The car pulled up outside a cemetery in the suburbs.


    "Wait for me here," Evangeline said to Finn as she got out. She walked into the cemetery and stopped before a small headstone.


    It was the grave of her child, Alison Whitmore.


    The headstone was spotless, free of even a speck of dust. Someone had been here recently. It was probably Soren. No one else would havee. But it didn''t mean anything. A love that arrived toote was worthless. He might have loved their child, but he had still chosen to let the person who killed her go free, turning a blind eye to her death.


    Evangeline gave a self-mocking smile. The child''s death was a thorn in her heart that she could never remove. When Poppy mentioned the engagement, her thoughts had immediately flown to this innocent soul. After they were engaged, they would marry and have children of their own, a house full ofughter, while her child remained forever trapped in the memory of that car crash.


    If only she had left sooner, or if she had never gone to find Soren that day, would her child still be alive? She shook her head, forcing the thought away. She was the victim, not the cause. She couldn''t let them make her hate herself.


    With a weary sigh, Evangeline ced the carefully chosen flowers in front of the headstone.


    "Alison?" Finn''s voice came from behind her. "Your child?"


    Evangeline''s shoulders tensed, but she kept her eyes downcast.


    "I''ve never cared about things like this," Finn said gently, guessing her thoughts. "There''s no shame in giving your all to someone you love. It''s something to be proud of."


    "I had someone look into your past. I already know everything."


    Finn truly didn''t mind. Before, he had only seen her as a means to an end, a source of information. But as he had grown to care for her, learning about her past didn''t disgust him. It only filled him with anger anger at Soren.


    Seeing that her eyes were still red and brimming with tears, Finn fell silent. Words were useless at a time like this. After a moment, he crouched beside her and gently tapped his own shoulder. "If you need to cry, let it out."


    Evangeline turned her face away. For months, she thought she had cried all her tears, that her heart had turned to stone. But looking at Finn''spassionate eyes, a fresh wave of grief washed over her. A lump formed in her throat and she could no longer hold it back. She buried her face in his shoulder, her sobs starting as choked gasps and growing into wrenching cries. She trembled in his arms.


    After what felt like an eternity, her crying subsided. "It''s been three months," she


    said, her voice hoarse. "When I lost him, he was already formed."


    "I tried to convince myself to forget, to move on, but I... I can''t."


    het


    In the dead of night, she would think of him. When she saw other parents with their children, she would be reminded of the child she should have had. And when she saw Soren and Poppy together she couldn''t


    stop the thought that it was their


    fault he was gone.


    Finn listened until she finished. She expected him to offer condolences, to tell her to


    forget, or to promise her a future with other children.


    But he didn''t. Instead, he said


    thoughtfully. Your subconscious


    knows they are responsible for your


    child''s death the culprits were


    never punished; they''re walking free.


    That''s why no amount of telling


    yourself to move on will ever work."


    ***