Chapter 1062
“Mavis, did you and Uriah finally talk things through?” Calliope asked, turning her attention to her friend.
“Yes, we finally did,” Mavis confirmed with a nod. She glanced over her shoulder to where Uriah was watching her from a distance, his gaze intense.
“That’s good,” Calliope said. “He really went off the deep end a few days ago. He scared us all to death p>
Calliope and Portia exchanged a look, both still shaken by the recent memory of Uriah suddenly kidnapping Mavis. It had happened while Mavis was on a blind date, and coincidentally, Uriah was in the same restaurant on a date with his own arranged marriage partner. The sight of Mavis with another man had apparently caused him to snap.
He’d completely lost it, his possessive streak turning into a dark obsession as he spiraled. Fortunately, he had eventually come to his senses and talked things out with her. Now, they had decided to try dating for real.
While the gala was in full swing, in a rundown shack across town, the Jewell family huddled around a flickering television, watching the live broadcast of Calliope’s magnificent party. Seeing her radiant and surrounded by the world’s most powerful people, they were consumed by a bitter, gut-wrenching regret.
They weren’t the only ones. In a hospital room, Gideon was experiencing the same agonizing feeling. Yvette Jansen was in labor, and he was waiting outside with Fleur Lawson.
He saw the live feed on a nearby screen, watching Calliope move like a goddess among titans, and a wave of regret washed over him. If only he had chosen her, how different his life would be.
Fleur also frowned as she watched the broadcast. “I can’t believe she’s Jett White’s daughter p>
As they were both lost in thought, a nurse emerged from the delivery room, carrying
a bundled infant. She looked at Fleur and Gideon, her expression hesitant.
“What is it? Is that our baby?” Fleur asked, moving closer. “Is it a boy or a girl p>
Gideon’s eyes were also fixed on the bundle.
“It’s a boy… but p>
“But what?” Fleur reached out to take the baby, but as she peeled back the blanket, she recoiled in horror.
“What is this thing p>
“What’s… what’s wrong with him p>
“The baby has deformities in his hands and feet,” the nurse explained uneasily. “And… he was born with anencephaly p>
Gideon glanced at the infant and was equally horrified. A chilling memory surfaced— Calliope’s words, warning them not to go through with the pregnancy. They hadn’t listened, and now this was the result.
Fleur’s face was a mask of complex emotions. She had been about to call Eamon Baker, but now she wouldn’t dare. How could she tell him Yvette had given birth to… this?
“Gideon, let’s go,” Fleur whispered urgently. “We need to figure out how to divorce her, now p>
“Excuse me, this is your family’s child,” the nurse said, her face hardening. “And what about the mother? Are you just abandoning her p>
“She gave birth to that… thing! Why should we care about her?” Fleur snapped, grabbing Gideon and pulling him away. “She must be a truly vicious person to deserve a punishment like this p>
When Yvette came to, she found herself completely alone. She knew it was because of the baby. A wave of regret washed over her. She should never have fought to keep the pregnancy.
A while after the glamorous gala, Calliope learned that Yvette’s baby had died. She found out during a hospital visit for a check-up, as she had just discovered she was pregnant herself.
By coincidence, she ran into Gideon and Yvette in the hallway, loudly arguing about their impending divorce.
Calliope watched them for a moment, a sense of detached irony washing over her. When Gideon and Yvette noticed her, they fell silent.
Silas wrapped a protective arm around Calliope, casting a cold glare in their direction before guiding her past them.
Gideon stared blankly at Calliope’s retreating back. He knew, with a
crushing certainty, that if he hadn’t chosen Wette, if he had been even a
lies onder to caaopetigirley
wouldn’t be in ruins. But he had made his mistake, and there was no changing it now.
After her appointment, on the way home, a news alert flashed on a screen. Lisette was dead.
Her body had been found on a desolate mountain by a farmer. She had been
sexually assaulted by multiple people, stripped naked, and left for dead.
Calliope hadn’t expected such a brutal end for her. Still, after all the evil Lisette had done, it felt like a grim form of justice.
Ever since Calliope became pregnant, she was treated like a queen. Jett and Lillian moved in to be closer to her, and her brothers visited every other day The entire family doted on her, and Silas never left her side, forsaking all other business to be with her.
After every prenatal check-up, Calliope and Silas would visit Nigel’s grave.
Silas was still by her side because Nigel had paid the ultimate price. A life for a life-
that was the only way to keep Silas in this world.
Nigel had died shortly after Calliope’s homecoming gala. During their private conversation that night, Silas had confided in him, explaining is fate and asking Niger to watch over Calliope after he was gone. But upon learning that Silas was
destined to die, Nigel had made a
choice.
He chose to take Silas’s place.
It was a decision that no one had anticipated. But he had gone through with it. He
had died, and in doing so, he had saved Silas.
He left Calliope a long letter, explaining that he owed her several lifetimes. This, he wrote, was his way of repaying his debt. He owed her multiple lives but was only giving up one, so in his view, he was still coming out ahead.
From then on, Calliope and Silas made regular visits to Nigel’s grave to pay their respects.
And when their child was born, a beautiful baby boy, they named him Nigel.
They had often spoken to Nigel during their visits, telling him to find his way back to
them, to be reborn as their son so they could protect him for a lifetime.
(The End)