My cheeks burned even more, forcing to lower my head again.....
As per tradition, we all had lunch together before heading to the cetery.
The atmosphere at the table was lively. Grace kept joking around while Uncle Steve occasionally joined in, making even Nana laugh a few tis.
But throughout the al, I could still feel Alexander’s gaze on from ti to ti.
Every ti I looked up, our eyes would et briefly before I looked away first.
After lunch, we got into our cars and headed toward the cetery.
The Blackwood family’s private cetery was located on a mountain in the suburbs.
Alexander’s parents were buried there.
Every year on this day, the family would co to pay their respects.
Nana’s health had been poor recently, so she stayed behind at the mansion.
The mont we arrived, the atmosphere grew noticeably quieter.
The wind on the mountain carried a slight chill.
We placed flowers before the gravestones one after another.
"Uncle, Aunt... I ca to see you again," Grace said softly while kneeling in front of the graves. "Even though I never really got to know you both properly, I still want you to know that I love you."
Uncle Steve and Aunt Rose also paid their respects quietly.
So did I.
As for Alexander—
he simply crouched beside the gravestone in silence, carefully wiping away the dust gathered around the edges.
He didn’t say anything.
Not even a single word.
Watching him like this stirred sothing complicated inside .
From the mont we left for the cetery, he had beco unusually quiet.
It had always been like this every year.
I used to think it was strange.
Alexander had lost his parents young, yet he rarely spoke about them. Even during morial visits, he remained calm—almost too calm.
Perhaps too much ti had already passed.
Or perhaps so emotions simply beca buried too deeply to speak about anymore.
The mountain breeze swept past quietly.
Alexander lowered his eyes and continued wiping the gravestone carefully beneath the fading afternoon light.
For so reason—
seeing him like this felt strangely lonely.
After paying our respects, we quietly got into our car to return.
"Ho or the mansion?" Alexander asked while keeping one hand on the steering wheel.
"The mansion," I answered imdiately. "They’ll be leaving soon. And I want to spend more ti with Nana and everyone while I still can."
Alexander glanced at briefly before nodding.
"Alright. I still have a few things to handle. I’ll drop you off first and co pick you up afterward."
"Okay."
After arriving at the mansion, Alexander drove away again.
I followed everyone else inside. After we all had dinner, I decided to step outside for so fresh air.
The evening breeze in the garden was cool and quiet.
That was when I noticed Uncle Steve standing nearby with a phone pressed to his ear.
When he saw , he gestured for to co over.
I walked toward him just as he ended the call.
He studied silently for a mont before speaking.
"Let’s take a walk."
I nodded.
We walked side by side along the garden path.
After a long silence, Uncle Steve finally spoke.
"I’ve seen the news online recently."
At those words, my gaze lowered instinctively.
Nana hadn’t asked about it directly, and I had deliberately acted calm in front of everyone.
But Uncle Steve had imdiately brought it up.
"I know this isn’t your fault," he continued. "It’s Alexander’s."
I stayed quiet.
"Has he told you how he plans to handle it?" Uncle Steve asked seriously. "Is he still in contact with Lilian?"
My fingers tightened slightly.
I didn’t know how to answer.
I had never liked sharing problems with family.
Even during the worst periods of my marriage, I never complained about Alexander to our family.
I only ever shared the good things.
Maybe because sowhere deep down, I still wanted to protect the image of our relationship.
"You don’t have to hide it from ," Uncle Steve said firmly when I remained silent. "If you won’t tell , I’ll investigate it myself."
We stopped walking.
I looked down quietly before finally speaking.
"Uncle... you know Alexander won’t just abandon Lilian."
"I knew it," he sighed heavily.
Then he shook his head helplessly.
"Don’t be fooled by Alexander’s personality. He looks cold, but he keeps everything inside. And once he feels guilty about sothing..."
"...he’ll keep trying to make up for it endlessly."
A cold feeling stirred faintly in my chest.
It wasn’t that Alexander was softhearted.
It was simply because the person involved was Lilian.
Toward —
he had never really shown much softness at all.
Perhaps Uncle Steve noticed sothing in my expression because his gaze softened slightly.
"You know," he said after a pause, "Alexander was always very quiet, even as a child."
I looked up subconsciously.
"He used to get bullied at school sotis," Uncle Steve continued slowly. "But he never told anyone at ho."
I froze slightly.
"One day, he got into an argunt with so classmates and ran off. One of the boys chased after him, tripped, and got injured pretty badly."
Uncle Steve sighed.
"Alexander blad himself for it."
"He believed that if he hadn’t run away, the other child wouldn’t have gotten hurt."
The garden grew quiet except for the sound of the wind moving through the trees.
"After that," Uncle Steve continued, "he started doing everything those classmates asked him to do."
My brows furrowed slightly.
"Everything?"
"He helped them with assignnts. Took the bla for things. Let them push him around."
I looked genuinely surprised.
"And he never told anyone?"
Uncle Steve laughed helplessly.
"No matter how we questioned him, he refused to say a word. He’d rather punish himself than let go of the guilt he felt."
I stayed silent.
Eventually, Uncle Steve continued:
"I found out myself after I saw him secretly doing multiple assignnts for other students,I followed him to school the next day."
His voice lowered slightly.
"When the teachers confronted those boys, Alexander still refused to expose them."
"...In the end, the other children confessed on their own."
The evening wind brushed softly past us.
Then Uncle Steve looked at seriously.
"Alexander has always been like that."
"If he believes soone got hurt because of him..."
"...he’ll spend years trying to repay it."
I lowered my eyes quietly.
"So that’s how it is..." I murmured softly.
"Did Alexander ever tell you what happened between him and Lilian?"
I imdiately understood Uncle Steve was referring to their past.
Michael had ntioned it briefly before, but I had never known the full story.
Before I could answer, Uncle Steve sat down on a nearby bench and gestured for to do the sa.
"Back then, Alexander had only just joined the company. He was juggling both work and his studies, so he often neglected Lilian."
Uncle Steve paused before continuing slowly....
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