Chapter 491

The morning air felt crisp and cool as Isabella and Margaret made their way to the cemetery. Isabella's gaze lingered on the tombstone, memories of Nathaniel's silver-haired appearance flooding back. Unlike him, the Sinclair family typically maintained a youthful appearance for their age. When Evelyn had divorced all those years ago, Nathaniel had been in his fifties with only a few strands of gray in his hair.

Isabella remembered clearly how within a year of Evelyn's accident, Nathaniel's hair had turned completely white. His health had deteriorated rapidly after that.

It was only last year that she discovered his illness had been accelerated by years of suppressed grief and heartache. Had he not fallen ill, he might still be with them today. Margaret's eyes grew moist at the thought of how even on his deathbed, he had worried about his beloved Evelyn. After all these years, Evelyn still hadn't managed to rebuild her life as Nathaniel had hoped.

Leaning on Charles for support, Margaret knelt and gently touched the cold marble of the tombstone.

"Nathaniel..." Her voice caught in her throat. She wanted to say their precious daughter still hadn't recovered, that she had failed him. But the words remained unspoken. Her fingers traced the engraved letters silently as tears streamed down her face.

Isabella's eyes reddened. She released Sophia's hand and turned away. Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Sophia looked up at her mother with questioning eyes. "Mommy?"

Isabella simply shook her head, unable to speak.

More than an hour later, they finally left the cemetery grounds. The Sinclair family still maintained connections with several relatives and old family friends in the area.

Each year during their visit, they would traditionally pay visits to these connections together with Margaret. This year, when they arrived at the Fyre residence, the family matriarch Eleanor—who was around Margaret's age—paused when she noticed Sophia.

"This must be Isabella's daughter... Sophia, right? It's been years since I last saw her! She's grown so much!"

Isabella nodded and encouraged Sophia to greet Eleanor properly.

Eleanor hesitated for a moment before asking, "Did your husband come with you this time?" Last year, when Sophia hadn't accompanied them, Isabella and Margaret had explained that Alexander was working overseas with their daughter. Now the child was here, but her father...

Throughout their marriage, Alexander had only accompanied Isabella back once to pay respects at Nathaniel's grave. That had been several years ago, when their relationship had just begun to warm again.

With Sophia present and unaware of the impending divorce, Isabella simply said, "He's occupied with work."

Seeing how casually Isabella spoke of Alexander, Eleanor didn't press further and quickly changed the subject. After some conversation, she seemed to recall something and lowered her voice. "I heard the Kensingtons and the Shaws moved to Fairview and have been doing quite well."

"That Kensington granddaughter and her supposedly very capable boyfriend—apparently their relationship has grown stronger. Both families even returned to Geneva a few days ago. Rumor has it they're about to announce their engagement."

Normally, mentions of the Kensingtons or Shaws wouldn't affect Margaret and Isabella. But today, with everyone already in a somber mood, they fell silent at the news. After a long pause, Margaret finally said, "I know."

Eleanor looked concerned. "I heard the granddaughter's fiancé comes from quite an influential family."

"With those two families gaining such powerful connections in Fairview... They won't come after you, will they?"

For now, the Kensingtons and Shaws still didn't dare confront them directly. But if Victoria actually married Alexander... Then everything would change.