Chapter 62


    Im fine, just a bit under the weather, Astrid said with a grin stered across her face as they returned


    “Astrid, we’re back!” Elowen, lively as a bunny, hopped over to Astrid’s bedside. Her round face was lit


    up with a sweet smile.


    “Elowen, you’re back. Let me take a look at you. Wow, you’re growing up to be quite the heartbreaker,


    Astrid said, her face filled with love as she gently caressed Elowen’s soft cheeks.


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    “Hi, Astrid,” Dorian chimed in, moving closer to greet Astrid.


    “Astrid,” Atticus added.


    “Hello, Astrid.” Sophia came forward to greet her too.


    Astrid was grinning from ear to ear. Tve got loads of sweets. Let me fetch them for you.”


    She got off the bed and pulled out a handful of beautifully wrapped candies from her cupboard,


    distributing them among the four children.


    These candies were gifts from the vigers during festivals. She’d saved them for when the kids came


    around.


    The kids were thrilled with the candies and started munching on them, their faces beaming with


    delight.


    “Thanks, Astrid they chorused in their cute little voices


    Astrid’s face wrinkled withughter “Ah, don’t mention it.”


    Then the four kids scampered off to y.


    Watching their small figures disappear, Astrid’sughter turned into tears. Her heart ached so much


    that it felt suffocating.


    Her own daughter was about their age when she drowned


    If she were still alive, her child would be as old as them now.


    Seeing Astrid in tears, Thssa quickly handed her a tissue. “Astrid, it’s all in the past. I believe Celia


    must have been reborn somewhere else by now, living a happy life in some other corner of the world”


    Astrid nodded through her sobs and said. ‘It’s been many years now. What’s hard to ept is for us,


    the living.”


    Thssa felt a lump in her throat. She was a mother too, aware of the unbearable pain of losing a


    child


    She could empathize with Astrid’s anguish and torment.


    Handing Thssa a tissue. Astrid wiped her tears and regained herposure. “Let’s pack up and


    head to the graveyard. We shouldn’t let Celia feel alone.”


    Thssa nodded.


    Celia was buried in Hollowbrook’s public cemetery.


    To get there, they had to cross a narrow, dirt ridden country road


    The kids frolicked along the path ahead like little bunnies, with the adults trailing behind them.


    Astrid, still hale and hearty, walked on her own. Thssa offered her support.


    Soon, they arrived at the graveyard.


    Unlike the city, rural graves weren’t cemented neatly but were simple earthen graves with rudimentary


    stone tombstones and no pictures.


    Thssa and Astridid down the food they’d brought in front of Celia’s grave and cleared off the


    weeds around it.


    Just then, Isabe arrived and said, “Auntie, I’m here to visit Celia.”


    Isabe addressed Astrid as ‘Auntie


    Astrid gave her a nod


    Isabe stepped forward towards the grave, silently praying, “Celia, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to use your


    name to deceive Lysander. I didn’t mean to offend you. Please forgive me”


    She knew that today was Celia’s death anniversary and hade especially to pay her respects,


    hoping that Celia wouldn’t me her for using her name to hide the truth that Lysander’s bedfellow that


    night was actually Thssa.


    Meanwhile, a-ck Rolls Royce pulled up at the entrance of Hollowbrook


    Lysander, seated in the back, exuded an aura of calmposure


    His assistant, David, stopped the car and asked a local, ‘Excuse me, could you tell me where Celia’s


    grave is?”