A Second Chance at Forever novel (Eleanor and Bernard)

Chapter 1424

Gregory was nothing more than a lowly thug, a street rat who lacked any sophistication. How could a rat like him ever hope to stand against the towering might of Yates?

Even if Gregory had rallied many of his kind to form the Darkness gang, it would take a long time to amass the kind of power needed to take down Yates. “Gregory never got his chance for revenge, though. He was taken out by his own second-in-command before he could make his move.”

Yates got the picture, but he hadn’t realized that he had been living inside Gregory’s plot all along.

Gregory had offed Samantha early, so Yates never suspected a corpse he didn’t recognize.

Then, all the evidence of the gang assault on Pauline was cleverly redirected to point at the Hardys’ other enemies.

Meanwhile, Gregory had been using the turmoil as a smokescreen, looking to expand the Darkness, to eventually harness its power to exact his revenge.

It was a clever plan, indeed. A shame Gregory didn’t live long enough to see it through, taken out by his own brother in arms. In a way, it was instant karma.

The thought of Gregory’s demise brought a bitter sense of relief to Yates.

But how much better off was he, really?

This was all tied to him. It was his doing….

If he hadn’t killed Timothy, Samantha wouldn’t have had the chance to frame him, Gregory wouldn’t have directed his fury at Pauline, wouldn’t have unleashed his rage on her in such a vile way.

The image of Pauline, violated and broken, made Yates stagger backward, his aged body almost collapsing against the control panel. “No…It can’t be!” Yates refused to believe that he was the cause and Pauline was the outcome.

face would he have left to live

could you have caused Pauline’s death?”

his own making; Pauline was just an

could say for certain whether it was some

almost too much for Yates to

cold-heartedness were suddenly flooded with

first. I just…” If it hadn’t been for Timothy’s bullet, which nearly ended

listening, cut in sharply at this

in Pauline and Timothy’s relationship, why would Timothy have wanted you

woman standing serenely behind

beauty was the spitting image of

his first encounter with Pauline, love at first sight, a rescue

I first fell for Pauline, Timothy was just her childhood sweetheart…” Yates aged eyes reddened as he spoke. “It was Timothy who sensed my interest in Pauline and preempted me by confessing his love… By the time I understood what love was, Timothy had already won

broke with a sense of injustice. “I was just a

late and he missed Pauline’s first love; a step too late and misunderstandings

Yates mulled over the tangled web of rights and wrongs, and the painful memories of watching the woman he loved with another man, his nearly buried heart still trembled with

feelings of sin, discomfort, regret, and longing, he slowly shifted his gaze to the

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have done in

heart, he believed they were cut from the same cloth.

tell him there was no other way but

didn’t respond, just looked at him impassively.

Yates responded to his own