Chapter 0302
+25 BONUS
Logan walked to the couch and dropped his framed diplomas and briefcase onto the cushions.
Facing away from me, he said, “You don’t seem surprised to see me back so soon.”
“Maria just called,” I said, “She told me about the… changes… at work.” I started toward him. “Logan, I’m
sorry.”
“Grandfather wants to burn his legacy to the ground,” Logan replied, voice icy. I didn’t react, knowing the coldness wasn’t intended for me. “He built it. He has every right to destroy it if he wants to.”
“It doesn’t seem fair,” I said. “Even if he did build everything, there are people who depend on that job. He’s playing with people’s lives.”
“He doesn’t care about anyone’s life but his own. Even mine is just a means to secure his legacy.” Logan sighed, and some warmth returned to his voice. “It was always a possibility that things could turn out this way. But to see it actually happen…”
I placed my hand on Logan’s back. He turned to look at me and stared at me for a time in silence, I let him, knowing he needed to center himself. The two of us had been each other’s anchors for a while. I was perfectly happy to play that role now.
He had to know I wasn’t going anywhere, no matter what hardships we faced.
“I’ll find something else, Hazel. You don’t have to worry about anything. It won’t take me long to find a
new way to support us.”
know you work hard. I do, too. Whatever we do
“I’m not worried about that even a little bit,” I told him moving forward, we will do so together. We support each other, Logan. I don’t need your money.”
Logan finally started to smile a little. Turning more fully toward me, he lifted up his hand and cupped my cheek. Gently, he urged me closer to him, eliminating the distance between us.
“Hazel…”
Slowly, he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. I melted into the kiss. Wrapping my arms around him, I tugged him closer, never quite close enough.
His one hand slid along the side of my jaw, his fingertips tickling the curve of my ear. With his other hand, he pressed his palm flat against the small of my back, urging our chests together.
When we broke to breath, the softness of my body pushed into the hardness of his, and my thoughts
fizzled out for a moment.
Looking at his lips, I loved how kiss–red they were. I did that. Kissing me, made him look like that, with that hazy sort of look in his eyes.
He glanced at my lips again, and I eagerly surrendered to his kiss.
My heart was so filled with love for this man. The desire to tell him so was nearly overwhelming. We had so much going on, I knew it wasn’t the right time for love confessions.
But would there ever be a right time? Especially with all that we are facing?
+26 BONUS
Chapter 0302
Maybe if he knew the true depths of my feelings, he would feel even more uplifted.
Pressing my hand onto his chest, I broke the kiss to look up into his eyes. My heart was filled to the brim. with love for him, it almost felt like too much to put into words.
I loved him so much that it frightened me a little. If I were to present my love to him and have it returned to me, I didn’t think I could recover.
But now. I couldn’t think like that. Logan and I were married. We’d faced countless troubles and hardships together.
Even looking at him…
His eyes were filled with his own affections, I doubted my love would be ill–received. In fact, dare I hoped, he might have even reciprocated them.
“Logan,” I took a breath. My heart thundered out of control. No doubt he could feel it, with how close our bodies were. A blush rose in my cheeks. “…” I licked my lips.
“You can tell me, Hazel,” he said. “You can tell me anything you want.”
I knew that, so I opened my mouth.
Logan’s phone started to ring.
Logan could see the importance of what Hazel was about to say by her immediate deflation once Logan’s ringtone ruined the mood. He cursed his phone for ringing, and himself for not setting it to silent.
Even so, the mood was ruined now. Even if he silenced the phone, he wouldn’t be able to get it back right
away.
With a frustrated huff of a breath, he retrieved his phone from his pocket and checked the caller ID. He almost didn’t believe it at first, but the screen read, Father.
That was his biological father. But the man never called Logan, and Logan only rarely checked in with him.
What could possess him to call know?
Logan’s stomach sunk, already suspecting the answer
Grandfather.
Logan thought to just ignore him, but no. He had to know what his grandfather was up to. If Grandfather intended to use Logan’s biological parents against him, he would learn it from the source, not hear about it after through a lawsuit or the tabloids.
With one last longing look at Hazel, Logan answered the phone.
“Father?”
“Son, you must come over to the manner at once,” Father said. “I have something very important to speak to you about and it cannot be done over the phone.”
“If this is one of grandfather’s games, I’ll pass,” Logan replied.
“It’s not a game, boy,” Father snapped. “It concerns your mother.”
20
+36 BONUS
Chapter 1102
Logan suddenly felt very cold. “What about mother?”
Hazel, only hearing his side of the conversation, gave him a look of concern.
“We wanted to stay out of your little tiff with Senior,” Father said. “We tried our best to ignore everything.”
They were good at ignoring things, just like how they ignored Logan for years. After moving away from the Christopher’s, Logan had lived in the same house as his biological parents. He ate meals with them, sometimes went to outings with him. Even then, they did not acknowledge him more than necessary.
Logan was ever a mistake they wanted to sweep under the rug.
Neither of his biological parents ever wanted children. Not when he was born. Not when he returned.
If it weren’t for Grandfather’s need to uphold his legacy, Logan would have been entirely forgotten in Russford. He doubted his parents would have ever thought of him again.
“But your Grandfather wouldn’t leave your mother alone,” Father said. “She’s weaker about these things than me. Sometimes she would have… regrets. Senior pushed and pushed and pushed at her..
Even as distant as Logan was with his biological parents, Father’s words sent a chill running dow Logan’s spine.
“Father, what exactly happened? Logan asked,
“Not over the phone.”
“At least tell me if Mother is alright?” Logan asked, hating how much he still cared for the woman, despite her general neglect. He didn’t want anything terrible to happen to her, and Grandfather was capable of such terrible things.
“She’s fragile. She always has been.”
“Father. A straight answer, please. Where is Mother?”
“She’s in a mental health facility, Logan,” Father said. “Your grandfather has finally broken her mind.”
