Chapter 5: The funeral

In the front row, Daniel and his mother Mrs. Shaw, had seen Anya join the crowd to give flowers. Mrs. Shaw frowned when she saw Anya with the guests and looked at her husband, “Daniel’s wife is not sitting with us? What does she mean by doing this?” she asked him. “This is not the time, we will talk about this later,” he answered. Daniel, sitting next to his mother, heard her clearly, but did nothing but frown. Soon, the family led the procession behind the coffin to the gravesite. Anya followed behind the crowd to the gravesite. She watched the coffin lower, while barely holding back tears. She wished to go closer to the grave, but dared not. She really hated that he was buried in the Shaw family graveyard. Even though she liked that he was closer to his family, she would not be able to see him anymore when she leaves. She only had the right to enter the Shaw ancestral house because of grandpa and now he was gone. Anya was sure she would not be allowed to enter inside these grounds again. She turned around before the priest had the chance to throw the first sand and left the grounds. She walked out of the ancestral house and called a taxi while she walked. After walking a bit, she saw her taxi enter the lonely road and sighed. For a moment, she thought the driver would cancel. After all, these several hundreds acres of land surrounding the ancestral mansion belonged to the Shaw family. Most drivers would not want to drive into private land. Just as she was about to enter her taxi, she heard someone call to her, “Miss Jones.” She turned to see who it was and noticed John Wheeler, Daniel’s secretary, running towards her. “What is it?” she asked. “Mr. Shaw instructed that you wait for him,” he said between heaved breaths. Hearing this, Anya paused for a second and entered her taxi, leaving behind John who could barely catch it. What did she care about? This was a funeral she was not even invited to. Why did she need to wait? Anya ignored his words and got home. She opened the door to her house and sat for a bit. She wanted to change, but she was too tired. After lying around for a while, she hears a knock on her door. Opening it, she finds Daniel. “What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?” she asked in confusion. She had never thought in her life, she would see Daniel on her doorstep. “Come back home with me,” Daniel said. “Why would I do that? I am in my home already,” Anya protested. She was not sure if the grief had gotten to his head. “I mean the family home. You need to be there. There is a meeting,” he said. When Anya heard this, she immediately shook her head. She always hated every moment she was forced to join his family’s event. She would be mocked and jabbed at. Her only strength during those days was how nicely his grandfather treated her and how much she believed that she could melt his heart. “There is no need for me to be there,” she said and he frowned. “You don’t have a choice. All meme ears of the family are required to be there. As long as you are still in my family, you will follow rules,” Daniel said and grabbed her arm, dragging her out. “Fine, fine! Just let me lock up!” Anya agreed. Only then did he stop. She rushed back in and wore her shoes before returning and locking the door. They got into the car and drove over. Walking into the living room of the Shaw mansion, they noticed his family had gathered. There were still a lot of things to hash out after his grandfather’s funeral. Seeing Daniel walk in, his father called him to join them. His uncles and cousins seemed to be unable to agree on something. Anya found a corner away and stood, trying to be invisible. It seemed they were in a heated argument. Because of this, they did not notice that she was there. She had always felt out of place in this family. And even more so today, so Anya stayed out of sight. “What is it?” Daniel asked his father when he saw the distorted expressions on the family. “We are deciding on the family subsidiaries,” his father sighed. When Daniel heard his words, he suddenly understood. Their family had a large web of businesses, but his father, as first son, was handed the core business, Shaw Group. When every child was of age, they would be given a set amount of money to invest in anything of their choice. This was the family rule his grandfather upheld. Of course, they could also ask their parents to invest in things, but the set amount from the family was a birthright. Daniel’s father had used his money to build Sunny Foods. Sunny, being a food and beverage company, did not compete, Shaw Group. Shaw group was mainly in the Technology and heavy machinery space. As the first son, Daniel’s father inherited most of Shaw group’s shares and had already started handing over reigns of Sunny foods to Daniel. But there were subsidiary family properties that brought significant income. “Before grandpa died, he had already handed over several hotels and resorts to his children and grandchildren, what is the problem?” Daniel asked. “What is left, the matter of contention, was the Angel foundation,” his father answered and Daniel felt a headache coming. This was a foundation started by his grandmother. It was a charity organization. It had soon become the face of the Shaw family. As such, the Angel foundation was run by the first son’s wife. “Grandma had passed down reigns to mom when she got too old to do it before her passing, why is this a discussion?” Daniel asked. “But she left the running of the art gallery to your second uncle’s wife, who used to be an art curator and she had started grooming her daughter, your cousin, Miley, to be her successor,” his father explained. “Why can’t my daughter run the art gallery? Your family is stretching your hand into ours,” a small woman said stiffly. She was his second uncle, Gabriel’s wife, Natalia. “Into yours? It seems you really think the art gallery is your family property,” another woman answered. She was his aunt, Wendy, the only daughter of his father’s generation. Daniel’s grandfather had three sons and only this daughter. Even though she was the only girl, she was not pampered. Daniel’s grandfather felt that being born a girl had put Wendy at a disadvantage and needed to work even harder so as not to be left behind by her brothers. As such, Wendy was given almost military training. Even though Wendy was a very stoic woman, a result of her upbringing, her husband was a very soft-spoken man. “Aunt Wendy, what do you mean? My family has always had a right to the gallery…” Miley said. “Cousin, with your low IQ, how can you ever hope to be the one managing the art gallery? It is common knowledge that the gallery is just a subsidiary of the Angel Foundation. The only person in charge of the Angel foundation is Aunt Solana. The director of the art gallery is nothing more than an employee. It is not some hereditary title to be passed down your family lineage. You can be fired, just as well as someone else can be hired.” Daniel’s cousin, Jared, said. He was Daniel’s third uncle, Raphael’s first son.