Against Cruelty, She Grew Strong (by Anastasia Glover) novel Chapter 617

Chapter 617 The Final Request

“When I first met you, I was immediately drawn to the pure, untamed vitality radiating from your entire frame. I couldn’t comprehend how any human being could raaintain such absolute, unwavering optimism. I must confess that at the absolute beginning. I held zero respect for your standing. To me, you were simply an uncultivated islander from that remote piece of land, a completely different world that shared zero overlap with mine. When you initially attempted to close the distance between us, it brought nothing but intense frustration to my thoughts simply had no desire to alienate Tatiana, and you were one of the solitary individuals she monitored with absolute protective custody. I possessed an elite mastery over calculated deception, making it an effortless endeavor to play everyone for a fool, and you were by far the easiest target to manipulate. Tammy, how on earth could a girl be so incredibly, remarkably naive? The exact second anyone showed you a single shred of superficial warmth, you bared your absolute soul and accepted the illusion as truth.”

The expression in Lucas’s eyes turned incredibly, unbelievably gentle as the words left his lips, though a persistent tremor vibrated through the tail end of his voice.

He kept his focus pinned to her profile, determined to exhaust the narrative.

These were the precise thoughts he had analyzed through countless torturous days and endless nights. desperate for a single opportunity to utter them in her presence.

“Following our departure from that island, you pursued my trail with absolute persistence, refusing to grant me a single moment of isolation. Your sensory capabilities were far too sharp; it mattered absolutely zero how thoroughly I attempted to mask my coordinates, you located my position every single time.”

A quiet laugh escaped his throat at the memory, a sudden glint of unshed tears reflecting in his eyes beneath the moonlight.

“In reality, it was during that exact period that your/presence took absolute root in my mind. But my intellect was thoroughly blinded by a savage lust for vengeance, and my pride flatly refused to acknowledge the truth. I continuously lied to my own consciousness, dictating that I was merely exploiting your capabilities for my own executive advancement. Yet your martial prowess was truly magnificent. During that specific chapter when you acted as my personal shield, it marked the absolute first time in my entire existence that I experienced the comforting, unyielding sanctuary of being protected by another human being.”

His delivery remained smooth and measured, thoroughly saturated with a profound, fching nostalgia.

Beneath the cold wash of the moonlight, he resurrected their shared history line by line.

Tammy’s focus was slowly, seamlessly pulled into the undertow of his words, a faint, dazed expression settling over her features.

Her own mind began to reconstruct the fragments of their past.

She remembered shielding his frame from incoming strikes, executing brutal counter-offensives against the extraction teams dispatched to eliminate him, and keeping a tireless vigil beside his clinical cot. She had genuinely savored the fierce, possessive satisfaction of keeping the man she adored perfectly secure beneath her wing.

They had traveled through an immense landscape of trauma together.

Even if those chapters weren’t entirely pristine or beautiful.

Lucas’s voice slowly dropped into a lower, heavier register as the narrative pivoted toward the catastrophic betrayal that had violently shattered their foundation, ensuring they could never return to their original alignment.

“I am profoundly, deeply sorry for the disgusting malice I subjected you to during that confrontation. I could repeat those words an infinity of times, yet

they possess zero power to undo the damage or salvage my standing. Nevertheless, I am entirely compelled to tell you this: you are a magnificent woman, Tammy. Whomever destiny selects to stand by your side in the future will be incredibly, supremely blessed. I am fully aware that I possess absolutely zero right or authority to demand a single concession from you. Yet this time, just this once, I am making a completely selfish, pathetic plea. For this upcoming month, just thirty days, can you act as my girlfriend? Even if it is nothing more than a hollow act, a calculated lie designed to appease a dying man, I will accept it gladly. Tammy, please?”

As the final syllable left his lips, Lucas’s eyes turned a stark, vibrant crimson, the gathering moisture reflecting the pale starlight.

Tammy kept her chin lowered, her long, curled eyelashes trembling visibly as the moonlight traced the edge of her profile. She offered zero indication of her internal calculations.

Her lips remained pressed into a rigid, unwavering line.

Following a prolonged, suffocating silence, the desperate hope vanished completely from Lucas’s eyes, leaving his expression entirely hollow. “Forgive me. I have overstepped my bounds once more, forcing an impossible parameter onto your life. Please treat every single word I just uttered as though it were never spoken. I apologize for breaching your peace. Tammy/I genuinely wish you a lifetime of absolute happiness.”

Leaving her with that final blessing, Lucas launched onto his feet, pivoting toward the edge of the corrugated metal roof to execute his descent.

Perhaps he merely required a quiet, isolated space to nurse his own terminal wounds.

Suddenly, Tammy’s hand shot forward through the dark with blinding speed, her fingers locking tightly around his wrist to halt his forward momentum.

He froze instantly, turning his head to look back down at her.

“One month,” she muttered, her voice raw.

A soft, genuine smile broke across his features. “Yes. One month.”

Γ

Lucas remained at Mine No. 9, formally integrating into the compound infrastructure as the primary on- site physician for the residential labor force.

Sensing an immediate, inexplicable shift in the local power dynamic, Xavier tracked Tammy down near the equipment lockers, pulling her into an isolated sector for a private interrogation.

“Tammy, you need to speak frankly with me. Is that man leveraging some form of coercion or threat

against your safety?”

“What earthly leverage could he possibly wield against my person?” she countered, a sharp, dismissive click of her tongue escaping her lips. “If anyone is executing a threat around here, it would be me breaking

his bones.”

“Then what exactly explains his sudden residency within our perimeter?”

Xavier retained a vivid memory of the unadulterated fury Tammy had projected just days prior, looking exactly like a volatile predator desperate to tear both Lucas and Norman to shreds.

How on earth had that absolute hostility dissolved into compliance overnight?

“Tammy, you have absolutely zero reason to compromise your boundaries for his sake. If he attempts to utilize any manipulative tactics”

“He’s dying,” she cut him off smoothly.

The statement hit Xavier like a physical blow, leaving him entirely speechless.

“An aggressive tumor has established itself inside his brain,” she explained, her voice dropping into a flat, quiet register. “His clinical timeline is completely spent.”

“How is that even possible? Tammy, are you entirely certain he isn’t playing a part just to manufacture a wave of sympathy?”

It was impossible to fault Xavier for his immediate suspicion. He possessed a comprehensive, cynical understanding of how sinister a man’s behavior could turn when backed into a corner.

A calculated display of terminal vulnerability was by far the most efficient tool for dismantling a woman’s emotional defenses. Heartstrings were incredibly easy to pull.

Tammy offered a slow, deliberate shake of her head. “My sensory instincts are infallible. He is not participating in a lie. The distinct scent of approaching mortality has completely settled over his system, it is the exact same physiological aura that clings to a wild animal before it collapses in the brush.”

Having spent her formative years navigating the unforgiving depths of the primary jungle, her baseline perception was tuned to a razor-sharp frequency. She had interacted with an absolute infinity of terminal wildlife, and she could read the primal mechanics of an approaching demise without a single margin of

error.

She caught that exact, suffocating shadow of death clinging to Lucas’s frame.

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