When Max ushered me into the apartment, I was still in a state of resistance, but the sight that greeted me inside left me utterly speechless. The chauffeur for the Hilton family was already seated on the sofa, his posture impable. When we entered, he immediately rose to his feet.


    I was still in Max''s arms, unsure how to face the situation, and my face flushed instantly.


    However, I felt a lump in my throat when I saw the two urns the chauffeur was holding in his arms.


    Max had said he''d get them for me whenever I wanted. And true to his word, he''d made it his first order of business upon returning to Crestview Metropolis.


    He gently set me down, a mysterious smile still on his lips. As Max motioned for me to take the urns, I felt my feet too heavy to move. Why did it seem so easy to obtain something I had longed for yet never received? The Hilton family''s chauffeur came up to me. "Ms. ire, Mr. Hilton asked me to bring over your parents'' ashes."


    I had almost forgotten to reach out to take them.


    The chauffeur continued, "The ashes have been kept at the Hilton family''s private cemetery with the highest honors. They weren''t given to the Hart family earlier because..."


    "Ahem..." Max cleared his throat lightly from behind me, prompting the chauffeur to halt his exnation and hand me the urns.


    After the chauffeur left, only Max and I remained in the room. Suddenly, I was unable to hold back my tears. "So, my parents died trying to save ude?"


    I didn''t know whom to me for their death. Nor did I know from whom to seek reparation.


    "ire," Max straightened me up, cing the urns gently on the table, calling my name with a seriousness I hadn''t heard before.


    "Your parents did die trying to save ude. However, the Hilton family also yed an indirect role in this tragedy. I apologize on behalf of my father. I''ll ept it if you want the Hilton family to pay any price." It was as if he had been prepared for this moment all along.


    "So, you knew all along and had thought of how to make amends? Is that why you got close to me?" My lips pursed, yet I couldn''t bring myself to hate him.


    "Yes, I had no other way to approach you, so I arranged for the school to assign you as my student," he confessed, seemingly unwilling to hide anything.


    "Max, I need some time to think." With those words, I bent down to take my parents'' ashes back into my arms.


    He let me leave, unaware I had spent the entire night in a daze after returning to my apartment. Life was about paying debts and repaying favors, yet it seemed I only owed Richard.


    The next day, Richard didn''te looking for me; he just sent a message that said, "I''m off to a productunch."


    And then he called, "Are youing to the productunch?"


    I shook my head, even though he couldn''t see me.


    Richard sighed, "Do you know why Max is going to thisunch? He''s missed others that were way more important and valuable." "Why?" I asked, my interest only half-piqued.


    "Because this project was initially


    your parents research. They had an ident on their way to pick up ude''s mother, and the project got dyed. After n passed away," Max decided to revive the project. I always felt he was trying to make amends to you in his way" This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Listening to him, I nced at the two urns before me.


    "So, my parents were medical researchers, not bodyguards?" I realized I hardly knew anything about them.


    "And, I''ve looked into their death. It wasn''t just about saving ude. It seems to have been part of a corporate war. Many were vying for their research, but ultimately, the Hilton family secured it. That''s also when Tracie suddenly disappeared."