Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

Chapter 726

The old lady stood up slowly.

"All these years, I've carried something dark inside me. Ten years ago, I went to a temple, hoping the quiet would finally set me free. But even now, I can't let it go. I can't accept that I was the only one blamed back then. I can't accept that after all my years in the Ferguson family, your father still only cared about his next move. But when I saw you, I wondered-maybe I'd been wrong all along."

She seemed to age right before his eyes. Her fingers still twisted the prayer beads, but the fierce energy she'd had before was gone.

"Do you really think I can't see what's going on? Clara doesn't love you. Your father says I'm too soft, but Tara-she really does love you. She's spent all these years humbling herself just to stay by my side for you. If you choose someone who loves you like that, you won't have to crash headfirst into heartbreak, won't end up like me, bitter to the bone."

She didn't want that for her son. She wanted him to shine, to rise above all the mess of love and longing.

Power makes people proud. Love just eats away at you. It took her decades to see that.

She thought, after all these years of telling him, he'd get it.

But all he said was, "Mother, she loves me."

She didn't bother saying anything else. She just waved him off and left.

Dylan watched her go, pressed his lips together, and headed quietly upstairs.

He eased open the bedroom door and saw her sleeping on the bed. Just seeing her there made everything inside him settle.

*

Somewhere else, Richard scrolled through the files someone had sent him and let out a soft, almost amused huff.

asked, "How much

frowned, leaning back in his

deep-so deep, you needed a whole

fingers on the desk, smiled to himself, and closed the laptop.

stepped out onto the balcony. He hesitated, then

No answer.

cigarette, lit up, and looked out over the city's endless lights. After a deep breath, he pinched the cigarette out and

when are you heading

Clara sleeping on the bed,

talk about

Just let me know before you

coming, but nobody seemed

*

the middle

something tight around

saw Dylan's face right there next

never could sleep with the

side lamp was still

bright she could

his eyelashes. Content of

but her body felt weirdly

the strength.

her with something and getting buried alive. Instinctively, she reached for her neck. The cut from the knife