Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 438

April 5

After wrapping up work at the company, Mila made a stop at the cemetery before heading home to see Felicity.

Thunderheads loomed overhead, casting the world in gray.

She came alone, without her usual retinue. Stepping out of the car, Mila walked in by herself, a small bouquet of white flowers in hand. She placed them gently at the gravestone, lingered for a silent moment, then knelt to wipe the dust from the black-and-white photograph embedded in the granite. The man in the photo stared back with fox-sharp eyes, a touch of cruelty in his smile. Her own face remained impassive.

"I'm a day late," she murmured.

Yesterday had been the Day of Remembrance. She hadn't come-had deliberately waited until today.

Her voice softened as she continued, "You were late so many times in my life. Always showing up after I needed you. So now I'm a little late too. And next year, maybe later still. One day... I'll just stop coming. If that makes you mad, well, you'll just have to bear it."

But then again-

Even if you are angry, I'd never know.

Straightening up, Mila let a faint, rueful smile curve her lips. "I'm leaving now. Maybe I'll see you next year. Or maybe not. The paths here are hard to walk, the April air so damp... and after all, the living need me more. I hope you understand."

As she finished, her smile faded a little.

Annoyed at her own sudden sentimentality, Mila shook her head and turned away, walking out of the cemetery. She had gone quite far before a tall figure stepped silently from the trees behind the grave, one strong hand resting on the cold stone.

His long black coat billowed in the wind.

...

Montgomery Manor

and found her mother tending to the plants inside, a small trowel in hand. The iciness Mila wore in boardrooms melted away at the

"Mom."

"Mila! You're back!"

the trowel, she rushed forward, not

up since the incident on the island a year ago, she caught her mother with steady arms. Nuzzling into

her, studying Felicity's increasingly pale face. "How have you

He controlled every aspect of Felicity's outings and her contact with others, somehow keeping Lysander's death a secret for a whole year. Even now, Felicity didn't know. But her mental state had grown ever more unstable-some days she was lively and full of energy,

so well!"

you myself, but Conrad kept stopping me.

Mila's smile faltered.

to

instinctively averse to leaving the country-an echo of the past. Why

it over when

to see Conrad enter. He nodded to her, then gently took

it's

eat

from his

said you'd come. I asked the kitchen to make your favorite... your favorite..." She trailed off, confusion clouding her eyes. "What

Conrad

toward the dining room. Mila walked with her, but unease gathered in her chest. She glanced back at Conrad,

After dinner,