Read Novel Full Chapter 614: Deal-1
Chapter 614: Chapter 614: Deal-1
When Ivy’s question fell into the space between them, it was as if the air itself grew heavier.
Jade went silent, his lips parting slightly before closing again, his throat tightening.
Honestly, even he didn’t know what he could possibly do to stop Frank from diving headfirst into yet another one of his reckless, ruinous ideas.
He lifted his gaze toward Ivy, and the moment he saw the disapproval etched across her face, his chest tightened.
He fell quiet for a brief moment, gathering his thoughts, before finally speaking in a low, steady voice, "Before I give you an answer... I want to meet him first. I need to talk to Father."
Ivy blinked, and for a fleeting second, something softer flickered in her eyes.
’At least... he isn’t giving fake promises,’ she thought, a faint sense of relief washing over her. She had half-expected chaos, or a rushed decision made out of desperation, but instead, Jade chose restraint.
She let out a slow breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, the tension in her shoulders easing just a little. "Alright," she murmured, giving a small nod. "That’s... reasonable."
Jade gave a faint, bitter smile. Even now... even knowing what he was about to lose, he couldn’t stop himself.
His gaze drifted toward Ivy, drawn helplessly, almost painfully.
Her pink eyes shimmered under the dim light, fixed on Jade yet occasionally flickering toward him, as if silently offering him one last chance to prove something, anything.
Her soft, wavy pink hair fell freely over her shoulders, catching the faint glow of the surroundings, and for a moment, Frank felt as though he was looking at something impossibly distant... something he had already lost.
’When was the last time... I saw her like this? ’he wondered, a strange ache blooming in his chest.
It had been so long that even the dreams he once clung to had faded into nothingness. The moment reality had returned, when he had stood before her again, all those fragile illusions had shattered without a sound.
He drew in a slow, shaky breath, forcing down the grief clawing at his chest. ’Soon... everything will be over.’
Soon, they would belong to entirely different worlds. Soon, he would no longer be her soulmate.
Soon, there would be nothing tying them together... not even a fragile thread of connection.
His fingers curled slightly at his sides before loosening again. Taking one final breath, he turned and walked away.
Ivy watched him go, her expression unreadable, before she gestured toward one of the guards.
"Guide him," she instructed quietly, her voice steady despite the storm within. "Take him to Frank."
..............
The prison was cold.
As Jade stepped inside, the echo of his footsteps bounced off the walls, hollow and distant.
When he finally reached the cell, his eyes landed on Frank.
Frank sat there, his posture slumped, his once-commanding presence now reduced to something... smaller.
The moment he heard Jade had come, a flicker of hope had sparked within him, fragile and dangerous, but he quickly crushed it, lowering his head instead.
’I don’t deserve to look at him,’ he thought bitterly.
Jade exhaled softly, the sound barely audible, before stepping closer. "How are you holding up?" he asked, his tone calm but laced with something deeper.
Frank stiffened.
Hearing that voice, gentle and concerned, he instinctively turned his face away, as though the kindness itself was too much to bear. And yet, despite himself, his eyes burned.
For the first time... he felt it. A sharp, unbearable sting in his chest, as though something inside him was cracking open.
Days had passed in this suffocating place, each one dragging endlessly into the next. And within that silence, stripped of power, stripped of influence, he had finally understood something he had refused to see before.
Power... meant nothing. Not when compared to the warmth of a family.
Not when compared to the people he had thrown away. ’I traded everything... for nothing,’ he realized, his jaw tightening.
His schemes and his ambitions had consumed him whole. He had sacrificed his wife, his son... everything, just to chase something hollow.
And now? If everything had collapsed... if he had remained locked away... What would happen to them?
Jade had always been frail. Even now, though he had improved, he still couldn’t live like others, couldn’t hunt, couldn’t survive on his own. And his wife... She was far too weak to shoulder such burdens alone.
Who would take care of them?
That thought had haunted him so deeply that he had even lowered himself to begging. Begging the guards, his voice hoarse, his pride shattered, just for a chance to check on them.
But no one listened. To them, he was nothing more than a fallen rebel leader, someone unworthy of even a second glance.
A bitter smile curved on his lips at the memory. And now, standing before his son...
"I’m... fine," Frank muttered quietly, his voice rough, barely holding together.
Jade nodded, though his gaze lingered on him, searching. Then, after a pause, his voice dropped slightly. "Do you... feel any remorse?"
Frank’s body went still.
Slowly, he lifted his head, his eyes flickering toward Jade... before shame overwhelmed him. He lowered his gaze again, unable to meet his son’s eyes.
Jade’s fingers twitched slightly at his side, a faint ache spreading through his chest.
There had been a time when he believed he had everything.
Even confined within a limited world, he had never resented it.
His parents had been there for him, their presence filling the gaps his illness created. He had known he could never live like others or roam freely, but he had accepted it because he wasn’t alone.
And Ivy...
’Back then, I thought I could never let her go,’ he admitted silently.
But as time passed, as he watched her from afar, quietly, silently, he began to understand.
She loved someone else. Not lightly. Not fleetingly. But completely.
She would never betray that love. Even if that person disappeared... even if death took him away... she would remain loyal.