Chapter 421
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Chapter 421:
“I am sorry I kept you in the dark,” Gaston said, his voice tight. “But I needed her to believe she had won. I needed her to commit the act fully so the police could lock her away for the rest of her life. I had to permanently eliminate the threat to you p>
He lowered himself onto one knee beside the bed and took both her hands in his, looking up at her with raw vulnerability.
“If you think I am a monster for orchestrating it this way,” Gaston whispered, “you can punish me however you see fit p>
Jocelyn looked down at the billionaire who had constructed a private sting operation purely to keep her safe.
She felt no fear. She felt no manipulation. Instead, a massive, overwhelming wave of heat and absolute devotion flooded her chest.
She reached out, her hands cradling his jaw. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears.
“I don’t think you are a monster,” Jocelyn said fiercely. “I think it is the most romantic, terrifyingly beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me p>
She leaned down and brought her lips to his.
The kiss burned away the last microscopic barrier between them. Gaston let out a low groan. He stood, wrapped his arms around her, and drew her back into the soft mattress. The shadows of the past were consumed entirely in the warmth of the night.
Miles away, in the dark, suffocating silence of the Chelsea apartment.
P𝗗𝗙𝘴 o𝗻
A sharp knock echoed at the front door.
Carmen dragged her exhausted, trembling body off the sofa. She unlocked the deadbolt and pulled the door open.
Ferris Golden, her older cousin, stood in the hallway wearing an expensive camel-hair trench coat. His face was a mask of calculated neutrality as he took in her ruined, tear-stained appearance. He stepped inside and closed the door.
Carmen didn’t waste a second.
She grabbed the unredacted medical file from the kitchen counter and hurled it at Ferris’s chest. The papers scattered across the hardwood floor.
“Where is he?!” Carmen screamed, her voice tearing her throat raw. “Where is my baby, Ferris p>
Ferris looked down at the medical records. He knew the game was over. He also knew that his own parents — Carmen’s aunt and uncle — had secretly arranged the illegal adoption seven years ago to conceal a financial crime, and if the full truth surfaced, they would go to prison. To protect his own family, he had to bury Carmen’s hope permanently.
He took a slow breath and looked Carmen dead in the eyes, burying his guilt beneath a mask of complete, emotionless cruelty.
“You want the truth?” Ferris asked coldly. “Fine p>
He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a clinical monotone.
“When you crashed that car, you suffered massive trauma. You went into premature labor,” Ferris lied, his voice unwavering. “The boy was born, but he had severe, irreversible complications from the impact p>
Carmen’s heart seized. She gasped for air, her hands flying up to grip Ferris’s lapels.
“No,” Carmen whimpered, shaking her head frantically. “No — the file says he was alive p>
“He was,” Ferris said, delivering the final, lethal blow. “For exactly three days. He was in an incubator. Then his organs failed, and he died p>
Died.
The word hit Carmen like a bullet between the eyes.