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.

were true, what face would he have

didn’t kill Timothy, so how could you have caused Pauline’s death?”

cause and effect were his own making; Pauline was just an innocent carrying his

say for certain whether it was some

realization was almost too much for

of cold-heartedness were suddenly flooded with guilt.

just…” If it hadn’t been for Timothy’s

been quietly listening, cut in sharply at this

and Timothy’s relationship, why would Timothy have wanted you dead?”

lifted his bloodshot eyes to the woman standing serenely behind the bulletproof glass.

the spitting image of

his first encounter with Pauline,

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

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

Pauline’s first love;

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 the

he slowly shifted his gaze to the

ེ ཇ ཆ བ

have done

believed they were cut

there was no other way but to take

respond, just looked at him impassively.

nothing wrong.” Without waiting for Bernard’s answer, Yates responded to his own question,