Chapter 97 Love In The Light

The cemetery was silent, except for the whispering wind curling around the weathered tombstones. Mariana stood before her father’s grave, her fingers tightening around the white rose she held. The air smelled of damp earth and freshly cut grass, but beneath it lingered the scent of old sorrow, of wounds that had never fully healed. She knelt slowly, pressing the flower against the smooth stone, tracing the carved letters of his name as if she could pull him back, just for a moment.