Chapter 1008:

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Adrian never once looked down at the pathetic figure on the floor. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the window. Dark clouds had quietly gathered outside, pressing low across the sky like an approaching storm ready to break loose at any moment. He wondered whether tonight’s weather would delay his flight.

“Now that we’ve both learned the truth we came for,” Adrian said calmly, “it’s time to end this meeting.”

More than anything, he wanted to return home immediately and tell Sophie everything that had happened today. From this moment forward, the final wall standing between them had completely crumbled. At last, they no longer needed secrets between them. They could finally be together without holding anything back.

Luca called out, “Adrian.” There was a pause before he spoke again, and when he did, his voice carried an unfamiliar uncertainty. “May I… call you that?”

Adrian halted in his tracks and turned, his eyes settling on Luca.

Luca drew a quiet breath. “I know I failed in every way a father should never fail. I was absent when I should have been there, and now I have no right to suddenly ask for that place in your life. But you are Carole’s son. That alone means something to me. If there is ever anything you need, say it. Everything Valerino has, every resource, every connection, is yours to use.” Then he gave a faint, bitter smile, one laced with irony. “Though looking at what you’ve already built, saying that now probably sounds unnecessary.”

Adrian looked at him steadily. “There is something I want from you.”

Luca stiffened, caught off guard.

Adrian said quietly, “Sophie and I are planning to remarry properly. We’ll hold a grand wedding this time. Before that, I intend to tell her everything, who I am, where I came from, and the past between you and my mother.” He paused, then added, “If you come to the wedding, and stand there as my father, I think she will be very happy.”

Luca went still. For a long while, he said nothing. The man whose eyes had always been known for their coldness suddenly had red-rimmed ones. Even iron, after all, could melt under the right fire.

𝖲tо𝘳іеs y𝗈𝗎 𝘄о𝗻’𝘵 𝗽u𝗍 𝘥𝘰w𝗻 𝗈ո 𝘨𝘢l𝗻𝘰v𝗲𝗅ѕ.c𝗼𝗆

His voice turned rough as he answered, “Alright. I’ll be there. No matter what, I’ll be there.” Then guilt crossed his face, quiet but heavy. “Sophie… that young woman, right? I never had the chance to apologize. Last time, I dragged her into danger. She must have been terrified.”

At least she had come out unharmed. If anything had happened to her, then blood would have meant nothing. He and Adrian would have stood on opposite sides for life.

Adrian’s expression softened slightly. “Sophie is gentle. She has a soft heart. Once she understands the truth, she won’t hold it against you.”

Something flickered in Luca’s eyes then, a simple curiosity, almost ordinary, the kind any father would have toward the woman his son loved. “What is she like?” he asked. “Tell me more about her.”

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