Time had slipped away unnoticed, its passage meaningless in the solitude of the conservatory. The only thing tethering me to this place, to this life, was the lingering presence of Rose. This was her home, and it was only right that her remains stayed here. Once filled with her laughter, her voice now held only her memory—buried within these walls, within the garden she loved so much.

I had so much left to say, yet no words could ever capture the depth of what I felt. And now, there was no one to hear them. The silence echoed louder than my grief.