Chapter 544 A Call
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+++8 Pearls
Rain and Tilda sat shoulder to shoulder on the couch, their eyes locked on the shing TV screen as they waged war on the PS5. The bluish light lit up their faces <b>in </b>quick bursts, while their fingers flew over the controllers with frantic precision.
In the bedroom next door, Dane and Liam had sealed themselves in. They spoke in hushed. tones, their focus fixed on Dane’s strange illness. Careful hands checked his body, while bottles and packets of mediciney on the nightstand, waiting to be used.
The n was simple. Once Dane swallowed the first round of pills, they would all head out together. They would wander the streets, breathe in the holiday air, and let the festive cheer of the holiday carry them.
Mystro stayed behind in the game room. A sketchpad bnced across his knees, and his pencil. glided with sure strokes. The wide windows poured sunlight over the hardwood floor, and the air felt warm and easy. He kept drawing, capturing the two yers caught in theirughter andpetition.
For a moment, the world itself seemed quiet and tender.
When he finally lifted the pencil from the page, Mystro stretched until his spine popped, thent let a tired smile curve across his lips. “It’s finished.”
“Let me see it!”
paper
Rain and Tilda tossed their controllers onto the couch and hurried over. One look at the made their eyes go wide. Rain let out a breathlessugh. “This is unreal. Darell, you really are the best painter alive. It looks like something out of a dream.”
Mystro chuckled, the sound low and warm. “If you both like it, I’ll make copies when I get the time. One each. No arguments.”
“That would be amazing!”
Before they could go on, a sharp buzz rattled across the table. Tilda’s phone lit up with the word Security.
She swiped to answer. “Hello? What’s happening?”
“Ms. Tilda?” The guard’s voice faltered, then steadied. “Here’s the situation…”
In the security office, the guard cast a nce toward Russell and Wade. Then, word for word, he repeated what Russell had told him.
Tilda’s response came fast and cold. “Tell him no.”
Chapter 544 A Call
+ Pearls
“Ms. Tilda… please forgive me, but he really seems serious about this.
Her voice snapped, hard enough to sting. “Bro, listen carefully. That man is not my father. I cut ties with the Jensons. We’re nothing to each other now.
“Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me. And I mean it. Don’t let hime near me again.”
She ended the call before the guard could say another word.
The empty dial tone hummed in his ear, then faded.
He let out a tired sigh and turned back to Russell and Wade. His voice was careful as he exined that Tilda refused to see them.
Wade’s face barely shifted. His eyes fell to the floor<b>, </b>and pain hung there, muted but clear. “Dad
I told you <b>this </b>would happen. Let’s just go back to the hospital and be with Mom.”
Russell’s hands balled tight at his sides. “You go if you want, Wade. I’m not leaving. I’ll wait here until Tildaes out.”
“What? Dad, why are you doing this to yourself?” Wade’s voice cracked under the weight of it. “It’s an impossible task!
“Even if this is what Mom wanted, we’ve already tried everything. Isn’t that enough?”
“It isn’t enough. Not when I know she’s right there. If she’s inside, she has to step out sometime.
“And when she does, I’ll look her in the eyes and beg her myself.”
“Dad.”
Wade’s throat tightened. He knew nothing he said would change Russell’s mind. <fn9898> Original content can be found at F?nd-Novel</fn9898>
“Fine, Wade muttered. “If you’re staying, then I’ll stay too.”
He could only stand with him. For ir.
He had no choice.
The guard rubbed his temples, the start of a headache pressing down. “Mr. Jenson, please… don’t make this harder on us.”
Russell’s voice stayed firm. “We won’t cause trouble. Let’s go, Wade. We’ll wait outside.”
“Alright.”
Chapter 544 A Call
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48 Pears
Together, father and son walked away from the office. Their figures stretched thin under the sum as they moved down the path.
The guard stood still, watching until they disappeared, and a long sigh left him.
apart, bitter
What curse had fallen over the Jensons, that a family once whole nowy cracked apart, and broken<b>? </b>
Inside the apartment, silence pressed in.
Rain and Mystro had caught enough of Tilda’s phone call to piece things together.
Mystro’s lips thinned.
Tilda, are you sure you don’t want to talk to them?”
“I told you,” Tilda said tly. “I cut ties with the Jensons. Why bother meeting them again? It’s the holiday. I’d rather spend it with you. Why should I waste a single moment on them?
“They threw me away first. And now Russell thinks I’m some obedient little dog, just waiting for
him to call me back<b>. </b>
“He thinks I’lle running, tail wagging, begging for scraps.
“Mystro, you promised to stand by me. Don’t think I’m cruel. Don’t think I’m cold. This is the right choice. It’s the only choice I can make.”
Mystro spoke. “I know. I only worry you’ll regret itter. But I told you before, I’ll stand with you no matter what.
“If this feels right to you, if you’re sure you won’t regret it, then I’ll ept that.”
His hand came down gently on her shoulder.
He already knew about the Sunlight za incident.
He knew the Jensons had been swept into it.
And he knew ir, Tilda’s mother, was in the hospital now, her life hanging by a thread.
Russell had almost certainlye for ir’s sake.
And ir was still Tilda’s mother, no matter how much hatred filled the space between them. If Tilda turned her back now, if she refused to see her even once more, then she would never be able to undo it.
Chantes 5H A Call
Mystro wasn’t afraid of the Jensons. He was afraid of what this choice might do to Tilda.
He feared she would carry the weight of it for the rest of her life.
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