Chapter 124: Can I See Her

The study was plunged into silence. Neither man spoke for a long time. Anthony sat frozen, as if time itself had stopped for him. His hands trembled, his throat was dry, and tears streamed down his cheeks in quiet, steady lines.

He was experiencing a storm of emotions... grief, disbelief, guilt, and a faint, dangerous flicker of hope.

For years, Anthony had lived with the unbearable guilt that his father had killed Joan because of him. He had never forgiven himself for loving her so openly, so passionately, in a world that devoured vulnerabilities and punished emotions. Deep down, he believed that if he hadn’t loved Joan, she might have lived. That if he hadn’t defied his father, she might not have become a target.

After Joan’s supposed death, he had been inconsolable. He accused his father directly... fury exploding out of him like lava. His father denied everything, of course. But Anthony hadn’t believed a word. He couldn’t believe. Not after losing the love of his life.

And then came another nightmare. His father tried to arrange a political marriage for him with the daughter of another influential minister. Anthony, bitter and still in mourning, secretly sought out the young woman, hoping she would reject the alliance once she knew of his past love. But what he found broke him further.

The woman... his future wife... was even more pitiful than he was. She was battling an untreatable form of cancer, and the doctors had already given her only a few years to live. Yet her own family, hungry for status and alliances, suppressed her medical condition and tried to marry her off as if she were healthy.

Anthony wasn’t the only name on their list of suitors. If he refused, they would move on to the next nobleman. Knowing that Joan was gone and not wanting the young woman to suffer more indignity, Anthony agreed to marry her. It was a marriage in name only, for appearances. They had both agreed to that. They never shared a bed, only a mutual respect for each other’s pain.

The cancer worsened, and she passed away just a few years later. By then, Anthony had cut off all ties with his father. He had refused to remarry, and his steadfast loyalty to his deceased wife earned him a strange respect in his in-laws’ eyes. They had seen how he stayed with her during her final days in the hospital, comforting her, tending to her like a devoted husband. Moved by his dedication, they had tried to match him with younger girls from their extended family... but Anthony refused them all. He remained a widower.

Now, all those painful years came flooding back in a rush... memories that scraped at his soul like shards of glass.

the man in black claiming that Joan had lived, had given birth to his daughter, and that daughter now

to contain the tide of emotion. When the sobs finally died down to sniffles and silent gasps for breath, the man in black, who had watched him silently,

alive and working for my boss.

looked up, eyes red and swollen. His voice was hoarse

deliberate. "That depends on your actions. You

face with his sleeve and nodded slowly. "I can do anything for you... to see her. But what you’re asking... it’s too much.

accept what is being offered to you. Your party is going to nominate you as the leader. All you need to do is accept the honor gracefully. Later, they

to sell your soul. Everything she needs from you will be legal, within the bounds of the law, and for the benefit of the people. But she needs someone trustworthy in that

still dazed. "You talk like it’s easy. I’ve been in politics for over twenty years. If

black chuckled softly. "No, you don’t understand how powerful we are. You just need to be mentally prepared. That’s all."

I understand. I’ll do as you say. Just... just let

man reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a mobile phone. He tapped the screen a few times, then turned it around to

photo of him... young and smiling, taken during his university days.

She kept this photo of you

him and opened it. Inside was a glass vial, no

is your daughter’s blood," he said

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