Hoop Lane Cemetery

The car Daniel was driving finally arrived at one of the pretty old cemetery areas in London. Anne carefully stepped on the path which was now starting to be covered in snow, following Aaron's footsteps who was seen walking first. Luckily, Daniel was also there so Anne could make a friendlier conversation with him, otherwise, she might have run and got out of the tomb area.

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"You should stay calm, Miss. It's still very early. You don't have to be afraid," Daniel whispered to Anne who was walking beside him.

"I-I'm not afraid, I just feel uncomfortable," answered Anne briefly, her eyes staring at the rows of old tombs that were scattered everywhere without blinking. The number of damaged tombstones made a scary impression, especially when there were also some statues starting to be covered with snow.

Seeing how Anne looked at the surroundings made Daniel suddenly have a stupid idea, he had the urge to tease Anne. When Anne stepped faster to follow Aaron who was getting further away from her, Anne finally realized that she was walking alone. Daniel, who had been walking beside her, suddenly disappeared. Anne's face turned pale in seconds. Anne had always been afraid of funerals and chemistry since she was a kid. The funeral was the one that made her have to be separated from her parents and since then Anne never set foot in the cemetery again until today. She was forced to go to the place she feared the most because Aaron asked for it forcefully.

"Daniel, where are you?"

"Don't joke around, Daniel. I'm really scared."

"Daniel, I'm scared. Don't be like this hiks..."

Anne's tears streamed down her face, she was not acting at all and she was truly scared being left alone. Her last memory of seeing her parents' coffins came back vividly in Anne's mind.

Bug

Anne finally fell to her knees on the path Aaron had walked before, using both her hands to cover her reddened face. From his hiding spot, Daniel was very surprised to see Anne sitting cross-legged on the snow-covered street. Without thinking twice, he canceled his idea to tease Anne. Daniel walked quickly to Anne.

"Miss... Miss Anne, what are you doing?" Daniel asked quietly.

Hearing Daniel's voice made Anne lift her face and look at Daniel who was kneeling nearby. "Y-you're so annoying, Daniel, you left me alone sob… I'm afraid, Daniel." Anne sobbed softly as she looked at Daniel.

Dug

"Are you really crying? Are you saying you are truly scared and crying right now, Miss?" Daniel stuttered in surprise when he saw Anne's face which was already flooded with tears.

"Daniel, you're so mean, hikss..."

Realizing that Anne was crying made Daniel panic, he quickly tried to calm her down so that she would stop crying. "Please, don't cry, Miss Anne. Mr. Aaron would kill me if he finds out you're crying because of me. Let's go, get up now. Don't sit in the snow like that. It's cold here."

"You're such an awful person, Daniel, you left me alone. I'm afraid," said Anne softly as she wiped her face slowly.

"I'm so sorry, Miss, I-I got a call a moment ago and I tried to walk slowly while receiving the call. When I was done you were already gone," Daniel tried to find an excuse and lied to Anne.

"Are you telling the truth? If that's the case, we better go home. I don't want to be in this cemetery. This place is scary," Anne spoke softly as she gripped Daniel's arm tightly.

"It's still very early, Miss. You are not alone, Mr. Aaron is here and so do I. You don't have to be afraid."

Anne lowered her face to look at Daniel's feet, she wanted to make sure that Daniel who was standing next to her was a human and not a ghost. After seeing Daniel's feet were stepping on the ground, Anne felt relieved.

"Why did Aaron take me to a place like this?"

Daniel smiled at Anne's question, he then let go of Anne's hand on his sleeve slowly. "Please, don't act like this with me, Miss. If Mr. Aaron finds out, he'll murder me instantly," he said quietly.

"I don't want you to leave me again, that's why I'm holding onto your shirt," said Anne quickly.

I'm so sorry, Miss. I will never do it again. Well then, let's continue our walk, I'm afraid Master will be angry if we don't arrive quickly," Daniel said politely.

"What are we going to do here? Why did Aaron have to bring me here, Daniel? There are many places we can go and talk more comfortably instead of going to a cemetery like this," protested Anne in annoyance.

"You'll find out later, Miss. Let's catch up with Mr. Aaron," Daniel pulled up his jacket and held out his hand for Anne to walk first. Since Anne didn't want the previous incident to happen again, she chose to walk behind Daniel while gripping Daniel's jacket tightly towards where Aaron was, which according to Daniel was not far from where they were walking now.

And Daniel was telling the truth. After two minutes of walking, Aaron's figure was seen standing motionless in front of two well-maintained gravestones located in a tomb complex that looked brand new.

"We've arrived..."

"That's the graveyard of the young master's parents," Daniel whispered to Anne.

Anne pursed her lips. After hearing Daniel's words, Anne didn't understand why she was invited to the graves of Aarons' parents in the middle of the day during a snow like this. Even though Aaron previously said he wanted to tell her the reason why he didn't like widows just like what he said before coming here.

"My mother died twelve years ago due to an illness. It happened because she was depressed. Before that, our family life was fine and full of love until a money-mad young woman came in and became a thorn in my Mommy and Daddy's family life. She deliberately flirted with my father openly at the office."

"At the office? What do you mean, Aaron?" Anne asked Aaron quickly, she couldn't help but ask.

"That's true, that woman was my father's new secretary. She had worked only one week at that time, but she dared to flirt with my Daddy without being afraid of Mommy. At that time, I was very busy with my school exams, I didn't pay attention to what happened to my parents. Until finally one night I heard Mommy cry. Since then I've been trying to find out what happened to Mommy and Daddy and when I found out what caused Mommy to cry I became very resentful of my Daddy.

It turned out that Daddy had an affair with his private secretary who was a widow. My mommy forgave Daddy's mistakes sincerely. But who would have thought that she kept her pain by herself? So, even when Daddy finally realized his mistake and apologized to Mommy, she still hadn't forgiven Daddy completely. After all, it was a fatal mistake. Mommy became more gloomy and aloof. She got hurt when she found out how Daddy had changed. One night, I found my Mom's lifeless body on her bed with a cut on her hand.

My mom chose suicide, Anne. She chose to end her life and brought all the wounds in her heart to the grave. But since Daddy was a well-known businessman he couldn't possibly publish the real cause of his wife's death. Daddy chose to appoint his lawyer and doctor to help him cover the real cause of my mother's death. He couldn't bear to face the consequences of his mistakes and he asked others for help to deal with everything. I was furious at that time and I kept blaming Daddy for Mommy's death almost every day when I came home from college. I blamed him for his mistake when he had an affair with a widow. Then, three years after Mommy passed away, Daddy followed her because he couldn't bear the guilt anymore. My family was destroyed by a widow, Anne. That's why I hate widow so much," Aaron spoke at length, he explained all in great detail why he hated widows to Anne.

"Aaron... I..."

"Please, Anne, don't say another word. If you can't accept my feelings, I'm okay. I'll be fine and accept it sincerely. I will continue to do better to win your heart. I hope you don't say any more words such as the senseless things you told me the other day to reject me, Anne," Aaron pleaded softly, quickly interrupting Anne.

To be continued