Chapter 491

The morning air felt crisp and cool as Camille and Marianne made their way to the cemetery. Camille's gaze lingered on the tombstone, memories of Mateo Ortega's silver-haired appearance flooding back. Unlike him, the Hartwell family typically maintained a youthful appearance for their age. When Audrey's marriage ended all those years ago, Mateo had been in his fifties with only a few strands of gray in his hair.

Camille remembered clearly how within a year of Audrey's accident, Mateo'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. Marianne's eyes grew moist at the thought of how even on his deathbed, he had worried about his beloved Audrey. After all these years, Audrey still hadn't managed to rebuild her life as Mateo had hoped.

Leaning on Owen for support, Marianne knelt and gently touched the cold marble of the tombstone.

"Mateo..." 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.

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

Camille simply shook her head, unable to speak.

More than an hour later, they finally left the cemetery grounds. The Hartwell 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 Marianne. This year, when they arrived at the Rowan residence, the family matriarch Helena Rowan—who was around Marianne's age—paused when she noticed Chloe.

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

Camille nodded and encouraged Chloe to greet Helena properly.

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

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

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

Seeing how casually Camille spoke of Damien, Helena didn't press further and quickly changed the subject. After some conversation, she seemed to recall something and lowered her voice. "I heard the Lancasters and the Whitakers moved to Lakeview and have been doing quite well."

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

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

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

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

For now, the Lancasters and Whitakers still didn't dare confront them directly. But if Selene actually married Damien... Then everything would change.