Page 142 of Unwritten Rules

Expelling a breath I didn’t realise I was holding, tears fall unheeded down my puffy cheeks. The thought that this man who I so idolise sees me this way…it’s a sobering thought.

And suddenly, I want nothing more than to live up to his view of me. His words spur me, making me want to be the very best I can be.

I can be brave. I can be the man he sees!

I startle when Wetherby inhales on a shudder, his body trembling with the effort as I watch on, helpless.

I glance around at Tatiana, who was so quick to step forward to help earlier. But now, she remains standing silently at the wall facing us. Her eyes are brimming with tears, and when she makes no move to come closer, I know this is it.

This is the end.

Wetherby’s eyes are trained firmly on me when I turn back to face him. His jaw trembles with the effort to speak, but no words come.

I brush the back of my hand across his tear-slick cheek, whispering, “I know. I can’t hear it, but I have always felt it.”

His lips quiver, attempting to smile and failing miserably as his eyes fall shut for what I know will be the last time.

“I love you, too. Dad.”

CHAPTER 39

NATE

Organising the quiet burial for Wetherby took ten days.

During that time, I made two very easy decisions. Firstly, I rang Branson Higgins and tendered my resignation effective immediately, much to his disappointment.

And secondly, I took steps to have my mother exhumed from the Hawthorne estate.

Having triple-checked the boundary lines on the rights for the Lake House, which I’d long assumed were held by the Viscountcy, I drew new boundaries within view of the Lake House and the lake itself as the final resting places for both of my parents.

Together in death, as they could never be in life.

The sky cried alongside the staff and I, the only mourners at the funeral of the man I admired above all others. Whose presence I had taken for granted for far too long. Now, the gaping hole of his absence threatens to consume me.

Once the final prayers have been said, the skies open and a deluge falls, making everyone scatter.

“Refreshments are waiting back at the house, Vicar.”

I hear Monique call out over the commotion, but pay her no mind. My eyes are entirely fixated on the fresh burial plots before me as I let all the waves of emotion I’ve long fought back wash over me.

Fresh sobs wrack my body as I let it all go. As I bid farewell to the life I believed was mine. To the life that could have been.

To Wetherby. To Mum.

Mila…

An unknown amount of time passes as I replay moments with those I’ve loved and lost when a prickle of awareness shoots up my spine. I glance over my shoulder to catch sight of the silhouette of another person standing behind me.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Nate.”

I drop my head into my hands, mumbling against my palms. “For crying out loud. Not today, Zara. Please, surely it can wait until tomorrow.”

“Thank you. For signing the estate over.”

Without turning to look at her, I keep my eyes fixed on the two graves before me. “To clarify, I’ve already drawn up the deeds to have Hawthorne House and the entire estate transferred to Gabriel.”

“I know. And I’m so—”