?Chapter 1227:


    He had never imagined things would spiral this far, turning into a threat he could almost taste in the air.


    “I understand,” Chris said without hesitation, his gaze steady and calm.


    He trusted his wife’s judgment more than his own. Deep down, he knew this was a door that might never open again if he let it pass.


    Chris’s fists clenched so tightly that the veins stood out on his hands, a faint tremor betraying the storm inside him. “Maia, thank you for being honest with me,” he said, his voice restrained yet sincere.


    Seeing the weight on his face, Maia softened her tone. “Chris… I know how hard this must be for you. They say a home is where the heart is, but not everyone has a ce that truly feels like one.”


    She brushed her fingers over his, her touch as light as a drifting feather. “I used to think family meant love without limits, but I’ve learned that some people only carry the name ‘family’ and nothing more.”


    Chris’s expression eased at her words, and he enclosed her smaller hand in his own.


    Their fingers intertwined, as if two weary souls had finally found rest in each other’s presence. Both bore wounds left by those who should have protected them. The pain ran deep, yet it drew them closer than ever.


    “Chris,” Maia said, her voice warm, no longer clinging to the distant “Mr. Cooper,” but speaking as someone who knew him by heart.


    “Whateveres your way, I’ll be right there beside you. We may not have a say in the family we’re born into or the people waiting for us when we first arrive in this world,” she continued, a gentle smile touching her lips, like sunlight warming cold skin. “But we do have the power to choose the people we call family. Together, we can create a ce that truly feels like home.”


    Her words came from the depths of her sincerity. In her heart, Chris had already be more than apanion; he was family.


    A rush of emotion surged within him, and his eyes glimmered with unshed tears.


    Meeting her was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him.


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    Years ago, she had pulled him back from the brink of death. And now she hade into his life once more, not only to mend the broken corners of his mind but also to protect Laurence—the man who meant the world to him.


    She hadn’t changed. The kindness he had once admired still radiated from her.


    “Maia,” he said suddenly, his voice steady and heartfelt. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”


    A gentle flush colored her cheeks as she whispered in return, “And I feel the same. Meeting you is my greatest luck.”


    In the heart of the forest park, a dim glow flickered through the cracks of an old wooden cabin.


    A rugged man with a thick, unkempt beard, dressed in a hunter’s garb, struck a match and lit an oilmp. The me swayed weakly, casting restless shadows across the cramped room.


    On a narrow coty Jarrod, face down, his back tightly wrapped in bloodstained bandages that made him look more like a corpse than a living man.


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