My cheeks burned even more, forcing me to lower my head again.....

As per tradition, we all had lunch together before heading to the cemetery.

The atmosphere at the table was lively. Grace kept joking around while Uncle Steve occasionally joined in, making even Nana laugh a few times.

But throughout the meal, I could still feel Alexander’s gaze on me from time to time.

Every time I looked up, our eyes would meet briefly before I looked away first.

After lunch, we got into our cars and headed toward the cemetery.

The Blackwood family’s private cemetery was located on a mountain in the suburbs.

Alexander’s parents were buried there.

Every year on this day, the family would come to pay their respects.

Nana’s health had been poor recently, so she stayed behind at the mansion.

The moment 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 came 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 something complicated inside me.

From the moment we left for the cemetery, he had become 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 memorial visits, he remained calm—almost too calm.

Perhaps too much time had already passed.

Or perhaps some emotions simply became 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 some reason—

seeing him like this felt strangely lonely.

After paying our respects, we quietly got into our car to return.

"Home or the mansion?" Alexander asked while keeping one hand on the steering wheel.

"The mansion," I answered immediately. "They’ll be leaving soon. And I want to spend more time with Nana and everyone while I still can."

Alexander glanced at me briefly before nodding.

"Alright. I still have a few things to handle. I’ll drop you off first and come 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 some 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 me, he gestured for me to come over.

I walked toward him just as he ended the call.

He studied me silently for a moment 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 immediately 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 somewhere deep down, I still wanted to protect the image of our relationship.

"You don’t have to hide it from me," Uncle Steve said firmly when I remained silent. "If you won’t tell me, 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 something..."

"...he’ll keep trying to make up for it endlessly."

A cold feeling stirred faintly in my chest. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

It wasn’t that Alexander was softhearted.

It was simply because the person involved was Lilian.

Toward me—

he had never really shown much softness at all.

Perhaps Uncle Steve noticed something 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 sometimes," Uncle Steve continued slowly. "But he never told anyone at home."

I froze slightly.

"One day, he got into an argument with some classmates and ran off. One of the boys chased after him, tripped, and got injured pretty badly."

Uncle Steve sighed.

"Alexander blamed 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 assignments. Took the blame 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 assignments 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 me seriously.

"Alexander has always been like that."

"If he believes someone 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 immediately understood Uncle Steve was referring to their past.

Michael had mentioned 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 me to do the same.

"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....