Valerie stood beside the open grave dressed in a fitted dark designer dress and large black sunglasses.

“Mrs.

Martha, please step back,” Valerie said with a cold composure.

“Christopher explicitly wanted this whole process done quickly.”

Martha gave a bitter, sorrowful laugh.

“My son wanted to be buried without anyone bothering to inform his own mother?”

“You two had not spoken in months,” Valerie countered flatly.

“That was only because you filled his mind with poison,” Martha replied sharply.

Several employees from Christopher’s construction firm lowered their eyes toward the damp grass.

A young corporate lawyer wiped his sweating neck with a white handkerchief, even though the early morning air was crisp and chilly.

Martha looked directly into Valerie’s hidden eyes.

“Tell me exactly how my boy died.”

Valerie offered no verbal answer.

“Was it a sudden workplace accident?” Martha asked, taking a bold step forward.