed.
“If you’re so eager to call a dog your father, get on your knees now.”
“And may your ancestors not rise up in that first week after his passing to settle accounts with you.”
My words rattled Ethan. Chloe stepped in front of me to block my path.
“Stepmom, Buddy came out injured today just to recognize his new daughter. How can you walk away now?”
“Ethan, say something…”
Ethan snapped back to himself and kicked the back of my knee when I wasn’t looking.
“Chloe kindly found you a dad. Don’t be ungrateful.”
“Today you’ll recognize him—whether you like it or not.”
He forced my head down—crack, crack—onto the floor. Blood seeped from my forehead and he didn’t even flinch.
Chloe stood there cradling the dog, smug.
“Buddy, sweetheart, from now on you’re a proud dog-dad with a daughter!”
I struggled to my feet, fury burning through me.
“Ethan, I want a divorce.”
Ethan snapped his head toward me, emotion churning in his eyes.
“Divorce?”
“Nora, I get that you’re grieving your father, but that’s no excuse to act out.”
I slammed the divorce papers into his chest.
“Ethan, if you refuse to sign, then for your desecration of the body today—I won’t let this go.”
