Chapter 245 – Second Chance Love of the Missing Groom Novel

But none of that mattered now, since it was all in the past.

She slowly lay down again and closed her eyes.

James was not at all knowledgeable about anything in the country since he had been working abroad for years. Naturally, he had to ask Stan for help to find a place which satisfied Diarmuid’s request.

Naturally, Stan found a place soon enough since his time spent working domestically was not for nothing.

There was a castle formerly owned by a late millionaire built halfway up a mountain, and his son had been trying to sell it since his passing because he hated it.

However, no one bought it since it was too expensive.

Even James raised an eyebrow as he stared at it. “A 30 million dollar castle to keep one body? Extravagant, don’t you think?”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Which is more important, money, or getting Mr. Althoff over Abigail Bernstein’s death?”

“Of course the latter, but do you really think keeping the corpse counts as getting over it?”

James was skeptical, even as Stan came to a realization.

“Well, stuff like this takes time,” he argued. “Anyway, I’ve already done what you suggested–there’s a tracking microchip in lan Althoff’s body now. However, there was an obvious incision made, so I think we should keep him unconscious a little longer before we carry out our plan.”

“Can’t help it then. Let’s wait,” James shrugged, and his tone suddenly changed, “I’ll talk to Mr. Althoff. now, though I might need your help again to acquire a freezer…”

“Don’t worry. Just leave it to me.” Stan thought nothing of it.

“Make it fast, too.”

Stan simply gave him an ‘ok‘ gesture, and James quickly returned to the hospital.

However, he could not find Diarmuid in the operating room, even though Abigail’s body was still there.

He was puzzled–where could Diarmuid have gone?

Still, just as he stepped out and was about to go on a search, he saw Diarmuid walking toward him from the other end of the walkway.

And he was not alone. There was another man carrying a box…

Who was he?!

Nonetheless, James hurried to Diarmuid’s side. “Sir.”

Diarmuid glanced at him briefly and asked, “Did you find a place?”

“Yes, sir,” James replied. “We can use it in a couple days.”

“Good.” Diarmuid remained impassive.

At the same time, James turned toward the man with them, who was dressed formally over his exceedingly fair skin. Also, there was something shady about that face even though he clearly appeared solemn.

“Sir, who is this gentleman?”

Diarmuid did not answer, and instead headed straight inside the operating room with the man.

James followed, curious.

The man first put down his box and opened it, taking out a pair of gloves and wearing it before pulling off the sheet placed over Abigail’s head.

He frowned when he saw the face. “…I don’t think I can do anything here. Burn scars only regenerate on living tissue, but if she’s dead, I can’t restore her face.”

In reality, he was the best mortician Diarmuid had found to reconstruct cadavers so that they would look their best before they were buried.

Despite his specialty in reinvigorating cold bodies and bestowing upon them eternal beauty, he was shaking his head. “The damage is too extensive. I can’t do much here.”

Diarmuid’s gaze darkened and there was a brief flash of disappointment in his eyes.

She could not even die with the way she looked before?

That was when the mortician said, “I’d suggest moving her to the morgue soon.”

James had been trying to say the same thing for a while, so he quickly echoed, “Yeah, or we could put her in an ice casket if you don’t want to leave her here in the hospital. We could bring her to the castle now, in fact.”

They just had to wait until Stan set up the freezer, and they would just put the ice casket inside soon after -it should last a while.

“Yes,” the mortician agreed. “Leaving her out here is going to make her vulnerable to damage.”

It was not as if Diarmuid did not know that.

However, once Abigail’s body was placed in a casket, he would lose whatever fantasy he had been holding on to before.

Even to send her to the morgue was a declaration to all that she was dead.

Even now, he refused to confront that reality.

Be that as it may, present circumstances prevented him from lying to himself.

Turning around, he spoke almost inaudible, “Get it done, James. Now leave us be.”

Since the mortician could not restore Abigail’s face, he did not have to stay.

As James and mortician left, however, Diarmuid’s back slowly arched.

Right now, he was no longer the high–and–mighty bigwig who faced his own family’s abandonment with composure.

He was utterly vulnerable, for it turned out that he felt pain and misery too.

And that pain was profound, suffocating and silent.

Soon, James returned with the ice casket, while the mortician fixed up Abigail’s body however he could. He also applied a special powder that would stall putrefaction before they put the body into the casket.

That was when Ricky Bernstein suddenly barged in.

He was somehow informed, and dropped limply to the floor when he saw the unrecognizable body. “No. No way, it can’t be her…” he murmured, and grabbed the hem of James’s shirt. “It’s not Abigail, right? How could that ugly thing be her? My sister is so beautiful…”

James dropped to a crouch right then and clasped a hand over his mouth, shushing him.

“Don’t make a fuss,” he said, meeting Ricky’s gaze. “I wasn’t there when it happened, but the people who were there saw the explosion, and she was in the middle of it. They also fished her out of the river immediately afterward, so there’s no mistaking it–we all wish it was otherwise, but it’s reality. She’s left us.”

Ricky glared at James with stubborn, red eyes, leaving him sighing. “What’s the point in glaring at me?”

Ricky pried his hand off. “Who did this?”

“lan Althoff,” James replied.

“Where is he?” Ricky asked.

“I can send someone to take you to him.”

“Make that right now.” Ricky clenched his fists, looking ready to kill someone.

James knew that Ricky needed to vent at the moment, and letting him beat up lan would be cathartic for everyone.

“Do whatever you want, but you have to keep him alive,” James told him.

Ricky growled, “He should be dead already.”

“I know, but it’s not up to you no matter how much he deserves it. I won’t let you see him if you can’t agree to that much.”

“Fine,” Ricky breathed through clenched teeth.

Beckoning to one of his boys, James said, “Take him there.”

Soon, Ricky was brought to where lan was kept, when he suddenly received a call.

He was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped!

It was Lulu Adams–she rarely called Ricky, and she had not done so since her last return to Sunny City. Naturally, her calling him now took him completely by surprise.

While he would have made time to chat with her for as long as he could on any other day, now was not the time for that.

“Lulu, whatever it is, it would have to wait. I’m very busy right now.”

“What are you busy with?”

“Beating up someone. I’m hanging up now–I’ll call you later.”

He hung up just as he said, leaving Lulu dumbstruck over on the other end.

Ricky was young and maybe brash, but he was not going to break the law, was he? Lulu quickly called him again, but Ricky was bent on violence.

He actually found the call irritating, and turned his phone off without answering it.

Lulu kept trying on the other end, and when she was greeted by an automated voice, she was actually left panicking a little…

James’s men led Ricky into a dark room. There were no windows, only walls and one steel door that opened from one direction.

Click.

Someone turned on the light, and Ricky quickly found lan on the floor, his hands tied.

He had to close his eyes from the glaring light–he had been kept in constant darkness and his eyes could not adjust to the brightness that quickly.

It took a long while for him to open his eyes, and as he narrowed his gaze at the doorway, he snorted when he saw that it was not Diarmuid. “Where’s Diarmuid? Is he alive? Abigail Bernstein may have pushed him out of harm’s way, so he most likely survived… Crying over what bits are left of her, is he?”

He then laughed in contempt. “How I wish to see him bawl like a child.”

Ricky was incensed. “Still running your mouth when you’re already dead? I’m going to beat you up so hard your own mother won’t recognize you, or I’m not a Bernstein!”

lan snorted in disdain. “Which crack did you crawl out of? Yapping like a dog… Wait, dogs don’t have last names. Haha…”

He was all too aware of his situation, but he was not getting away even if he went down on his knees and begged.

In that case, why do that at all?

Dissing whoever showed up at least makes him feel cathartic!

On the other hand, Ricky was already furious, and lan’s provocation left him bounding forward, seizing him by the hall and slamming his head right then.

Thump!

There was a dull thud, and lan felt his mind give out right then.

He was seeing stars, but even before he could recover, Ricky was on top of him, slapping him from left and right…

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Each hit seemed louder and more painful than the last!

lan turned numb in agony, but Ricky kept hitting him for so long it felt like a century.

Ricky’s palm actually hurt, while lan’s face was as red as it was swollen and barely recognizable from before.

However, Ricky did not have enough, and rose to his feet to kick lan repeatedly.

“Oh, you don’t really cut it. Why don’t you try killing me instead?” lan spat a mouthful of blood.

He quickly caught on that Ricky was prone to anger, and having impulsive people like him would only work to his favor.

After all, he knew that now that Diarmuid had him, he would torment him to the point where he wished he were dead.

In comparison, dying to Ricky’s fists was the better option.

And just as he had expected, Ricky was absolutely fuming as lan was clearly mocking his fists for lacking strength, so that he could barely hurt him.

Could he abide by that?! Absolutely not!

He started to look around for a weapon, but there was nothing around at all.

His eyes turning red, he grabbed lan by the collar and smashed lan’s own head against his, and actually almost blacked out right then.

The men watching them were all shaking their heads. How stupid did he have to be to do that?

It was obvious that he was not in their line of work.

Stan arrived just then, and promptly dragged him out of the room when he saw Ricky.

lan was never going to escape, and they could deal with him any time he wanted–right now, they had something more important to do.

“What?!” Ricky actually thought he misheard Stan.

Was he joking?!

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