A Second Chance at Forever novel (Eleanor and Bernard)

Chapter 1413

Bernard stood defiantly in the harsh glare of the sun, his complexion pale. His lips curled in a half-smile, but it was devoid of warmth.

“I never wanted my wife to live in fear because of me,” he said, his voice laced with a mixture of resolve and sadness. “All I ever wanted was to spend the rest of my days with her in peace. Is that so wrong?”

His tenure with the Siren Organization meant he was perpetually walking on a knife’s edge. One slip, one hint of his true identity, and it wouldn’t just be him facing dire consequences-it would be Eleanor, their home, their entire lives, turned to dust.

“You’re not in the wrong,” came the reply.

“Then who is?” Bernard challenged, raising an eyebrow at Xavier.

“I’m not in the wrong, so it must be Caleb, right?”

Xavier shot him a glance but said nothing.

Bernard slowly straightened up, resting his hands on his knees, his gaze fixed coldly on Xavier.

“Do you have any idea how many lives your selfishness has cost?” Bernard’s finger tapped insistently on the table between them, where the Siren Organization’s roster lay. “They were turned into bioengineered soldiers for your vendetta! And Caleb, who grew up with me, died in Area Opaca, never to rest in peace! And Evan, your own adopted son-if I hadn’t pushed him out of harm’s way, he would’ve died there too!”

As Bernard thought of the fallen, his eyes turned a deep, bloody red, and his fists clenched so tightly that his veins stood out like cords.

“Xavier, Evan was your boy, and you were willing to sacrifice him. What kind of heart do you have?!”

master at controlling his emotions, maintaining a calm composure even in the face of infuriating situations. But now, Bernard was yelling at him, hysterical with

there wasn’t much of a bond,” Xavier said, as if

Darkness Xavier’s father had schemed to seize

enemy as his father,”

“It doesn’t matter whose son one is, as

at Xavier as if he were seeing him for

telling me all this, and you’re not afraid I’ll tip off Yates?”

I didn’t tell you, and you found out anyway, wouldn’t you inform him

shot back the question and then sat up straighter, looking directly at Bernard. “Now that we’ve

the

avenge Caleb and the others,” Xavier began. “I

he spoke, “You have the

met Bernard’s scornful gaze impassively as he

were seven, if I hadn’t saved you, you would’ve perished in the streets-that’s a life debt. Without my guidance, you wouldn’t

Xavier looked apologetically at

in those debts. But Bernard, if Yates learns the truth, more people from Siren Organization will die, including you.” The glimmer of a smile in Bernard’s eyes was quickly

settle your debts. As for your private

emotions tucked away, Bernard gestured towards the

you don’t want to be tied up and

But he couldn’t forget Bernard’s wife, the one who couldn’t lift a finger in

chill as he locked onto