The Officer's Runaway Wife & Secret Son novel Chapter 284

"She went to such extraordinary lengths—she conspired with Noah, with you, and with Daniel—just to make me believe the child was gone."

He raised a hand to his breast pocket, rubbing the outline of the St. Christopher medal through the fabric.

"At the time, I figured that since she hated me so much, if I exposed her lie, what would it accomplish other than causing her even more pain?"

Emily was stumped. She bit her lip and stayed silent.

"I thought that once I joined the SWAT team, if I survived, I would spend my life saving people as atonement. But if I died..."

Daniel finished the thought for him: "If he died, he would be worth more dead than alive."

Leaving a massive fortune for the mother and son—trading his life to guarantee they would be financially secure and never bullied by anyone for the rest of their days.

That was the answer Rhys had come to.

"...You're a psycho." After a long pause, Emily managed to say.

She genuinely thought Rhys was insane, terminally ill, and beyond saving.

She refused to look at Rhys anymore. "Clara is loaded now. She doesn't give a damn about your blood money."

"I know," Rhys said quietly. "But it's all I have."

Apart from worldly possessions, he truly had nothing else to offer.

Rhys pulled his hand away from his chest and added, "But after I actually died that one time, I realized my grand ideas were just that—ideas. I still... want to live so I can watch over them."

Silence descended upon the private dining room once again.

Emily asked him, "What did you want to give to Felix?"

Rhys thought for a moment. "Never mind. You don't need to take it."

"Bring it out," Emily said, impatiently tapping the table. "Stop dragging your feet."

"It's really fine," Rhys insisted. "Accepting it would only be a burden."

Daniel frowned. "Rhys, it's just a protective thing. It's for the boy's safety. Clara wouldn't go so far as to throw it away."

"It's not about it."

Rhys looked at Emily and said earnestly,

"Miss Lane, please don't tell Clara that I know about Felix, and don't tell her about the will. Just let her believe she hid everything perfectly. Don't ruin her mood."

...

At some point, tiny, scattered snowflakes had begun drifting from the sky.

Rhys walked out the front doors of The Luminous Grove, the cold wind catching him and forcing a couple of coughs from his chest.

He had visited a church to have a St. Christopher medal blessed, and he had braided the leather cord himself. Father Benedict had told him it would keep the boy safe.

He had seen far too much death and tragedy on the SWAT team, and he hoped this thing could shield the boy, keeping him safe year after year.

He had never believed in God, nor had he ever believed in fate.

But over these past few years, he had come to believe in everything.

Rhys looked up at the sky. A snowflake landed on his face, melting into a streak of water that traced the line of his scar. He exhaled a breath of white mist, watching it dissipate into the wind.

Nowadays, he lived every day in fear.

He was terrified that one day, he truly wouldn't make it back, leaving nothing behind in this world for his son to remember him by.

But in the end, this gift would never be delivered.