The Day Our Promise Breaks

Chapter 625

This was her ace in the hole.

With the child in her grasp, Charles could only belong to her. And as for Evelyn- there would be nothing left but pain.

Charlie glanced back at Luna, wide-eyed and uncertain, her gaze searching for reassurance. Luna fixed her with a pointed look, silent but commanding, and Charlie, after a long, shaky pause, slowly lifted her tiny arm. It hovered, awkward and trembling, not quite brave enough to reach its mark.

Without missing a beat, Luna placed both hands over Charlie's. Guiding her with a touch that seemed gentle but was anything but, she helped Charlie's little arms wrap stiffly around Charles's neck.

The hug wasn't Charlie's at all—it was Luna, orchestrating the whole thing through her, turning the embrace into a cold, calculated performance.

Right then, Charles's entire being was wrapped up in his daughter; he didn't register Luna's presence, didn't even care that she was there.

"Aurora, call him Daddy," Luna whispered right against Charlie's ear, her voice low and hypnotic, almost like a spell.

Under the weight of Luna's expectation, Charlie's small frame trembled. At last, pressed to the edge, she squeezed out a voice so faint it was barely a breath, thick with fear:

"Da...ddy..."

Bang.

blast, detonating every emotion he'd buried for

couldn't hold back. Tears burned in his eyes, blurring everything until the world was nothing but shapes and light. His throat closed up,

"Ah-!"

pulled her tight, desperate, holding her like he'd never let go. Hot tears slid down his face, landing

to be real-better than any dream, more miraculous than anything he'd ever

flesh and blood. His life. Alive,

lashes casting long shadows that hid the icy satisfaction in her gaze. She watched their tangled shadows on

Even your daughter is in my hands now, calling me

You'll never beat me.

...

stayed stiff in Charles's embrace, every muscle tense. She wasn't

world, her

hug, that "Daddy"-they were just tasks, orders to obey.

...