Horace lowered his head and wiped his eyes as he didn’t want Clara to see him like this, but the stain of tears on his face sold him out.
“It’s okay. He’s in heaven now.” Clara didn’t know what to say to comfort him.
They had been through so much that Clara was out of comforting words.
“Daddy, don’t cry. It was my bad, I didn’t protect him.”
Standing aside, Neo felt terrible seeing that Horace was down and upset.
Russell told Neo to take something from the bedroom but Neo couldn’t find it. And Russell was lying on the ground in blood when Neo returned to the garden.
Neo suddenly knew that Russell was trying to save him. Those men all had guns and the people hired to protect Russell were also dead.
Neo was just five years old and he froze as it was the first time he saw this.
This wasn’t something you would see every day, bodies scattered all over the ground.
Fortunately, Clara got here early and sent Neo to his room as soon as she saw this. Otherwise, this could haunt him forever.
Seeing that Neo was fine, Horace felt relieved a little.
Hearing what Neo said, Horace wanted to calm down but he couldn’t.
Maybe it was a lot lately and he couldn’t catch a break so he vented all at once.
Horace coughed a little to make his throat feel better since he hadn’t talked for a while and then said to Clara, “Honey, can I have a second?”
Hearing this, Clara nodded and took Neo out as she understood what Horace was going through.
Horace looked down at Russell and he couldn’t shed tears as his tears were drained.
Horace stared at Russell’s body rigidly and wiped his blood. He tried so hard to not let his hand shake and not to die with him.
Horace was the only one knowing this horrible feeling.
Horace was a man with pride and he didn’t cry when he went into prison in the public eye, and he also didn’t cry when he sold his company, in which he had invested so much hope, to Chester at a press conference.
It was not that he didn’t want to cry but he couldn’t as he was a man and he needed to be a good role model for Neo and give Clara a home.
Now that Russell had gone, the last defense of him broke down.
He was exhausted from what he had been through lately. He didn’t say but it didn’t mean he wasn’t tired.
Seeing Russell in front of him, Horace had a lot to tell him but Russell was gone.
Horace couldn’t see him anymore.
The last drop of tear of Horace rolled down at this thought. Horace swore it was the last drop and he wouldn’t cry anymore.
Horace walked out and left the scene to the police. When the police were done, he cleaned Russell up with Clara and put new clothes on him.
Horace planned to bury Russell the day after tomorrow.
He was too tired to see things a few times but he didn’t bail as he knew Russell wasn’t buried yet.
People always said that we should put dead people’s ashes in the ground to rest.
But Horace didn’t want Russell to be burned to ashes; he just wanted be buried in a coffin.
Clara agreed as she just wanted the best for Horace.
Russell had gone and he would be in heaven. But he left Horace in distress.
Seeing Horace’s shockingly haggard face, Clara felt her heart wrenching but she forced herself to hold back the tears.
Two days later, at the funeral. Horace put clothes on Russell and put him in the coffin. People came to pay their respects in black suits.
After the funeral, they buried Russell in a scenic place.
It was a bit remote from the city but Russell liked this place when he was alive , as it was quiet there and more than habitable for him.
Looking at Russell’s photo on the tombstone with a serious face, Horace was a lot different than before, and he became more mature.
But Clara felt miserable seeing him like this.
People would change like this after going through a hard time. So it was imaginable how much he had been going through with Russell’s death.
Clara walked forward and held his hand to make him feel better.
Horace sensed it, grabbed back, and then released his grip.
Regardless of what others would think, he kneeled in front of Russell’s grave, staring at Russell’s photo, his heart saturated with anguish.
Clara didn’t stop him and just looked at him, standing by with Neo.
It was getting dark and they were the only three who stayed. But Horace didn’t feel like leaving.
Clara grabbed his hand and wanted him to leave with her as they were on a mountain, it was getting dark and there was nowhere to live.
At night, there might be some wild animals coming out.
Horace dodged her hand and said with no expression, “You can go. I want to stay with him and will go back tomorrow morning at the latest.”
Seeing Horace like this, Clara thought it was fine as Russell had just gone.
Then Clara lighted a torch in case there were wild animals and left with Neo.
At home. Clara was sleeping with Neo as she knew that he would be upset sleeping alone after what happened today.
Neo burst out crying in her arms the second he went into bed.
Neo wanted to cry the whole time but he remembered what Horace said to him, “Men don’t cry.”
So he had held back his tears.