Chapter 18 - THE FUNERAL THAT NEVER FINISHEDAmelia’s burial occurred two weeks later.
Small.
No elaborate guest list.
No public spectacle.
Nora attended.
Harrison asked her to stand with the family.
She hesitated.
“I’m staff.”
Harrison answered:
“You were her friend.”
That ended it.
Julian was permitted to attend under legal restrictions.
He stood apart.
Harrison did not speak to him.
Marianne was in custody.
Leonard detained.
Voss under strict conditions.
Dean and Marcus facing investigation.
The beautiful family structure had fractured.
But this funeral felt more honest than the first.
No fake illness story.
No witness locked downstairs.
No security dragging anyone away.
Harrison stood beside Amelia’s coffin.
This time he did not beg her to wake up.
He whispered:
“I heard you.”
Then:
“I’m sorry it took so long.”
Nora cried beside him.
After burial, she handed Harrison the white handkerchief he dropped.
He looked at her bruises, now fading.
“You’re staying at the estate?”
“No.”
“Why?”
She smiled sadly.
“I loved Miss Amelia.”
“But that house…”
She shook her head.
“I can’t.”
Harrison understood.
He offered relocation support through Amelia’s estate.
Nora initially refused.
Then accepted what Amelia’s employment contract already entitled her to.
Not charity.
Owed wages.
Housing transition.
Counsel.
Medical care.
Harrison had learned from other cases too: powerful people often called obligations generosity.
He stopped doing that.
Nora moved into an apartment near her sister.
She remained a key witness.
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And slowly, her bruises faded.
The truth did not.
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