?Chapter 505:


    Cole couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze, his attention fixed on the legal documents that felt heavier than stone in hisp. The word goodbye refused to form on his tongue. One simple word, and their connection would sever permanently, irreversibly. His chest felt as though someone had dragged a razor de across his ribs, leaving him raw and bleeding from the inside.


    Elliana lingered, waiting for his farewell that never materialized, then turned and began walking away. Rather than summoning a taxi, she chose to walk, her pace deliberately measured and unhurried.


    The instant she turned away, Cole’s head jerked upward, his eyes locking onto her retreating form with an expression that mingled desperate longing with soul-deep agony.


    Elliana knew he was watching—had counted on it. She’d chosen to walk specifically to grant him these final moments, allowing him to memorize her silhouette before it vanished forever.


    But even the most deliberate pace couldn’t transform a city block into an endless road. Ten minutes crawled by before she disappeared around the bend, and Cole’s world copsed into hollow emptiness. His expression drained of all life, the loss reflected in his eyes so profound that it seemed to leach color from everything surrounding him.


    Myles, Aron, and Hugh maintained their respectful silence, recognizing the sacred nature of his grief. This marked only the second time they’d witnessed such devastating sorrow etched across Cole’s features—the first had followed his mother’s mysterious disappearance years earlier. Cole remained frozen in his wheelchair, sopletely lost in his thoughts that perspiration began gathering on his forehead under the afternoon sun’s merciless re. The street pulsed with life and activity around him, yet he felt utterly isted, wrapped in a suffocating nket of absolute loneliness.


    Growing increasingly concerned, Myles finally shattered the oppressive quiet. “You should return home and rest, Mr. Evans.”


    Cole barely stirred, his voice emerging as though from a great distance. “Was it truly Death Thorn who rescued us that day?”


    “Yes,” Myles confirmed without hesitation. “Death Thorn harbors an obsession with Jason, so she came specifically to extract us from the Phantom Mercenaries’ trap.”


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    A smile ghosted across Cole’s lips—one devoid of humor and heavy with self-mockery. After years of bitter rivalry and endless conflict, he now owed his very survival to Death Thorn’s intervention. Although she’d acted purely out of infatuation with Jason,pletely unaware of his true identity as ze Wraith, he understood that honor demanded he repay this impossible debt.


    With that sobering realization crystallizing in his mind, Cole shifted his attention to Myles, purpose beginning to rece the emptiness in his eyes.


    “Get the message out. From this moment forward, if Thorn Rose appears, ze Wildfire retreats without question. No one is to confront them under any circumstances. Anyone who steps out of line will answer to me—and the consequences won’t be light,” Cole dered, his tone sharp and unyielding.


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