My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 645

Chapter 645

Nothing happened.

No tears.

‘No sob.

No scream.

Only silence.

I kept staring into the grave, wondering why my heart hurt so much when my eyes refused to.

The white rose I had dropped rested on top of Mom’s coffin. It looked so small, so terribly alone.

A quiet movement beside me made me turn, Jules stepped forward first. Her hands shook so badly she nearly dropped the rose she was holding.

She crouched slowly at the edge of the grave.

“I love you, Mommy,” she whispered, her voice breaking into pieces. “I’ll try to be brave… just like you told me.”

She let go.

The rose drifted through the air before landing beside mine. The moment it touched the coffin, Jules broke again. Claire caught her before she could fall.

Claire’s own cheeks were wet with tears. She kissed the top of Jules’ head before walking to the edge herself.

She looked down for a long moment, “You gave me sisters when I never expected to have one,” she said quietly. Thank you… for trusting me with your girls.’

She placed her rose beside the others.

Maddie followed. She wiped her face with the back of her hand before giving a helpless little laugh.

“I didn’t expect to find a friend when you came into this family but somehow… I did. I’m going to miss our morning coffee. Our little talks before everyone else woke up. You had this way of making the whole house feel calmer just by sitting in the gardens. You were only with us for a few months and somehow you left a space bigger than people who’d lived here for years.”

She gently released the rose.

It floated down, coming to rest beside the others.

“I’ll miss you, Hazel.”

Then stepped away.

Salvatore was the last. He stood completely still, holding a single rose between his fingers.

His wedding ring caught the afternoon light as he turned the flower slowly in his hand, “I loved you,” he said so quietly that I almost didn’t hear him, “There hasn’t been a single day these last ten months that I didn’t thank God for giving me the chance to call you my wife,” his voice cracked, “I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.”

He bent down and laid the rose on top of the others instead of throwing it. His fingertips rested against the polished wood for one brief second.

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