My Guardian Married My Sister But I’m His Alpha Chapter 70
Before leaving New York, Francesca asked to meet Chiara at St. Michael’s Cemetery.
She wasn’t wearing her usual soft pastels.
Instead, she wore a simple black coat, her hair tied back, no makeup on her face.
Two bouquets of white lilies rested before their father’s gravestone.
“The Registry received my statement,” Francesca said. “Riverbend has withdrawn its objection.”
“I also wrote down everything I said to Mom and the elders that day.”
Chiara looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because if I only apologized to you, everyone else would still think you were being difficult. They would think you just changed your mind at the last minute.”
Francesca lowered her head.
“That’s what I always did best. Say something in front of everyone, then force you to prove it never happened.”
The wind swept across the cemetery, and she coughed softly.
This time, she took medicine from her own bag and swallowed it with a sip of water.
No one rushed to her side.
And she didn’t use it as an excuse to stop talking.
“Chiara, I was jealous of you.”
“I thought that because Mom took care of me, because Griffin registered with me, because Grandpa made me a Luna candidate, it meant I had won.”
“But deep down, I knew the more people looked after me, the more terrified I was of losing it all.”
“So I kept pushing you away.”
Chiara was quiet for a long time.
“You did hurt me.”
“I know.”
“And right now, I can’t pretend you didn’t.”
Francesca’s eyes reddened.
But she didn’t cry.
“I know that, too.”
She took the now-invalid Luna candidate insignia from her coat pocket and placed it before their father’s grave.
“I’m going to Europe for my treatment. I’m not running away.”
“When I come back, whether you want to see me again will be your choice.”
She took two steps, then stopped.
“And the names on Dad’s gravestone… thank you for not having mine removed.”
Chiara looked at the base of the stone.
Chiara and Francesca.
“That was Dad’s choice,” she said. “Not a favor from me.”
Francesca closed her eyes briefly, then nodded and left.
Their mother was waiting for her at the bottom of the hill.
She didn’t come up. She didn’t ask Chiara to see them off. She didn’t say another word about Francesca’s health.