Caelan looked at Dorian as his thoughts settled. The Ashford family was one of the most influential families in Velmont. Surely they could help him.
"Just one thing," Caelan said finally. "Help me get my medical license back and a position as a doctor at Aurelian. Can the Ashford family do that?" Dorian blinked. It was clear he hadn't expected that to be the request. Then he nodded firmly. "That's all?" A small, respectful smile formed on his lips. "That's easy, Doctor. I'll use every resource my family has to make sure the process goes smoothly. And as an additional gesture of gratitude, I'll also be making a major investment in Aurelian." "Thank you," said Caelan simply. Emric, who had been standing near the door, had already stepped forward before Caelan could even turn around. His hand was outstretched, his face wearing a smile far more relieved than he himself probably realized. "Welcome back to Aurelian Hospital Velmont, Caelan." With the Ashford family's backing, Caelan's return was already a certainty. Emric wanted to be the first to say it. Caelan looked at the hand, then gripped it firmly. "Thank you, Emric." In the corner of the room, Aldric didn't move. His eyes watched the scene with a feeling that couldn't be summed up in a single word. The Ashford family, the single greatest debt anyone in this city could hold, and Caelan Voss had only asked for his job back? His job? Not money. Not connections. Not a building or shares or anything that a sane person walking out of prison without a cent to their name should have asked for. Aldric exhaled slowly through his nose. Maybe you're a genius in medicine, but you're an idiot when it comes to seeing opportunity. That's exactly why your own wife threw you away, Aldric thought bitterly. What a fool who doesn't know how to take his shot. --- Meanwhile, on the top floor of Hotel Onyx, the suite lights were left dim. Serena Hale sat on top of Harrison Blake with both hands resting on his broad chest, her hair loose and falling messily over her shoulders. The red dress had long since dropped to the floor. Her body moved to a slow and deliberate rhythm, her hips rolling with full awareness, her eyes half-closed as she savored every sensation running to the ends of her nerves. "Harrison..." she breathed, her voice low and heavy, his name coming out not as a call but as a moan she couldn't hold back. Harrison lay with his hands behind his head, watching the face of the woman above him with a smile that never left his lips. His hands moved to Serena's waist, his fingers gripping firmly enough to make her draw a sharp breath. Then the phone on the nightstand vibrated. Once. Twice. Harrison didn't reach for it right away. But when the third vibration came with a special notification he had only set for certain kinds of information, his hand moved without asking permission from anyone. Serena felt the rhythm stop. "Harrison?" He didn't answer. His eyes swept across the screen. "Victor Ashford, head of the Ashford family, collapsed at Aurelian Hospital Velmont today. The critical condition was handled by a doctor named Caelan Voss. An ex-convict released just today. The Ashford family is reportedly set to give him their full support. Should we bring him to our side, Young Master?" The screen didn't move, but Harrison's face did. His jaw hardened. The muscles around his eyes tensed. The smile that had never left his lips vanished completely, replaced by something far colder. Serena tilted her head, reading that expression with confusion that was starting to shift into unease. "What's wrong, babe?" Harrison didn't answer right away. He set the phone down at his side, his eyes fixed on the ceiling with an expression Serena couldn't read. A few seconds passed. Finally Harrison asked, "You and Caelan aren't officially divorced yet, are you?" Serena frowned. "Why are we talking about him? He isn't..." "Just answer." The tone cut through her sentence like a blade. Flat, not loud, but leaving no room for negotiation. Serena went quiet for a moment. "Not officially. But my parents told me earlier that he already signed the papers. It's just administrative processing at this point, less than a week." Harrison nodded slowly. His eyes were still on the ceiling. "Burn the papers." Serena blinked. "What?" "Burn them." Harrison finally looked at her. "And go back to him. Convince him to take you back. Then make him your servant in his own home." Silence hung between them. Serena opened her mouth, then closed it again. Something in her chest wanted to push back, but her eyes read Harrison's face and the resistance deflated before it could fully form. "Why?" Her voice was careful. "Because today he saved Victor Ashford from death." Harrison sat up straight, his voice dropping into something more dangerous than a shout. "The Ashford family now owes him. That means he has access to circles he should never be able to touch. I'm not going to let that ex-convict grow into a threat." His eyes locked on Serena without blinking. "As long as he's in your home, as long as he's mopping floors and washing dishes, he won't have the time to become anything. Keep him exactly where he belongs. In the gutter." Serena looked down at her own hands folded in her lap. This wasn't what she had wanted. She had already pictured the wedding, the Blake name after hers, a life she no longer had to fight for. Going back to Caelan felt like stepping back into a hole she had just climbed out of. But there was no room to refuse here. Not with Harrison looking at her like that. She nodded. "Fine." Harrison nodded, satisfied. "Good. I don't care how you do it, just make sure you convince him." Serena drew a quiet breath. "He loved me very much." The corner of her lips curved slightly, not a warm smile. "This won't be hard." Harrison didn't respond. He was already looking back at his phone screen. There was no pity in his eyes. Not for Caelan, not for Serena, not for anyone standing between him and what he wanted.Latest Chapter
Chapter 259
The same man who had taken the mysterious black sword from the Sterne Family's hands, the one their Supreme Leader had ordered them not to pick a fight with.Of course, that was because he had a mysterious toddler at his side.And that toddler had walked into this room with him.In the center section, three figures in soft green robes—a color fitting the name of the sect wearing them. The Pure Jade Sect's robes carried no heavy ornamentation, only thin lines like jade cracks running along the fabric's edges, with buttons of a material that was clearly no ordinary metal.Two men around their forties with postures that were patterned—trained to appear neutral, and managing it—and one woman in her thirties whose eyes when they looked at something showed that neutral for her wasn't the product of training but simply how she was.And on the side closest to the entrance—two figures from the Sacred Sword Sect.The first was a woman with long black hair that fell loose in the way of hair care
Chapter 258
They arrived at the Draethos Mountains the following evening, at exactly ten o'clock.The forest below was already familiar to both of them—the same canopy, the same darkness, the same air with its way of being different from Velmont's air. They didn't take the main path this time. There was no need.At the massive gate, Bai Li was already waiting.Behind the old man stood several ordinary Elders and two Grand Elders—all with postures that made it clear tonight's arrival was different from Caelan's first time here just a few days ago."Supreme Leader." Bai Li bowed. "Please follow us. They're already waiting."Caelan nodded.---The Eternal Black Dragon Sect's guest pavilion stood on the western side of the complex—separated from the main buildings by a distance that clearly communicated this was not part of the sect's core, but wasn't something built halfheartedly either.The building was large in the way of a building that knew its function—not to impress its occupants, but to give
Chapter 257
Caelan returned to Aurelian.The day moved like the days before it—patients came in one by one, each bringing their complaint, each leaving in a different condition from when they had walked in.Some came with exhausted faces after years of going from doctor to doctor with no results, some came with wrong diagnoses from other places, some came because they had nowhere else to go.All of them went home healed.At eleven at night, Caelan turned off the lights in his room.---Dinner that evening was a little different.Layla brought the trolley as usual, but this time she didn't rush to leave. Caelan invited her to sit, and Layla accepted in the way of someone who no longer needed much convincing to do it.They ate as three—Caelan, Layla, and Rex sitting on the other side of the table with his milk carton and the expression of someone very pleased with the development unfolding in front of him.The conversation flowed without a plan—from small things, to things a little larger, to laugh
Chapter 256
Caelan didn't speak right away.He let those words fill the air of the room first, let Serena who had spoken them feel the weight of her own words before anyone responded.Then, quietly: "You're free to take out all your anger and sadness on me, Serena."His hands removed Serena's grip from his shoulder—not roughly, but clearly."But coming back to you? I'm sorry. I can't."Serena looked at him, her eyes immediately searching for an opening."Why, Caelan?" Her voice cracked. "Why? Am I not pretty enough for you? Am I not attractive to you anymore?""No." Caelan looked straight back at her. "This has nothing to do with appearance."He paused briefly, choosing his next words not because they needed much thought, but because he wanted to make sure nothing would be misunderstood from what was about to come out."This is about love, loyalty, and hope. And from that day—the day of my freedom, the day that should have been the best day after four years—you kissed Harrison right in front of m
Chapter 255
The Hale family home hadn't changed from the outside.The same gate, the same garden, the same facade—everything exactly as it existed in Caelan's memory from the last time he had stood here. But the way Caelan saw it now was already very different from how he had seen it then.The last time he came here, there was still something remaining in his chest. A small, thin hope that refused to die even when it was already clear there was no fertile ground for it in this place.About a month ago, he had just walked out of prison.Four years inside, and during those four years there was only one reason that had allowed him to choose patience—Serena. Serena's career as an actress and singer had been built over many years. She had a big name and a bright future.One scandal could destroy all of that, and Caelan knew it, so he had chosen to be the suspect in an accident Serena had caused—to make sure the name of the person he loved wasn't tarnished.Four years.And time that should have been sp
Chapter 254
Eight in the morning.The suite bell rang the same way it did every morning—three times, with even pauses between each, already very familiar to the two residents of the suite.Rex climbed off the sofa and opened the door.Layla stood behind it with the same trolley, the same uniform, and the same posture as every morning.But something was different.The moment her eyes found Caelan standing near the window, something happened on her face. The smile that appeared wasn't the practiced, neat professional one—it came from somewhere else entirely, warm and a little shy, making Layla's face look like it belonged to someone different from the Layla who brought the trolley to this suite every morning.Rex looked at her.One second.Two.He knew Layla. Not in the sense that they talked often—but in the sense that he had seen this woman come and go from the suite enough times to know that the persona she usually presented here was a professional one, composed, with a poise that never stepped
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