?Chapter 1547:


    She shook her head lightly, as though quietly ridiculing her younger self. “I always thought it was unfair, and it hurt more than I was willing to admit. By the time they sent me to prison, the part of me that still hoped for family had already died.” She paused. “Everyone has their own path to follow. I can’t say who was right or wrong between you and my mother, and I’m not in a position to judge what happened in the past.”


    She turned and walked slowly toward the door, her back straight and resolute. “Let’s end this here. If you want to know more, you can ask Ethan. Goodbye.”


    Panic surged through Dominic. This was nothing like what he had imagined—the emotional reunion, grandfather and granddaughter reconciling, old grudges dissolving in tears. What had Maia gone through during all those years?


    There was no time to think. He hurried after her. “Maia, where are you going? We’ve only just reunited. Are you leaving already?” He stepped in front of her, unable to conceal his anxiety. “I’ve already lost your mother. I don’t want to lose you too. This time, I came to take you and Ethan back to Drakmire.” His voice filled the room, heavy with urgency. “You’re my only grandchildren left. One day, the entire Watson estate will belong to you both. That’s power and wealth countless people spend their lives chasing—a direct path into the highest circles of Drakmire.”


    At those words, Maia finally stopped.


    She turned her head. The calm in her eyes cooled instantly, and her tone lost its earlier restraint, carrying a faint but unmistakable edge of disdain. “General Watson, if you’re here looking for an heir, then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”


    Her words were firm and deliberate. “I don’t want to be an heiress. I only want to live well and help others when I can. And please—have some respect for yourself.”


    Without waiting for a response, she quickened her steps and pushed the door open.


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    Outside, Siena—who had remained tense throughout—immediately moved to her side. She cast a guarded nce into the room, and after confirming Maia was unharmed, escorted her away. Their footsteps echoed briefly down the corridor before fading into silence.


    Inside the suite, the stillness felt oppressive. Thunder rumbled outside as rainshed against the windows.


    Only moments earlier, Dominic had appeared weary and grief-stricken. Now he looked like an entirely different man. He slowly straightened his back. The sadness, remorse, and helplessness vanished from his face, reced by a cold, controlled sharpness—the will and discipline of a seasoned soldier.


    “Very well.”


    He walked to the window and watched as Maia got into the car below. “She truly is my granddaughter,” he murmured. “She passed my test.”


    A smile touched his lips, all traces of sorrow gone. He had once worried that Maia might have grown vain after years in the Morgan household, or that her aplishments across so many fields had been obtained through improper means. It was never easy for someone cast aside by a wealthy family to turn their life around sopletely.


    If Maia had forgiven him too easily—if she had shown even the slightest hunger for the Watson family’s power—Dominic would have been deeply disappointed. But now it was clear she lived up to every word of her reputation.


    “It seems those four years in prison taught her far more than endurance. They made her resilient.”


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