BOUND BY DESTINY

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Megan.

Sun, 19 May 2019

Nathan pulled over the trunk of his Sedan, before a heavy metal gate of the Moses Gate Country Park in the south of Bolton. Apparently, this was the place of Arielle's late boyfriend's funeral. I sighed before exiting the car.

I'd wanted to visit Arielle at the hospital, immediately after Nathan announced she'd had an accident at our family breakfast, but I was restrained by engagements, I unfortunately couldn't postpone or dedicate to someone else.

The MC was finally getting the recognition of very important associates and NGOs in the world and I had to coordinate this attention we were now getting.

Also, because of my long absence, there were a few things I had to catch up with, along with the activities of each of our branches and charities.

Needless to say, that by the time I was completed with those, it was already the weekend and the day that followed was that of the funeral ceremony.

However, I'd managed to send a bouquet of the most beautiful lilies we had growing in our garden, at her hospital address, although, I felt it wasn't enough. I wanted to be with her, to check on her wellbeing and know how she felt.

It seemed surreal how worried I was for a woman I had only met once, but there was this feeling in my heart, that voice telling me she was worth it.

Nathan had somehow explained that as people from southern Indonesia, Arielle and her family presided this kind of ceremonies dressed in white. Therefore, I settled for a white sweatshirt, pants and black trainers – same as Nathan – while the twins had white dresses and shoes.

I adjusted my black cap on my head and my glasses, before following behind Nathan to the gates, the twins holding onto each of my hands.

We moved through the clear trail between greenery forest-like bushes, filled with quirking songs of birds and other wildlife. It was a really beautiful park and I would've stopped to explore the place on another circumstance than a funeral event.

We'd been walking for a few minutes not uttering a word – even the twins seemed to grasp the solemnity of the situation – when I saw at a distance, a group of people all dress in white and gathered around a woman surely presiding the ceremony.

I watched as the twins let go of my hands and ran to the side of a Latina woman with raven hair and aqua blue eyes, who gave both girls forehead kisses. The woman glanced up and nodded in greeting at Nathan before her eyes landed on me. She stared for a few seconds then turned to the woman at the center.

I stood at the back of the group – I counted at most 25 people, the kids included – but close enough to notice how similar the woman's features were to Arielle's; same tanned skin, straight nose, heart-shaped lips and piercing eyes. However, the woman's eyes were amber brown as compared to Arielle's and she looked to be in her late fifties or early sixties. That surely was her mother.

My eyes scanned the crowd endlessly before settling on the woman I'd longed to see the entire week. She was dressed in a white robe that reached her ankles and had a white scarf draped on her head, surely to hide away her flushed face and puffy red golden orbs, but I saw them and my heart ached for her.

Arielle was cocooned into another woman's arm and I felt the overwhelming desire to be the one to comfort her.

The other woman also resembled her, but she had a less tanned skin and light green eyes. I assumed they were cousins or sisters, as well as to Leon, who at that moment, had his hands wrapped around the other woman's waist and his head on her back.