?Chapter 502:


    “You two go on. I need a word alone with Cole,” Ruben ordered.


    Bertram and Emmanuel slipped away silently.


    Ruben quietly opened the door and stepped inside. There, he found Cole sitting in his wheelchair, his face streaked with tears.


    The sight struck Ruben right in the heart. Cole had always prided himself on his strength and rarely cried. For Cole to break down now, Ruben knew this pain ran deeper than words. The only other time he’d seen Cole like this was when Sophie, Cole’s mother, walked away. Now, it was Elliana’s departure that had left him shattered.


    Ruben eased down onto the sofa beside Cole and spoke softly. “If letting Elliana go hurts this much, why are you insisting on the divorce?”


    Cole kept his gaze fixed on the floor. “Grandpa, you already know why.”


    “Indeed, I do.” Ruben nodded, his voice gentle. “You’re scared that your illness will get worse and you’ll end up hurting her, right? You’d rather push her away than let her discover the truth. I get it, Cole. But that doesn’t make it any easier to watch you suffer like this.”


    Cole clenched his jaw, refusing to utter a single word. Memories tugged him backward. He was just three when Sophie had gone through a violent and uncontroble episode. That night, she had turned into someone unrecognizable, trying to kill him and his father.


    The trauma had left deep scars, haunting his dreams for years. Night after night, he’d bolt upright, heart pounding from nightmares he couldn’t escape. Later, Ruben had found a doctor who used hypnosis to blur those horrific memories.


    Over time, Sophie had regained her senses, and the family had patched itself back together. For a brief period, he had even tasted what happiness felt like.


    But everything had fallen apart again when he turned twelve. Sophie had vanished without warning, and Jarrett had devoted himself to the search, wandering endlessly, barely ever returning home. He had been left to grow up alone, the house echoing with emptiness. He spent his teenage years aching for both parents toe back, always hoping for a miracle. But Sophie never returned, and with each visit, Jarrett seemed more defeated and weary.


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    Eventually, Jarrett’s health had given out for good, and at just seventeen, Cole had been forced to carry the Evans family legacy on his own shoulders.


    Now, looking back, Cole realized that twenty-seven years of life had been filled with hardship far more than warmth. He had long be used to istion and pain until Elliana arrived. She brought light into his world, made himugh, and made him cast aside his previously distant demeanor.


    For a moment, he had believed happiness could finally be his—that he might break free from the darkness. But then, the viper totem reappeared, slithering out of his nightmares and into reality. He remembered, with excruciating rity, the night his mother had lost herself. She’d gripped a bloodied knife and headed straight for him, the viper tattoo twisting around her wrist. That image had haunted his sleep for years.


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