"T-Thank

you."

Elliana's voice came out in a shaky whisper, her cheeks burning so much that she could barely get the words out.

The guy just gave a slight, calm smile. "No problem. See ya."

They were at a funeral on a grassy lawn, and the man had picked up the white flower, getting a bit of dirt on his fingertips.

"Sir!" Elliana could not help but stop him as he turned to leave, noticing the dirt. She felt a wave of embarrassment as she offered, "Your hand... it's got dirt on it. Need a tissue?"

She reached for the zipper on her jacket.

He looked at his hand as if he would just notice, glanced at the dirt, and casually wiped it away. "I'm good, thanks."

He did not look back after that, but Elliana could not help but watch his retreating figure for a long while until her agent interrupted her thoughts.

"Ms. Snyder? We've got an hour before our next gig, and it's a bit of a drive. We should head out now or we might be late..."

Elliana snapped out of her daze. "Right, let's go."

Meanwhile, Yale, who had been welcoming guests at the funeral home, was giving his late-arriving youngest brother Aemon a hard look. "Do you even know what today is? Where have you been? You're so late."

If Aemon had shown up sooner, he could have stepped in for Evangeline, letting her catch a break earlier.

Aemon, aware he was in the wrong and feeling a twinge of guilt, ran his hand through his black hair and mumbled, "Sorry, Yale, got caught up with something."

Well, if helping a girl pick up her stuff counted, then he was not exactly lying.

Yale glared at Aemon impatiently.

His younger brother, usually rocking rainbow hair and draped in chains like a hip-hop star. Standing before him, however, he was sporting black hair and a suit. Yale nearly did not recognize him. en

"You..." Yale was so taken aback he was at a loss for words.

Aemon fidgeted with his suit, managing a weak smile. "It's been ages since I last wore a suit, not sure if Dad would've liked it..."

As those words hung in the air, the brothers fell silent, their eyes drawn to the black and white photo ahead, tears streaming down uncontrollably. Yale, the big brother, fought back his tears, giving Aemon's shoulder a reassuring pat. "Dad would've loved it, no doubt!"

Cole had once said, back in his younger days, that out of all five brothers, the fourth one rocked a suit best. However, Aemon had not touched a suit since he was 0 years old.

Until... the day of Cole's funeral.

Yale did not know what had changed, but it did not really matter.

Aemon slipping back into a suit and dying his hair black meant he had made peace with himself, and the whys could just blow away with the wind. Guys were not great with heavy emotions, and Aemon did not like sharing such a sad look with Yale, so he shifted his attention to Evangeline. Evangeline's eyes were bloodshot, her face pale, and her lips colorless, clearly overwhelmed by sorrow.

Evangeline knew how much she cared for Cole, and that moment must have shattered her heart.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

Evangeline had deep feelings for Cole, so she must have been heartbroken in a setting like that. Aemon was late because of his own issues, which was truly

inappropriate.