<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Chapter 1049 Nichs Is Here</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“I can’t believe she refused to wear mourning attire when her mother died.” One scoffed</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Exactly. No wonder Pa never liked her. She reallycks a conscience.”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Those rtives discussed among themselves.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Concerned that Cecilia wouldn’t hear them, they approached under the guise of offering constion. “Cecilia,” one said with feigned sympathy, “traditionally, one must mourn when their parents pass away. We understand you had your disagreements with your mother, but now that she’s gone, don’t you want her to rest in peace?”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“I heard you just arrived today. It was Magnus who kept vigil the past two nights, right? You really should stay tonight to be with your mother on her final night.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">These people were surprisingly good at guilt–tripping.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Back when Pa was unkind to Cecilia, not a single soul stepped up to advise Pa to be kinder to Cecilia</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Apologies, I’m just here for a visit today. I won’t be staying overnight,” Cecilia stated, enunciating each word with rity.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">She no longer owed Pa anything.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Vivian chimed in, “It’s easy for you all to criticize Ceci, but you don’t even know half of it. Do you know how poorly Pa used to treat Cecil Ceci was almost killed by her! Why should Ceci mourn her now that she’s dead?”</font></font>This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">The middle–aged women beganshing out instead of acknowledging their mistakes.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Pa’s her mother who gave birth to her! She couldn’t possibly have done anything wrong!”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“Exactly! She gave birth to Cecilia, so even if she made mistakes, her merits and efforts outweigh them.”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“No wonder Pa often told us that she shouldn’t have given birth to her daughter. Now, I finally understand what she meant.”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Vivian felt the urge to tell them that Pa was not actually Cecilia’s biological mother, but Cecilia stopped.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">her.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">She wanted to wait until everyone had arrived before revealing the truth.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">At that moment, a portly woman stepped forward, seizing Cecilia’s arm. “Come now, you ungrateful girl. Bow to Pa!”</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Everyone was startled, and Cecilia, who was pregnant, couldn’t free herself from this strong woman.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Cecilia remembered her to be Pa’s cousin. She hailed from the countryside and often relied on Pa for support in the past.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">“What are you doing? Let go of Ceci!” Vivian snapped back to her senses, trying to pull the woman’s hand away.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Vivian stumbled and fell, grazing her leg.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">With this woman taking the lead, the other women all ganged up on Cecilia, forcing her to bow before Pa’s casket.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">In their eyes, disrespecting one’s mother was considered a grave transgression.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">They never stopped to question why Cecilia refused to mourn Pa.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">They closed in around Cecilia, and by the time Vivian managed to rise, she could no longer see Cecilia, who was swallowed up by the crowd of women.</font></font>
Magnus, watching from the side, hesitated but didn’t intervene. “Please be gentle. My sister is pregnant
He was hoping to make extra money and build up hiswork by organizing this funeral, so naturally, he wouldn’t dare to offend the guests.
Upon learning of Cecilia’s pregnancy, they were astonished. “You’re about to be a mother yourself. How would you feel if your son or daughter disrespected you? Let us teach you a lesson!”
Cecilia had already prepared herself, but she hadn’t anticipated the Escobars to be unreasonable shrews.
She regretted not letting Svene along.
Recently, Sven had trained a group of fighters. I should be brought them along.
Cecilia knew that in her current state, she was no match for these people. She fiercely protected her abdomen and did not resist.
Seeing her cower instead of fighting back, they grew balder. They grabbed her roughly, dragging her toward Pa’s memorial picture and forcing her down, determined to make her kneel.
“What are you guys doing?”
At that moment, a cool, detached voice resonated. Everyone turned toward the sound and saw Nichs, standing not too far away with a grim expression on his face.