After leaving the Wakefield residence, Emmanuel drove straight to Velmont Cemetery.
He slowly approached Elena's gravestone, his eyes fixed on her beaming smile in the photo. The ache in his chest flared up all over again. "Elena… I don't even deserve to stand in front of you right now, but I couldn't stop myself. I had to come."
"I finally know what really went down three years ago. I know why you left… And I swear, I'll make every single person who hurt you pay—myself included."
"When I've made Lilith answer for what she did to you, when everything's settled… I'll come back and face the wrongs I did to you. Can you wait for me?"
"If you can hear me… just give me a sign, anything."
But the cemetery lay silent, empty. Only Elena's smile stared back at him.
Emmanuel stoo
