Chapter 234


    Pasted on the gravestone was a photo of two people. They were a married couple, and the wife was


    obviously Michael’s sister, Celine; she looked a lot like Michael in the photo. Despite being a military


    queen who was both beautiful and mysterious, she actually had a cheerful and handsome smile.


    Standing next to her was a man dressed in military uniform, and he was unusually good-looking as well.


    No words could describe how well-matched and harmonious they looked.


    A brief ount of their lives was carved onto the gravestone. They were killed about six years ago


    during a counterterrorism operation when the terrorists detonated a bomb that killed tens of elite soldiers.


    Both Celine and Justin died on the spot, but Celine’s remains couldn’t be gathered, so a cenotaph was


    erected for her instead.


    They must be Nate’s parents… Sophia thought to herself.


    Sophia couldn’t stop herself from clutching Nathan’s hand, and the little boy stood expressionlessly


    under the umbre. Nheless, his round eyes had a look of sorrow that shouldn’t have belonged to


    people of his age.


    Six years ago, Nate was only a few months’ old at most, Sophia thought to herself.


    She looked everywhere but couldn’t find Elizabeth’s grave. This is the Fletcher Family’s ancestral


    graveyard, yet Elizabeth isn’t buried here…


    As the rain slowly stopped, Sophia crouched down andid down some offerings in front of the two


    graves. Then, she and Nathan bowed to the graves one by one to pay their respects as per the


    Cethosian custom.


    Michael didn’t stop them as he gave them his silent approval; the Fletchers usually gave military salutes


    to the graves of their deceased rtives. However, seeing how serious Sophia looked as she bowed to


    the graves of his father, sister, and brother-inw, he decided not to interrupt them.


    Michael stood steadily for a while in front of the graves of his father, sister, and brother-inw before he


    finally moved. He said with a heavy heart, “Let’s go.”


    The sunless sky looked gloomy even in the afternoon. Unable to tell the emotions concealed behind


    Michael’s big sunsses, Sophia silently got into the car after him and left the Memorial Garden.


    The family of three ate something in the car, but none of them spoke up.


    After they finished eating, the cars stopped near another public cemetery.


    Cemeteries near Bayside City were also divided ording to their prices. The rich could, of course,


    afford a more auspicious cemetery plot; some of them would even spend a fortune on an entire piece of


    land to use it as their ancestral graveyards.


    It was already afternoon, yet there were still lots of people visiting their families’ graves at the cemetery.


    Even though the car had stopped, Michael didn’t step out of it. Instead, he sat in the car and wound


    down the car window slightly before looking through the narrow crack at a tomb that stood at a distance


    away.


    The tomb was quite special; not only did it cover an area of more than ten square meters, it was also


    designed as a stage with the lissome and graceful statue of a female opera singer standing at its center.


    That was Elizabeth’s tomb. Passing away 20 years ago, she had a simple funeral that had scarcely any


    visitors. Had Michael not admitted earlier that Elizabeth was his mother, not many people would have


    learned about her death. After all, 30 years had passed since she had reached the height of her


    poprity, so many people no longer knew about her nowadays.


    However, many people in the opera circle knew that she had passed away, and many of her fans used to


    lay flowers in front of her tomb on New Year’s Day and other festivals.


    Looking at his mother’s tomb from afar, Michael sat in the car just like that while being as silent and still


    as a stone sculpture.


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    He then said to Nathan all of a sudden, “Darling, could you go for a walk outside with your Mommy? I’d


    like to be alone for a while.”


    Nathan didn’t say a word as he got out of the car with Sophia. After they left, Michael took off his


    sunsses, revealing a pair of reddened eyes that were brimming with tears…


    Sophia took a bunch of flowers with her when she got out of the car. Holding her umbre, she stepped


    toward Elizabeth’s tomb and stood in front of her statue before looking up at the diva who had been


    popr throughout the entire Cethos and Asia 30 years ago.


    What an ill-fated beauty she is… she thought to herself.


    When sheid down her flowers in front of Elizabeth’s grave, she noticed that Elizabeth’s tomb was


    already covered with lots of flowers.


    After putting down her flowers, Sophia held Nathan’s hand and carefully led him up the stairs. When they


    reached the main road, they saw a small shop nearby and headed there since Nathan seemed hungry.


    There were quite a lot of people who came to visit the cemetery on this day, so they inadvertently


    bumped into somebody they knew.


    “Sophia!”


    Hearing a pleasantly surprised voice calling her from behind, Sophia looked back and saw Richard, who


    seemed to be visiting the cemetery as well. Dressed in a ck suit, he looked very haggard while


    holding a bunch of flowers.


    “Are you here to visit the cemetery as well?” he asked, puzzled. The cemetery plots here were priced at


    an average of 100,000 per square meter, so how could Sophia have a rtive buried here?


    Then, a sarcastic voice spoke from one side as it said, “She’s probably here to stage another meeting by


    chance.”


    The voice belonged to Mrs. Harper, who sat in a car parked at the roadside parking lot. She opened the


    car window a crack, revealing a well-maintained face that wore a resentful expression as she said, “Who


    doesn’t know that the Harper Family’s ancestral graveyard is here?”


    Unlike her, Richard was pleasantly surprised upon hearing her words. He said, “You’re here to meet me,


    Sophia.”


    Sophia had no idea how to answer, though the coldly elegant ck windbreaker she was wearing


    masked her awkwardness with a veil of mystery. She frowned in displeasure, for Richard would keep


    clinging to her no matter what answer she gave him.


    Then, recalling that it would take only about 20 minutes to walk here from the Memorial Garden, she


    thought up a safe answer and said, “I’m here to visit the Fletcher Family’s cemetery.”


    As expected, Richard’s face went ghastly pale at the mention of the Fletcher Family.


    What a filthy b*tch, Mrs. Harper cursed inwardly as her expression changed slightly. Still, she had to


    admit that she was consumed with jealousy. What a good thing it was to be young, for even such a b*tch


    got epted by the Fletcher Family!


    However, her eyes were filled with smugness immediately afterward. So what if this b*tch got epted


    by the Fletchers? She still doesn’t have the nerve to disobey my son; if my son tells her to head East,


    she won’t dare to head West.


    Sophia sessfully froze Richard on the spot with a single sentence. No ordinary people could visit the


    Fletcher Family’s cemetery at the Memorial Garden, for only the family’s descendants could get in there.


    Was Joel the one who brought Sophia here? Yeah, that was entirely possible!


    Joel actually brought Sophia along to visit his family’s cemetery, which meant that she had be more


    and more important to him! Wouldn’t this mean that her words now carried more weight than before?


    It should be known that the Harpers were forbidden to bring women with them while visiting their family’s


    ancestral graveyard. Even Mrs. Harper could only sit in the car and watch as the family’s male


    descendants visited their ancestral graveyard, for women were strictly forbidden to get inside.


    And yet, Joel had actually brought Sophia with him while visiting his family’s ancestral graveyard! Joel


    must love her very much—he was even willing to break the rules set by his ancestors by having a


    woman visit his family’s cemetery with him!


    ted by the unexpected stroke of good luck, Richard grabbed Sophia’s hand and said in desperation,


    “Sophia, I know that you’re no longer who you used to be. Since Joel is willing to have you visit his


    family’s cemetery with him, you must have a ce in his heart, and he will surely listen to whatever you


    say.”


    He nced at his surroundings before saying in a low voice, “Ka made a little mistake and was caught


    by the Harper Family’s enemies. She’s in custody right now, but she’ll be released at once if Joel can say


    something.”


    Sophia nced at him with incredulity. Did this idiot actually think that what Ka had done was merely


    something trivial?


    Only a dumb*ss like Ka would have hired the Phantom Wolf tounch a terrorist attack. Sophia was


    really amazed by how insensitive Ka was, for Phantom Wolf was an organization against humanity


    that shocked the entire world whenever it did something.


    Now that Ka had brought such huge trouble upon herself, even Joel wouldn’t be able to speak for her.


    The Phantom Wolf’s organization had existed for tens of years; not only did it have its eye on Cethos all


    the while, it had also made multiple attempts to create disturbances in the nation. Nobody knew how


    many Cethosian soldiers’ lives had been sacrificed before the Cethosian army managed to fight


    Phantom Wolf off over and over again, not to mention the number of Fletchers who had died at Phantom


    Wolf’s hands over the years—it was simply uncountable.


    Many of the recent graves in the Fletcher Family’s cemetery at Memorial Garden were the indirect result


    of Phantom Wolf’s actions, including the grave of Michael’s sister and brother-inw…


    The Fletcher Family would even be considered kind enough for not finishing off the Harper Family over


    what Ka had done.


    Seeing that Sophia remained silent for a long time, Richard grew desperate. Pointing at arge cemetery


    plot at one side, he said, “Do you see it, Sophia? This is the Harper Family’s cemetery, and ten


    generations of my ancestors have beenid to rest here.”


    Sophia was puzzled. The fact that ten generations of Richard’s ancestors were buried there was none of


    her business!


    Then, Richard hardened his heart and promised, “If you help me this time, I promise you that you will be


    buried in the Harper Family’s ancestral graveyard when you die!”