Chapter 0467
+15 BOHUS
Peter lay on the guestroom bed, waiting for exhaustion to finally pull him into sleep. His thoughts drifted back to one of the most painful memories of his new life: seeing Mary and Serenity playing in the park. Serenity had been nearly eight years old then, brimming with energy, running, swinging, and laughing. The image of his daughter’s vibrant spirit and the sting of knowing his best friend had married the woman who would have been his wife haunted him.
Though he had no memories of his past, the situation alone was enough to ache deeply. Yet, how could he blame them? They had believed he was dead and had moved on with their lives.
He could have knocked on the door that day and said, “I’m alive.” But what would he have gained? Perhaps he could have reclaimed his family, but the love Mary had once felt for him was likely gone, replaced by new affections. And Serenity? She would have seen him as a stranger, with Marcus as the only father she had ever known. The chaos and pain it would have caused convinced Peter that his decision to stay away had been the right
With these thoughts, his body finally gave in, and he fell into a deep sleep. A few hours later, he awoke abruptly, the familiar dream tearing him from his rest: the hollow sound of something hitting the ground, followed by a deafening ringing in his ears. His heart pounded as he instinctively touched his head, just as he always did after that dream.
He glanced at his phone: 6:00 am. Rising, he dressed in athletic clothes and went for a run, needing to clear his mind
An hour later, Peter returned to the house, showered, and prepared breakfast. Alexia was still asleep, so he allowed himself a moment of solitude. Sitting at the table, his mind wandered. Though he had never told Theodore, there was one memory from his past that refused to fade. When he said, “I have a recurring dream,” he was referring to this: falling, the sharp pain of his head striking a jagged rock, and then the ringing that led into five years of darkness.
“Peter… Are you there?” Alexia’s voice called faintly, pulling him from his thoughts.
He walked to her room and stood in the doorway. “What is it, Alexia?”
“I thought you weren’t here. Can you bring me a pill for my headache? It’s unbearable.”
“You know those pills aren’t candy
“I know, but I need one. It always happens after I have a fever.”
Reluctantly, Peter fetched the bottle and handed her a pill
“Do you want breakfast?”
“I’m not hungry. I just want this damned pain to go away.”
“I need to figure out what to do with you,” Peter said, his tone sharp as he stared at her.
“Kill me,” Alexia retorted flatly.
“That’s what you’d like, isn’t it? But no.”
“You gain nothing by keeping me alive. Just kill me!”
“Lalready told you–I’m not a killer.”
“Then we’re stuck together until one of us dies.”
Chapter 0-167
+25 BONUS
“It doesn’t have to be that way. I can always send you somewhere more isolated, cut off from everything, I’ve been lenient, but don’t mistake that for weakness.”
“Oh, I know. You made that perfectly clear yesterday,” slaat bitterly.
“Good. I haven’t forgotten. Being here suffocates me, Alexin. You suffocate me.” “You have the power to end this. You could-”
Π
“Stop pushing the same narrative,” Peter snapped. “Now, I’ll get your breakfast.” “I said I don’t want breakfast.”
“You’ll eat, even if I have to force–feed you. Don’t test my patience. I’m not Eliya.”
“That woman is too accommodating. It’s sickening. She actually thinks you love me.”
“That’s the point.”
“Love me?” Alexia sneered. “No one’s ever loved me. My miserable life was never perfect, and now you’ve turned it into hell”
“That hell is of your own making. It could’ve been simple you could’ve stayed with Maximus, avoided Gabriel, or not entangled yourself with my father.”
“You know about that?”
“Of course I do.”
“Your damned father manipulated me..”
“I doubt he did anything you weren’t willing to go along with.”
“Leonardo is a despicable bastard.”
“Careful. He’s still my father. But you? You dug your own grave, just like your grandfather. Your insatiable greed landed you right here.”
“With you?”
“Take that however you like. But being here is the result of your own actions.”
“What do you get out of this, Peter?”
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