Joy answered with a quick nod. Locke stretched out his plump fingers and grabbed his cousin’s hand. The two of them waddled off to the play area set up just for children.

Eric and Zane shared a look, choosing to walk after the kids without saying a word.

“Mr. Scott.” Zane inclined his head slightly. “Hadley got caught up. She asked me to keep an eye on Joy for a bit.”

Eric replied with a calm, “Thank you.” His voice stayed even. He felt it was right to show his appreciation, since Joy was his daughter. Still, Zane sensed something behind those words—perhaps a bit of guardedness, as if Eric’s feelings for Hadley had not faded completely.

Zane kept his expression easy and gave a mild smile. “It’s—”

The ceremony wrapped up not long after.

Hadley stepped out of the restroom, moving down the hallway, when she caught the sound of voices drifting in from outside.

“What are you doing?” Ernest’s tone carried over, urgent and rough.

She halted, shifted back a couple of steps, and pressed against the wall to listen, just out of sight.

“Ernest…” Eric stood with a cigarette dangling from his hand, caught off guard by his brother’s stern voice.

“You’re about to smoke?” Ernest fixed him with a glare. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? You know you shouldn’t be smoking—not with your condition.”

Eric flinched at his brother’s sharp tone and quickly lifted his hand, nerves written all over his face. “I wasn’t smoking.”

“No? You simply hadn’t gotten around to it yet.” Ernest eyed the cigarette and let out a dry laugh. “If I hadn’t shown up, you’d have gone through with it.”

Eric dropped his gaze, his voice heavy. “I can’t help it, Ernest. It’s just too much sometimes.”

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A long pause stretched between them. Ernest frowned, searching for the right words. N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on F?nd-Novel.net

After a moment, he spoke with a tired sigh. “I get it. I know it’s hard, but this was your choice. You let her go, remember?”

Eric’s voice turned sharp, regret biting at his words. “That’s right. I made the call to let her go. I just never thought it would hurt like this.”

He struggled for air, pain lacing every word. “Ernest, Hadley moved on so fast. Now there’s Zane Hayes. I was trying to make arrangements for Hadley’s mother’s and grandfather’s graves, and he beat me to it. All day today, he was the one carrying Joy around. But I’m her father.”

His words broke off, and a lump caught in his throat. “Hadley doesn’t need me anymore. Neither does Joy.”

“Eric…” Ernest wanted to respond, but before he could get a word out, Hadley quietly stepped away, no longer able to listen.

At that moment, everything clicked for her. She understood the answer she had been searching for.

The call from the cemetery management that Brady received? Eric was the reason.

Tears threatened to spill, and Hadley squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the urge to cry.

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