Loved You Once But He's My Forever (Chloe) novel Chapter 536

Bang!

In the distance, fireworks suddenly lit up the dark sky above the cemetery, their bright flashes cutting through the heavy, oppressive night. The contrast was almost surreal, as though the scene itself were an unsettling twist of fate.

Tears streamed down my face. As I looked down, I saw the raindrops pouring onto the bloodstained earth where Luke lay.

Luke had died in the relentless downpour.

By the time Carter arrived, I was still holding Luke's lifeless body, unable to stop my sobs, gasping for breath through the overwhelming sorrow.

Wisteria's body lay farther away. Her eyes remained wide open, staring unblinkingly, as if her last moments had been spent fixated on my face, determined to remember me until the very end.

The maid, perhaps realizing her own fate was sealed, had fled after abandoning Wisteria. She ran down the mountain but was quickly caught by Carter as he made his way up.

Carter saw me from a distance, rushing toward me with urgency. "Chloe ... "

His tall, commanding frame, once impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, was now drenched by the rain, his hair tousled. He couldn't possibly know whether I was injured or just covered in Luke's blood, but he only saw me, trembling and soaked, in the middle of the devastation.

"Chloe, are you hurt?" His voice trembled as he kneeled before me, his hands reaching out to gently touch my face.

In that moment, I realized just what I was clinging to. My voice was thick with tears. "He took the death curse for me ... but I'm fine."

Luke's blood had seeped into my wedding dress, but this time, the only difference was that I was still alive.

I held Luke's body close to me, his eyes shut tight, his lips curving into the faintest of smiles, as if he had found peace at last.

"Don't cry," Carter whispered softly. "It was his choice. He was in so much pain in life. Death was his release."

Carter swiftly removed his jacket and draped it over my shoulders, trying to shield me from the cold.

"Carter, our babies ... " I barely managed to whisper; my voice breaking.

"Amber brought the children to the event earlier. I had Damian watching over them. Then I received the call from Luke. I'm sorry, I came too late."

"This was all Amber ... No, your mother's plan. If the children are safe, where is she?"

Carter's expression darkened with understanding. "Oh, no."

He signaled to his bodyguards, who carefully moved Luke's body, before swiftly scooping me up and rushing downhill.

This was supposed to be our wedding day, but instead of heading toward a celebration, Carter was driving me away, toward the coast.

Eleanor hadn't harmed the children. Her aim was never to hurt me—she only wanted to protect her son.

With Wisteria dead and my death curse lifted, Carter had no reason to fear anymore. But what would Eleanor do now?

"Do you know where she is?"

"Where she first met my father ... the Tidal Coast. If she plans to leave, that's where she'll go."

Carter's voice trembled with emotion. As we sped down the road, I could feel his pain, just as deep as mine.

He had finally found his mother, but he had never reconnected with her because of what she had done to me. Now, the possibility of losing her again loomed large.

Carter pressed the gas pedal, the car roaring as it sped through the storm, raindrops battering against the windows, the wipers working desperately to clear the view.

I had just witnessed Luke's death. My body felt utterly drained, and my throat burned with the effort of holding back my pain.

I wanted to offer him comfort, but I didn't even know where to begin. What could I possibly say?

The car was filled with an eerie silence, our breaths rising and falling as quickly as the car's speed.