“The reason Mr. Waldburg chose this place and the reason why the tombstone is shorter is that he was sorry about what happened to your parents. So, upon his death, he’ll use such a petty manner to kneel to them in hopes he can repent his sins to your parents.”
Niamh could not hold in her tears anymore after she heard that. Tears started rolling down her cheeks and onto the card in her hand.
Lillian frowned when she noticed Niamh crying. She got closer to Niamh to hold Niamh’s hand as if she was trying to comfort her.
Niamh felt her daughter’s warmth, so she held her hand tightly before saying to Ken, “I want to stay here with Lily for a bit.”
Ken understood what Niamh meant. He nodded and did not say anything.
However, after he walked away, he could not stop himself from turning back and looking at the dispirited Niamh.
He pressed his lips into a thin line. Some words were stuck in his throat. He wanted to tell her, but he could not.
Niamh took Lillian to the grave. The tombstone was empty with no name on it. The only thing on the tombstone was a birth date.
It looked the same as when she glanced at it back then.
However, back then, she would have never imagined this to be the grave Kendrick prepared for himself beforehand.
She held the card tighter and pulled Lillian to the grave. Then, she squatted and caressed the little girl’s puzzled face.
“Lillian, pay your respects.”
Lillian blinked and was confused.
Niamh smiled gently with tears in her eyes. “Come, bow to him.”
Despite being puzzled, Lillian still stood in front of the grave obediently.
After that, the little girl started bowing.
The little girl’s bright eyes were filled with confusion, but when she moved her lips, no words came out.
“Such a good girl, Lily.” Niamh caressed Lillian’s head. Niamh’s heart was bleeding while her voice was shaking. Despite her smile, her tears were falling uncontrollably.
Lillian lifted her hand to try to wipe away Niamh’s tears. Her lips were moving as if she wanted to say ‘Don’t cry, Mommy’, but she could not make a sound no matter how hard she tried.
Niamh pulled Lillian into her arms and allowed her tears to fall freely.
The sky was so blue but inside, Niamh felt very gloomy.
She did not know how to describe what she was feeling right now. The only thing she knew was that the light of her world had been switched off.
Niamh stayed by Kendrick’s grave for a long time and did not leave.
Lillian was squatting at one side, silently pulling at the weeds.
Niamh opened the card Ken handed to her and saw a letter inside.
Kendrick’s neat and beautiful handwriting was reflected in her eyes.
[Nia.]
He was still addressing her as such.
[I’m sorry for letting you find out that I’m not alive anymore. After reminiscing, I realized I’ve given you too little happiness and joy.
[What I couldn’t do in this life, I sincerely hope to make it up to you in the next life.
[I hope when that happens, we can be together forever.
[Nia, your life is still long. Don’t lose spirit because of my passing. I will still be by your side protecting you and the children.]
Finally, Niamh saw what Kendrick wrote at the end. [Ryan is a good man and he’s reliable. I hope you can forget about me and fall in love with him so that he’ll become the irreplaceable person in your heart instead.]
After reading the letter, Niamh was sobbing uncontrollably.
She lifted her red and teary eyes to look at the nameless grave before touching it.
“How could I forget you?”
She smiled while tears rolled down her eyes. The cold wind grazed her body, and she felt something shattering from within her.
Suddenly, she got up and ran in front of Eloise and Sean’s grave before kneeling with a thud.
“Mom, Dad, please forgive Kendrick, please…”
Niamh pleaded sadly. Lillian had no idea why Niamh was crying so sadly. However, she also ran over and knelt like her mother.
The two of them knelt in front of the graves facing the cold wind of winter. One of them was crying while the other was comforting.
The man in the black car at the entrance of the cemetery lifted his lifeless eyes to look at the scene far away from him. Then, he averted his gaze.
“Let’s go.”
The car started and disappeared into the empty road.
…
After leaving the cemetery, Niamh had completely forgotten to take Lillian to see the psychiatrist.
She was so distracted that she had been spacing out the entire day.
She did not dare to tell anyone about Kendrick’s death. She would rather suffer the pain of loss all alone.
Ryan knew Niamh still could not forget about Kendrick, so he proposed to have an on-paper marriage with her so that Niamh could leave him anytime after she signed the papers.
Aside from gratitude and appreciation, Niamh did not know what to say to Ryan anymore.
After the winter, the children had grown up a lot.
On the first day of school during the summer semester, Niamh and Ryan sent Lillian and Jackson to their new kindergarten together. At the same time, they told their teachers about Lillian’s situation.
The teacher pitied Lillian. It was such a waste that a cute little girl like her was now a mute.
On the other hand, Ryan also received a call today. After he hung up, he told Niamh that there was an update on the Stygian Johnson Gang.
Lana denied all charges and said she was only there that day because Yorick told her to. She said she did not know anything.
She said even if she was money-laundering for the Stygian Johnsons, she did not know the money was obtained illegally. She said she was just carrying out Yorick’s orders and did not know about the rest.
She was pushing all the blame on Yorick. As a result, Lana became the tainted witness and successfully decreased her sentence.
Since Yorick was involved in a lot of illegal activities and there was so much money involved, Yorick might be faced with the death penalty soon. On the other hand, Lana might only be given a few years of imprisonment.
Niamh could not accept such a twist in the situation.
Lana was such a heinous woman. It would not be enough for her even if she were to die a hundred times.
Still, she was pushing all of the blame to her brother, Yorick.
Ryan also could not accept this, let alone Niamh.
He decided to go to F Country and asked Niamh to stay put for the time being.
Niamh did not follow Ryan to F Country for the sake of the children.
Niamh drove to the kindergarten to pick Lillian and Jackson up when the sun was setting.
After she got the children, Niamh could sense that something was on the siblings’ minds, especially Lillian.
When she asked them about it, Jackson told her, “A bad boy said that Lily is mute today.”
Niamh felt an ache in her heart as she held Lillian’s hand. “Lily, don’t be sad. I’ll take you and Jack to buy a Barbie doll, okay? Our Lily isn’t mute. Lily is just sick. After you recover, you’ll be able to speak like how you used to.”
Lillian felt much better after she heard that. Then, she nodded and smiled, displaying her adorable dimples.
Niamh took the children into a toy shop. When they were looking around, Lillian suddenly ran in front of Niamh and grabbed her hand tightly.
“What’s wrong, Lily?”
Lillian pressed her lips together and did not say anything. However, she was pointing out the window.
Niamh felt curious, so she followed Lillian to the glass window on the other side.
Lillian’s reaction was even more emotional, and she kept poking at the glass.
Niamh looked over to where she was pointing but did not see anything.
“Lily, what do you want me to see?” Niamh smiled and asked patiently.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.