Chương 18: Funeral procession

Derek's departure left Jade feeling empty. Beep.. beep.. beep.. beep

She looked at her beeping phone. It was her WhatsApp notification tone, she had messages. She received some images that were in the midst of downloading and text messages from Derek. She gave a sweet smile when she saw he saved his name as One and only Derek. He texted her that he had arrived safely and the pictures were the ones he confiscated from the Gus the reporter. She looked at the pictures and mostly it was picture of her from different angles, despite appearing solemn and dejected, her beauty was still apparent. The last picture was of them whispering to each other with hands held. She had to admit they look good together and Gus did them a favour. Now she has a picture of them for her personal collection. She used that picture as her phone wallpaper and felt pleased by her choice.

Jade: Nice pics. Btw, I am glad you arrived safely.

Derek: You better rest well. Tomorrow is another long day for you.

Jade: Yeah, you too. Oh, the funeral procession will be tomorrow at 2pm. Mama did not want to wait too long for her burial and she said she didn't need fake well wishes from so called acquaintance. Will you be coming?

Derek: Do you want me to be there?

Jade: It would be nice if you could and if it is not too bothersome.

Derek: Then I'll be there. Since that night, I have made my mind up that I'll be wherever you need me to be.

Jade: Are you sure, you are the same rumoured Derek Lee, the demon prince, cold, unfeeling, vicious and etc. The list is just too long for me to type out. Oh, I forgot to add, man of few words. From the moment, we met I think you spoke more than I did. You are quite a talker. Are you an imposter? 😲

Derek : Before this I never met someone like you. Those people that I meet usually don't deserve this side of me. Maybe when a demon meet a demoness the effect is opposite? 😏 Well, you are one to talk as well, aren't you the ice queen? The one who dislike physical contact but who is it that loves my chest so much? 🤔

Jade: Well.. when an ice cube meets the ice queen in a place like Sahara desert, won't the ice melt? Go to sleep, okay? I am 😴. Sweet dreams.

Derek: You too.

In the end, both of the ice cubes slept soundly with a smile as beautiful as spring on their bewitching face. A beautiful start to a long lasting relationship.

They both overslept for the first time in history. Derek called Jason to inform he is not coming in and he can make decisions on his behalf and only to disturb him if the building is on fire or a matter of breach of security. Jason was wondering if the sun rose from the west today because his hardworking friend who never miss a day of work despite being sick is calling for a day off today. Come to think of it, his friend has been behaving a little odd lately. Did he get hooked up with someone? Jason wondered. Maybe he is going to get a sister in law anytime soon. Maybe one of Lu girls. Most probably the weird one knowing his friend's taste.

Derek oblivious to his friend's thought's was preoccupied with finishing his work so that he can attend the funeral procession. He also arranged for two of his hidden guards to protect Jade and made a mental note to let her know later. He texted her good morning and informed that he will be there at 145pm. She just replied with the ok sign and a smiley.

Jade was bustling around the funeral home, getting things in order so that the procession goes on smoothly. She did not want any mishap and be blamed for it. Somehow, since morning her left eye keeps twitching/jumping. Jade was raised by a superstitious Matriach Lu and she believed this is a sign of bad omen. It's a popular Trinadidians belief. She went through everything repeatedly to make sure she didn't miss out a thing. Her family for one would be glad to see her in a mishap. She will be wearing a dark blue attire today with a white arm band on her right. Her father will be leading the procession with her mother and aunt. They would be wearing either black/white. Her father will be the one carrying Mama Lu's portrait. She already made arrangements for the special music band to play during the procession to ward off evil spirits with loud music. The people she hired to carry the coffins to the hearse and once arrive the burial site, they are task to carry the coffin uphill had also been taken care of, so why does she feel she might have miscalculated something. The higher the burial site the closer to heaven.

Madam Lu was feeling gleeful because she had bribed those coffin carriers to not show up. She wants to see how Jade is going to handle this and can't wait to embarress Jade. It's payback time.

Jade ignored her family as usual after casually greeting them. She sensed her mother was happy about something and has a bad feeling the bad vibe she had been getting must be related to her. She decided to call Mr Thong can confirm that everything is in place. He reassured her that everything is fine because he wasn't aware that the coffin bearers has been compromised.

Derek as promised appeared at 145 pm delighting April who could not hide the infatuation and lust in her eyes. Derek did not even look in her direction but scanned the crowd obviously looking for Jade. His eyes only stopped scanning once he spotted Jade and walked towards her. Some guests that noticed April's reaction were sickened by it. Jade on the other hand, was glad that Derek came as he provided her with some form of comfort just with his presence. She smiled at him with gratitude, her actions did not go unnoticed by those who were present. Those who attended yesterday's "wake" and today's procession would have come to a conclusion by now that there is something going on between the demon and the queen because the demon never attend social event especially funeral and would never approach anyone either male or female willingly and the queen was known to have an apathetic and impassive face but did she just not gave the demon a smile just a moment ago.

Derek was wearing a dark blue suit, and when standing next to Jade, they give off the vibe of a matching pair, they did not outshine one another and that made April clenched her fist in anger but she quickly calmed herself thinking about her future plans.

At 2pm, when they were about to depart to the burial site, a panic Mr Thong came running whispering the current situation to Jade. Madam Lu was smiling proudly inside. Finally, that bitch downfall. Jade took the news with an unconcerned attitude. Mr Thong was scared to death by her reaction. Is he finished and doomed? How come she did not react when he told her the coffin bearers refused to come and and when he contacted other companies that offer this service, somehow they are all fully booked. How can such coincidence occurred? As far as he knows, not many funeral procession is held today. Derek noticed Mr Thong uneasiness and noted that Jade's eyes had gone real cold. He quickly took her hand and stared into those cold unfeeling eyes. She whispered to him the situation and was trying her best to think of a solution. Derek patted her hand in assurance that he had things under control. Out of nowhere 12 muscular guys appeared. They were none other than his hidden guards. They were sobbing and complaining inside about how they are once again in a situation doing things out of their job scope. Of course, they kept their thinking to themselves, they did not want to provoke the devil.

Madam Lu was astonished that her fail proof plan was once again destroyed and was fuming in rage.