Chapter 543
Chapter 543
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Chapter 543
By the time Chris returned to Blackwood Manor, Richie was fast asleep in his bed.
Chris couldn’t even remember when Richie had stopped needing one of his shirts to settle down at night.
There had never been anything wrong with that habit, but Chris was glad Richie no longer needed it.
As for Dominic, Chris hadn’t simply left him there because he trusted him to be fine.
He had knocked Dominic unconscious, hauled him inside, and dumped him onto the couch.
He wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon.
Before leaving, Chris had also told Gavin to send a few people over to keep watch.
Lily getting married had hit Dominic hard, but Chris knew the shock would pass.
Whether Lily was married or even had children, Dominic was still the kind of man who would try to take her
back.
He was not at the point of giving up on life.
Chris had knocked him out for one reason only.
Dominic hadn’t slept in days.
He needed rest.
Once he woke up and had a chance to calm down, they could deal with everything else.
But the way Dominic had treated Lily in the past couldn’t continue.
Otherwise, Chris himself was proof of where that kind of obsession could lead.
After showering and changing into pajamas, Chris returned to Richie’s room.
Richie was sprawled across the bed, sound asleep.
His shirt had ridden up in his sleep, exposing his soft little belly.
Chris walked over and tucked it back into his pajama pants, then slipped off his shoes and lay down beside him.
The bed was just over six feet long. At Chris’s height, his feet nearly hung off the end.
Still, Richie was sleeping too deeply for Chris to risk moving him back to the main bedroom.
Ever since his health improved, Richie had become a heavy sleeper again. Once he was out, very little could wake
him.
Winter used to sleep the same way, back when she had been healthy and carefree.
Chris pulled the blanket over Richie, rested his hands behind his head, and stared up at the ceiling.
He wasn’t trying to think about anything.
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Chapter 543
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But somehow, an image of Winter as a little girl surfaced in his mind.
Chris had always been a contradiction.
When he was younger, he had driven Warren and Audrey into a corner.
And yet afterward, he was the one who asked Mrs. Xander Sr. to take Winter in.
Maybe it had started that day.
The day he left the gun behind.
Winter had been only seven then.
The little girl who used to call him “Chris” had clung tightly to her father’s leg and stared at him with wide, helpless eyes.
He had never been able to forget that look.
After returning to the Xander family, it haunted him constantly.
She had been too young to understand what had happened between him and her parents.
Too young to understand why he had left that gun behind.
But none of that mattered.
The helplessness in her eyes stayed with him day and night.
That was when the thought first came to him.
He wanted to bring her into the Xander family.
And from the very first night Winter stayed there, his nightmares stopped.
He could no longer remember when his feelings for her had started to change.
At first, she had simply been another lonely child who reminded him of himself.
Somewhere along the way, that changed.
By the time he realized his feelings had become something else, it was already too late.
Between the two of them, Chris had been the one who got tangled up first.
And in the end, he was the one who hurt her.
If he hadn’t let her feelings for him grow unchecked, if he hadn’t watched her fall deeper and deeper without stopping it, maybe she never would have ended up like this.
Chris turned his head and looked at Richie sleeping peacefully beside him.
Winter used to sleep like this too.
Back at the Xander estate, their rooms had been next to each other.
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Chapter 643
He still remembered hearing her complain in the mornings whenever she overslept.
But later, even sleep had stopped coming easily to her.
Chris closed his eyes.
“Winnie, I missed you again today,” he murmured.
Before long, winter arrived in Liono City.
The first snowfall came earlier than usual that year.
By Christmas, it had already snowed several times.
A twelve-foot Christmas tree stood in the main living room at Blackwood Manor.
Chris held Richie’s hand and helped him hang a candy cane on one of the branches.
Mr. White walked over.
“Mr. Xander, Richie’s birthday is the day after tomorrow. How would you like to celebrate p>
“Let’s just keep it at home p>
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Olivia Harris
An emerging author celebrated for her captivating romantic and steamy novels. With a talent for crafting deep emotional connections and fiery chemistry between her characters, Olivia’s stories offer readers an escape into worlds filled with passion, intrigue, and heart-stopping drama.