?Chapter 475:


    But Jason’s gaze was icebound. Once his mind settled on a choice, no force could unmake it. “Lanny, anyst words?” he asked tly.


    Lanny’s mouth moved—open, close, open again—but no sound came. He’d never once pictured death arriving like this—on his knees, in the dead of night, staring into the eyes of a man he’d once followed without question.


    On the screen, Irene paced like a caged animal, panic etched into every movement. “Jason, stop this insanity! Are you even hearing me?” she cried out.


    But Jason remained motionless, as if carved from stone. His voice, when it came, was devoid of warmth, sharp and cold as a winter de. “Mom, I’m doing this to prove my resolve to protect the Evans family and to ensure you never repeat this mistake.”


    He turned to Lanny, his eyes t and merciless. “Lanny, rest in peace,” he said, each syble deliberate and lethal.


    A gunshot cracked through the night, thunderous and final. The bullet struck dead center, and Lanny copsed where he knelt, lifeless on the grass.


    “Ahhh!” Irene’s scream tore through the feed, a wail of grief and fury twisted together. “You heartless brat! How dare you!”


    Jason’s gaze wavered, his eyes darkening with a crimson grief. Even steel could feel the heat of loss. Lanny had been more than a subordinate—he had been a good pal. And now, Lanny’s blood was on his hands. The act carved deep into his soul like a jagged de. But Lanny’s transgression had been too severe, forcing his hand. To spare Lanny would be to embolden Irene—she would continue to target Cole’s life. The potential consequences were too dire to risk.


    “Do you even have any respect left for me—your own mother?” Irene’s voice rose in a crescendo of anguish.


    Jason turned back to the camera, his voice eerilyposed. “Lanny will be given a proper burial.”


    With that, Jason ended the video call, cutting off Irene mid-scream. Only then did his tears fall. He stood under the pale moonlight, eyes locked on Lanny’s still form. He didn’t move for a long time, frozen in grief, the weight of what he’d done pressing down like stone.


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    When the first hints of dawn bled into the sky, Jason knelt and buried Lanny himself.


    But Jason didn’t return to Ublento. Not yet. Instead, he remained in Podgend, determined to find Elliana. She was still Cole’s wife. Any harm that came to her would bring shame to the Evans name, a disgrace he refused to allow. He owed it to Cole, to the family, to himself—to bring her home safely.


    Yet, as Jason scoured Podgend, little did he know that Elliana was already back in Ublento.


    Haunted by concern for Cole’s life, Elliana had gone straight from the airport to the hospital. But when she arrived, breathless and tense, she was met with bittersweet news: Cole had survived the critical post-surgery phase, but he was no longer at the hospital. He’d been brought back to the Evans family estate. Without pausing to catch her breath, she made her way there.


    Meanwhile, the Evans family estate loomed like a monument to silence, shrouded in a heavy, suffocating stillness.


    Inside, Coley unconscious in his bed, pale and unmoving, his eyelids clenched shut as if warding off the world. There was no hint he’d awaken anytime soon.


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