?Chapter 1542:


    “Maia, you’ve probably noticed something already. Your surname is Watson. Both of your parents share the same family name.”


    Maia stiffened slightly. She had wondered about it before—at one point convincing herself that perhaps her parents were from two different Watson lines with no blood ties, or that she had simply taken her mother’s surname. But hearing it spoken aloud by Dominic made the matter feel heavier, as though something morey beneath the surface.


    “Your father, Garrett Watson, is my eldest son,” Dominic said gravely, each wordnding with quiet weight. “And he is also the elder brother of your mother.”


    Outside, a sh of lightning split the sky, followed by a deafening roll of thunder.


    Maia’s breath stalled. Her pupils shrank abruptly. Her fingers clenched the edge of the sofa, knuckles nching, her body frozen as though the lightning had struck her instead.


    “But,” Dominic continued, lowering his eyes to avoid her stunned, confused expression, his voice dropping low and steady, “that’s not the truth.”


    Thunder rumbled on, its echo lingering in the room.


    Maia felt as though she were being dragged through sharp rises and sudden drops, her heart thundering in her chest. She stared at him, brows drawing together. “Then what is the truth?”


    Dominic exhaled slowly—a long breath that sounded almost like release. Atst, he was ready to speak.


    “Garrett is not my biological son. He is my adopted child—the son of a colleague from the army.” He closed his eyes, as though the past had risen before him. “That year, a border conflict broke out. Garrett’s father and I were both assigned to the assault unit. We went to the front lines together. The battle was merciless. An entire toon was wiped out, and I was the only one who came back alive.”


    Dominic coughed softly, as if the smell of gunpowder and blood still lingered somewhere in his throat. “I took his belongings to the countryside to find his wife, only to learn that she had already died as well. Garrett was left behind—an orphan with no one to rely on. He was only three years old, skinny and frail.” His voice wavered slightly. “When I looked at him, it was like seeing my colleague all over again. So I brought him back from the orphanage and raised him in the Watson family as my own.”


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    Dominic lifted his head and met Maia’s eyes directly. “Very few people know this. Only me, your grandmother, and your mother. No one else. Even our old neighbors believe Garrett was an illegitimate child I brought back from the countryside.”


    Only then did Maia’s heart ease. Her parents were not rted by blood—only siblings in name.


    “They grew up together, carefree and close,” Dominic continued. “Garrett was calm and restrained. Melody was bright and lively. They were inseparable. I always assumed it was nothing more than sibling affection—until one day, I realized the look in their eyes had changed. It had crossed a line that brothers and sisters should never cross.”


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