Chapter 22
Cassian’s eyes were bloodshot as he fixed his gaze on her. “Thalia, do you have any idea how long we’ve been searching for you? How could you abandon me and your brother like this?”
Callum’s face had turned ashen, his features clouded with sorrow. “Thalia, I know you’re angry with me. Back then, I was blind to the truth. If I had known sooner… I would never have treated you that way. I’ve
already sent Selene and her mother to prison. Can’t you let that be enough of a reason to come home, even just to see Dad? He’s been waiting for you, holding on all this time.”
Thalia stood unmoved, her expression as cold as marble, while Callum spoke of their father’s devastation after her disappearance
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-how grief had driven him to drown himself in alcohol, spiraling into depression until it culminated in stomach cancer.
Callum’s voice cracked as he pleaded, his words trembling with despair. “Thalia, I’m begging you. Come back home. Give me a chance to make this right. Do you know how often I’ve dreamt of you dying over the past two years? I hate myself for everything. I made a promise to Mom to protect you, and look what I’ve done–I let you get hurt. I’m so sorry, Thalia. Please.”
Her silence carved a heavy stillness between. them, and Cassian, losing patience, tried to approach her. Before he could reach her, a group stepped forward to block his path. Frustrated, he suppressed his temper, his voice strained with urgency. “Thalia, I know I’ve let you down. But you have to understand–it wasn’t me. It was her. That
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woman seduced me, tricked me, and I-” He choked on his words before forcibly continuing, “I made a terrible mistake.”
“If you come back to me, I’ll forget everything. I don’t care about the child you’re carrying. I swear I’ll treat you well,” Cassian vowed, the desperation in his tone unmistakable.
Thalia’s lips curled into a bitter smile, her eyes blazing with anger. “I never asked you to find me. Do you know what I went through when I was overseas? I nearly died because of you. If you had even a shred of conscience, you wouldn’t have dared to come after me.”
Her words struck like daggers. Cassian and Callum both went silent, their eyes reddened with emotion. Callum closed his eyes briefly, as though bracing himself, then opened
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them and said hoarsely, “Thalia, is this what you wanted? Are you happy now?”
Thalia smiled faintly, but there was no warmth in her expression–only a quiet cruelty. “Happy? I’m ecstatic. In fact, I’d be even happier if the two of you would vanish from my life forever.”
Her declaration left them stunned, her icy detachment like a slap to the face. Cassian’s expression darkened. His anger surged as his gaze darted toward Thorne, standing unreadable at Thalia’s side. Barely able to contain his fury, Cassian growled, “This is all his fault. He’s the one who’s twisted your mind and turned you against your own family”
His rage reached a boiling point, and he lunged forward, but Callum quickly restrained him. Callum sighed deeply,
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running a hand over his face as though to wash away his frustrations. “Enough, Cassian. If Thalia is happy… then that’s all that matters.”
He turned to Thorne, his eyes sharp with warning. “While I’m gone, you’d better take good care of my sister. If you ever hurt her, I’ll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life.”
Thorne smirked, the corner of his mouth curving up into something almost mocking. His voice brimmed with cool disdain. “I think you’re confused, Callum. Thalia is my wife. I don’t need your advice on how to take care of her.”
Cassian gaped at Callum in disbelief, his anger reigniting. “What are you doing? Didn’t we agree we’d bring Thalia back? Are you really just giving up now?”
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Callum’s shoulders sagged, the fight draining from his body. His pale face twisted into a bitter smile. “Do you really think I don’t want her to come back? But look at her. She doesn’t want us. She says she’s happy, Cassian–and that’s enough for me. If she’s hurt in the future, then the Wynn Family will make him pay for it. But right now? Let her go.”
Cassian’s eyes burned with fury, his chest heaving. “Are you out of your mind? You’re seriously going to hand Thalia over to this scoundrel after everything he’s done? Do you remember how long we searched for her, how many sleepless nights we spent?”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Callum answered quietly, his voice resolute. “But Thalia deserves her happiness, even if it’s not the version we imagined for her. If you can’t
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accept that… then the problem is yours to bear.”
Time passed. Not long after, Seraphim, their father, passed away. In his will, he left most of his fortune to Thalia. Shortly after his death, a video of his final moments surfaced, spreading like wildfire
- ne.
In the grainy footage, Seraphim lay frail and broken in his bed, his face worn by time and guilt. Tears glistened in the corners of his sunken eyes as his voice trembled. “Thalia,” he rasped, his words labored, “I remember you as a little girl. You were the light of our family. Your mother… she adored you. But I… I failed you. I failed to protect you. It’s all my fault.”
Even in death, his eyes remained open, unwilling to close in peace. Tears streaked his hollow cheeks, bearing witness to a
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lifetime of regret. When the video leaked, public opinion turned against Thalia. Strangers flooded the internet with accusations, calling her heartless, selfish, and ungrateful.
