Chapter 397 Talk to Jude

When it came to everything else, Abram could let go, but he could never let go of Jude. Whether it was love or duty that weighed more, only Abram knew.

“Tilly…”

Jude never thought Tilda would ask something like that. It shook him.

“Jude, I need to know something. Before your grandmother passed, when she was the wife of the man running the Bells, was she happy?”

Before she stepped out, Tilda unbuckled her seatbelt and fixed her eyes on him. Jude pressed his lips together and searched through the faded picture of her graceful face.

“She wasn’t. But she still chose to stay by my grandfather’s side.”

“She loved Abram?”

“Yes. She loved him. But he never loved her the same way back.”

Jude sometimes saw it in his grandmother’s eyes when she looked at Abram. There was devotion, but at other times, there was sorrow. If she had never met him, her life could have been different. It could have been happier. She would not have been trapped inside the Bells’ walls, living each day in rivalry and deceit. She would not have had to fake smiles at banquets while watching the man she loved toy with other women. The jealousy would not have eaten her alive day after day with no cure to ease it. That truth would always stay locked away. What you could never have always tickled your curiosity. Those who had your love feared nothing. Love itself was a game where the one who fell first always bowed down and lost.

At that moment, Tilda reached out and touched Jude’s face. Her warm palm brushed his cool cheek. The spark between them burned bright. Jude froze and turned to her.

“I was only asking a question. Don’t go looking all serious.”

Her gentle smile softened the frost in his eyes.

“Tilly, promise me. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone says, you have to hold on to your own truth. Be yourself. Be the free spirit you were always meant to be, got it? I love you for that, for being wild and free. Do you get that?”

Jude caught the hand against his cheek. His grip was steady. His gaze was fire.

“I’ll never clip my wings for anyone again. I’m Tilda. I’ll keep shining until the end. I’ll never fade. Jude, if you love me, then love me this way. Love me as someone who won’t ever be caged.”

Her lips lifted in a small smile. Today at the Bells’ estate, she saw Abram’s cold heart, but she and Jude would never become Abram and his broken wife. They had their own lives to live. Their happiness would not be chained by ghosts from the past.

“Yes.”

Jude could not stop himself. He leaned in slowly. When he saw Tilda didn’t pull away, his lips touched her cheek in a kiss so light it felt like a secret. It was like tasting something forbidden and addictive. One kiss could not satisfy him. From her cheek, his lips slid to hers. A kiss of devotion. A kiss full of fire.

At the same time, Daphne sat by Rebecca’s hospital bed. Her daughter lay pale and still, drained of blood. Hate surged in Daphne’s eyes like a storm breaking free. Tilda.

Unforgivable. It’s all your fault my daughter ended up broken and tattered!

The rage Ryan had buried now rose again from the ashes. Preston walked into the room.

“Mom, you need to get some rest. Let me watch over Rebecca.”

“Preston, where is your father?”

“He’s still at the estate cleaning up. I think he’s setting things up to send Rebecca overseas.”

Hearing that, Daphne broke down. She covered her face and sobbed until her voice cracked apart.

“Does he have to be so cruel and so quick? Rebecca’s already broken enough as she is! He’s supposed to be her father! Weak and incompetent as she is, she is still our daughter. For nine long months, I carried her in my body! I gave my life to bring her here. She is a part of me.”

“Mom, please. Don’t tear yourself apart. I’m sure Dad feels broken too, but we can’t fight this. Grandfather already gave the order. We don’t even have the right to resist. Everything we have today belongs to the Bells.”

Preston’s chest burned with grief, but the end had been written from the start.