CHAPTER TWENTY: It's Been Two Years

CARTER’S POV:

It’s been two years, but I’m still grieving my loss.

I’m at the cemetery, standing in front of Hazel’s grave with a bouquet of her favorite white jasmine in hand. I make this pilgrimage countless times to appease my guilt for the cruel words and actions I hurled at her in her last moments.

"If only I could turn back the time," I whisper.

My fingers trace the engraved letters of her name and our unborn child’s that nobody got to utter except me in my nightmares, feeling the chill of the stone seeping into my skin.

As I make my way back to my car, an unfamiliar, old couple walks towards Hazel’s grave. They‘re weeping, clutching each other. The man carries a bouquet of flowers, the woman a small, framed photograph of an unfamiliar younger woman.

Who are they? I’m sure they’re not one of Hazel’s adoptive family members, Hazel also doesn’t have a friend except for Lilian.

When I approach them, they gasp in fear as if I’m about to do something horrible to them. The wom