The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 167

167 Out Of Her Own Grave

Finished

The question hung between them, simple and devastating. Xan opened his mouth to deny it, to say the comforting lie. But the lies were over. They had caused enough damage.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly, his voice rough. “Maybe because she never needed saving. Maybe because she was always a puzzle I couldn’t solve. Maybe because… I don’t know, Sarah. Love isn’t a choice. It’s a disaster that happens to you.”

A faint, broken smile touched her lips. “A disaster, that’s good. That’s what it feels like.” She reached up and touched his cheek, her fingers cold. “I was your first love. Remember? Before the crash even happened, before everything. We were kids. We were going to get married and live in a house by the sea and have two dogs.”

He remembered. A golden–haired, laughing Sarah. A Sarah who loved sailing and bad poetry and believed the world was kind. That Sarah had died in the crash too, long before he ever met

Elera.

“I remember,” he whispered.

“But you don’t love me. Not like that anymore. You love the memory of me, the ghost I had become.” She dropped her hand, the smile fading. “And you love her. The living, breathing and brilliant her. The one who doesn’t need you.”

“Sarah, it’s not—”

“Don’t,” she said, pulling away from him completely. She wrapped her arms around herself, looking out at the tree again. “Don’t lie to make me feel better, please don’t do that anymore. I’m so tired of lies.”

The dynamic between them, the careful dance of protector and victim, avenger and charge. shattered irreparably in that moment. They were just two broken people standing in a cursed place, connected by a tragedy that wasn’t theirs.

“What do I do now?” she asked, sounding lost and very, very young.

“You come with me,” Xan said. “Right now. We’re not going home. We’re going somewhere safe. And then we’re going to find you a doctor who can actually help you. And we’re going to help Elera and Drakonius bring your parents‘ killer to justice. That’s what you do

She looked at him for a long moment, then gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod. “Okay.”

He guided her gently to the passenger seat of his car. She got in without a word, staring straight ahead. He got on the driver’s side and started the engine. As he pulled back onto the road, he glanced in the rearview mirror.

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18:10 Tue, Apr 7

Chapter 167 Out Of Her Own Grave

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43

Finished

The scarred oak tree receded into the distance, a dark sentinel keeping watch over a truth that had finally been set free.

*

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He drove for an hour, away from the city, following the coordinates Frost had sent him to a discreet, private psychiatric facility that specialized in trauma. It wasn’t a place you found with a Google search. It was the type of place where billionaires sent their troubled relatives to discreetly unravel. Xan had made the call on the drive, his voice leaving no room for negotiation and money was transferred with the Arrangements were made.

The facility looked more like a luxury spa than a hospital. Low, modern buildings nestled in wooded hills, gardens meticulously maintained. It was peaceful, eerily so.

Dr. Evans–a woman with kind eyes and a no–nonsense demeanor–met them at the entrance. She took one look at Sarah’s vacant, exhausted face and gently guided her inside, talking to her in a low, calm voice. Sarah went without protest, she was like a sleepwalker.

Xan stood in the elegant lobby, feeling utterly useless. The weight of the last five years pressed down on him–the wasted time, the misdirected rage and the harm he’d caused.

Dr. Evans returned after a few minutes. “She’s settled. We’ve given her something mild to help her sleep. The real work starts tomorrow.”

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