Chapter 985:

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After having him beaten, Carole’s parents left Kole with a final, chilling warning: if he dared to spread rumors or tarnish Carole’s name, the Davis family would make sure he paid the price.

It wasn’t long before the servants finished ransacking his room. They gathered his few belongings and tossed them past the gate.

He wasn’t the only one cast out. Mateo, the elderly gardener who had taken him in years ago, was also fired. The expulsion shattered the old man. He had spent his entire life serving the Davises with a loyalty that bordered on devotion. To a man as traditional and faithful as he was, the idea of his adopted son becoming entangled with his employer’s daughter was an unforgivable sin.

In a blind rage, he struck Kole across the face. “You ungrateful brat,” he spat, his voice trembling. “I should have left you to freeze in the street rather than let you bring this shame upon us! They fed you, they nurtured you, and this is how you repay them? Seducing Miss Davis? Do you have any idea how out of your league she is?”

The weight of guilt was too much for Mateo to bear. He felt personally responsible for the trouble Kole had brought into the Davis household. Consumed by shame and despair, he didn’t last two weeks before passing away.

Kole sold every scrap of value he owned to afford a decent burial for the man who had been his only family. Once the earth was settled, he was truly alone.

He was a ghost in the city of Zhatwell. No reputable company would take him on once they saw the Davis family’s blacklist. Desperate to stay near Carole, he eventually found grueling work as an unlicensed mechanic at a local repair shop.

Every night, he would scrub the grease from his skin, change out of his stained overalls, and walk toward the Davis family’s estate. He stood in the deep shadows where the streetlights couldn’t reach, his eyes fixed on the second-story window that belonged to her. He only walked away once her light went out.

His mind was constantly flooded with worry. He wondered if she was still crying. Did the new staff know that her bathwater had to be an exact temperature? Did they remember to leave a nightlight on so she wouldn’t be afraid of the dark? Did they know how to manage her morning moods, or that they had to play her favorite piano music five minutes before she woke up to avoid startling her?

𝗗𝗶ѕс𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 ո𝖾𝗐 ѕ𝗍𝗼𝗋𝘪𝗲𝘴 o𝘯 𝘨𝖺𝗹n𝗈𝗏e𝗅ѕ.cо𝗺

He was stuck on the outside, looking in. The estate had become a fortress — new coils of barbed wire lined the perimeter, and the security team had been doubled. Her parents had given the order: if he so much as stepped toward the gate, the guards were to beat him on sight. There was nothing he could do but endure the longing in silence.

One evening, Kole arrived outside the villa as usual. The grounds were glowing with light, the driveway packed with luxury cars — the Davis family was hosting a grand banquet.

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