Chapter 280

Samuel snorted. “Your nephew doesn’t even like women; his Thim a few boyfriends and keep him away from my son, and I’ll be thanking the heavens.”

“I remember Eilen used in like rids,” Theodor said, still sounding doubtful. He had never truly believed Eden was gay, despite years of the rumors going around. “Did that thing back then change liin?” he thought.

Then, a voice came from the side, polite on the surface but with a sharp, cold undertone. “Is Mr. Locke in the habit of matchmaking everyone?”

Theodore snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Dominie; the look on his face told Dominie he wasn’t pleased.

Trying to smooth things, he said, “I didn’t know she was your gifted. I saw her caller in the garden and for a moment, I don’t know why, but something reminded me of my late wife. Her pintile, I mean. It caught the off-piant.”

Vespera looked completely confused. Eden and Samarl both went quiet, their earlier energy falling fast. Just a few words from Theodor, and the whole room fell silent.

To someone who didn’t know the history, Theodore might have sounded like a devoted man—his refined, scholarly presence, his soft-spoken tone full of wistful emotion. He painted the picture of deep, lingering love. A man who had stayed faithful, even after death.

But everyone at that table—except Vespera—knew the truth. He had cheated on his wife while she was pregnant and kept a mistress. That mistress was suspected of orchestrating the accident that killed his wife and the unborn child. Three lives were gone in an instant…

So when the story was soaked in blood from the start, any so-called “devotion” just felt absurd. Tragic, even—but not in a way that deserved sympathy.

Of course, Theodore himself didn’t believe his mistress was responsible. To the public, it had always just been speculation.

The table went cold. After a few moments, Samuel cleared his throat twice and said, “There are always people in the world who look alike. Nothing strange about that.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Theodore nodded, sighing lightly again. Dominar let out a dry, humorless laugh, barely lifting the corners of his mouth.

Vespera looked around the table, quietly reading the shift in everyone’s expressions. “Yeah, there’s definitely a story here,” she thought.

After the meal, the group left the private room and walked along the covered walkway toward the exit. The two older men walked ahead. Dominic and Eden followed in the middle, while Vespera instinctively trailed at the very back.

Across the Willow grove, behind a half-open window, two people sat quietly. Selena had brought her daughter, Carly Locke, there to meet someone.

Through the lake and the gently swaying Willow, Carly—who’d been admiring the view—suddenly lit up with excitement. “Mom! I see Dad and Eden!”

A sharp glint flashed through Selena’s eyes. They were in Halewick, too? Weren’t they supposed to be in Auralia? She gently stroked Carly’s hair and looked outside. Her gaze swept across the group in the distance. But when she spotted Vespera walking at the back, her expression shifted instantly. For a split second, it was like…

Carly rested her chin in her hands. “Mom, that guy’s really good-looking. I like him.”

Selena quickly composed herself. “The one walking next to Eden? Is that who you like?”

“Mhm: He’s so handsome,” Carly nodded earnestly.

Carly was a beautiful young woman, but often dazed and slow to process things—always a beat behind everyone else.