"What’s the matter?" Dorian Howards looked at his wife’s unpredictable expression beside him, and couldn’t help but follow her gaze, understanding somewhat what she was pondering at the moment. "It’s been so many years already. If we hadn’t done it back then, Kyle would have died."

"I know." Alice Conley said dejectedly, "I just find it unfair for Mabel. Look at your cousin, how proud she is now. In the entire Falling City, everyone only knows Francine Howards. Who even knows Mabel Quinn? It’s as if Mabel... never existed!"

Even those who knew Mabel back in the day are tight-lipped in front of Kyle, no longer mentioning anything about her. Alice Conley knew it was inevitable, yet... every time she thought of Mabel, an inexplicable sorrow filled her heart.

What does Mabel count for? What does her death count for?!

In the end, even the imprints of her existence are to be erased!

Dorian Howards sighed deeply, not knowing what to say. He understood his wife’s knot in her heart, yet was powerless. The crisis of that year was only narrowly resolved in such a manner; to let Kyle live, Mabel Quinn’s traces had to be wiped away one by one.

Otherwise, maybe Kyle would have ended his own life with a gun back then, and he wouldn’t have lived to see today!

And now, those who remember Mabel are only the Quinn Family.

It was only much later that Dorian Howards discovered that Mabel Quinn was actually Edward Quinn’s daughter, the future true heir of the Quinn Family, but this fact came too late.

Now, all of Mabel Quinn’s belongings are kept by Edward Quinn, the Quinn Family finally became Mabel Quinn’s last resting place. In the fifth year of her disappearance, the Quinn Family finally accepted the fact that Mabel was dead and erected a cenotaph.

And the items Mabel left behind seemed to be Edward Quinn’s last solace. Dorian Howards and Alice Conley would also go to Mabel Quinn’s grave to light incense on Qingming and Winter’s Solstice, where Alice would have a long, chatty conversation in front of the grave.

Dorian Howards knew Mabel was Alice’s most treasured friend in her lifetime, which is why Alice had been angry with Kyle all these years and hadn’t forgiven him.

Even after moving to Falling City, sometimes meeting Kyle at public events, Alice would still give him the cold shoulder, and Dorian could only try to minimize occasions where they might meet.

"Alright, stop overthinking. Why not consider if we should go greet Mom and Dad?" Dorian Howards suggested.

"Given the occasion today, let’s go over." Alice Conley replied. Over the past few years, she finally settled in Falling City, as the Howards Family’s business roots were there. Her relationship with the Howards Family had been lukewarm over these years.

When their son turned one, the Howard Family’s genealogy did include their son’s name but didn’t include hers. For that, Dorian Howards immediately had both his and his son’s names removed from the genealogy, and the next day directly held a meeting to announce his resignation from the CEO position of the Howards Group.

This became a hot topic of gossip at the time. Eventually, the Howards Family compromised, acknowledging her identity as the daughter-in-law, though unwillingly. Whenever Alice went to the large Howard residence, the Howard family members, especially Dorian’s mother, Gemma, would give her a cold face.