They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System

Chapter 628: What If They Found Out?

"He was loyal. To his country. To his friends. To his family. He gave everything he had, and when that wasn’t enough, he gave himself. That is the kind of man we are laying to rest today. A man who should never be forgotten."

Across the rows, Ava’s hands shook where they gripped her umbrella. She bit her lip hard, fighting back sobs, her eyes fixed on the coffin as though willing it to open.

Beside her, King White wrapped a steadying hand over Queen White’s trembling fingers. The Queen’s face was streaked with tears, her lips moving silently as if whispering prayers into the rain.

Hannah buried her face in her palms, shoulders shaking, until one of Somto’s comrades gently put an arm around her. That single touch broke others too, within his circle, hardened soldiers and lifelong fighters bowed their heads, unable to hold their composure. Their grief was silent but vast, like a mountain collapsing inside.

Ebere clutched at her chest, whispering her brother’s name through the storm. Abuchi gritted his teeth, tears slipping freely despite how hard he tried to hide them. Obinna sat stiff, his face pale, the enormity of the brother he never fully knew hitting him like a blow he wasn’t ready for.

Even Queen Chioma’s lips trembled. She tried to sit tall, tried to hold on to anger, but grief clawed through her expression. Chidera, the youngest, leaned forward, his little fists tight, his eyes burning with confusion and pain as he stared at the coffin like it had betrayed him.

And then Nnenna lowered the paper. She didn’t need it anymore. Her voice wavered, but her words cut through with raw honesty.

"Somto... I will never forget what you did for me. I will never forget your sacrifices, the ones I know about, the ones I will still find out in the future and the ones I might never know. A part of me will always love you."

The note slipped from her lap, forgotten, carried away by the wind and rain.

Arthur’s jaw tightened, his knuckles whitening around the handle of his umbrella. For a moment he held it in, but a single tear escaped, tracing down his cheek and vanishing into the rain.

deeply, looking at Nnenna with something

the storm raging above, as if the sky itself was mourning the greatest

ground. As the first handfuls of sand landed on the wooden surface, the sound echoed heavier than thunder in

Umbrellas shielded them from the storm, yet some, unable to contain their grief, let theirs fall aside, allowing the rain to mix freely with their tears.

the crowd thinned. Umbrellas drifted away like

her chair rooted before the grave. Carl and Arthur stood behind her, unflinching sentinels in the storm. Hours slipped past unnoticed. The downpour

cheeks, blurring the line between storm and sorrow. Her hand brushed over the umbrella icon on her chair sensor without thinking, turning

when Arthur and Carl quietly bowed their heads one final time and stepped away, leaving

time since the cliff,

Now, seven months later, the truth hit her like an avalanche: Somto was gone, truly gone. The realization had

washed them away like it understood the shape of her grief. She pressed her forehead to the cool stone of

around her. "I don’t know how to do

every person is unique, and that truth stung now more than ever. "I miss you," she said, "and this feeling will hunt me for the rest of my life, because

caused, the impulsive way she had reacted in the attempt to save herself. What if they found out? "Maybe I’ll finally get what I deserve," she whispered, anger and

"I can’t live a lie anymore. I have to tell them it was me, tell them it was my fault." Her hands clenched on the armrests. "I’m sorry I couldn’t get your forgiveness before it was too

she had been holding

gentle and low. "Nnenna, come on. We

umbrella over her and tapping the sensor to fold her canopy back.