Chapter 437
At the hospital.
Zinnia had stayed in the room with Zeke for over two hours.
“You don’t have to keep me company. Go protect Callin,” Zeke said. He knew Zinnia had left Shadow Moon Pavilion to side with Caitlin, though he still had doubts about her motives.
“Alright, I’ll head back then.”
Zinnia had already received Caitlin’s message telling her to leave the room. She picked up the food container, preparing to go, but Zeke stopped her.
“Wait”
“What is it?” she asked.
Zeke turned to look at her, his eyes dark and voice laced with quiet threat. “Whatever your reason for signing that death contract, I don’t care.
But I’m warning you–don’t hurt her. Or you already know what the consequences will be.”
He hadn’t asked why
y she signed it, but he could guess He
le didn’t care about her intentions–so long as Caitlin wasn’t harmed.
“I won’t hurt her, Zinnia replied softly, her gaze lowered. Then she turned and left.
But not long after she exited, footsteps approached again.
“You’re back already?” Zeke assumed it was Zinnia returning. But when he looked up, his expression darkened with shock.
“It’s you?”
The moment he saw who entered, Zeke’s face fell further into shadow. Displeasure etched across his brows–he had no desire to see this
Woman.
Ximena had waited outside for hours. Knowing someone was in the room, she didn’t dare intrude. Only after Zinnia left did she gather the
courage to come in
She was quiet, removing her sunglasses and mask after closing son she hadn’t seen in years.
the door. She walked over slowly, eyes filling with tears as she looked at the
y words were trapped in her chest, but she didn’t know how to begin.
So many
“Why are you here?” Zeke asked coldly, staring at the ceiling, refusing to meet her eyes.
I heard you were hurt. I wanted to see you.”
Her voice trembled. It broke her heart to see her own son treat her like a stranger–no, worse, like an enemy.
“I don’t need you here. I don’t know you. Leave.”
Zeke pointed to the door, his voice emotionless
Ximena’s tears fell. “Zeke… after all these years, you still can’t forgive me?”
“Forgive you?” Zeke shouted, abruptly sitting up. His eyes were bloodshot with rage.
Chapter 437
“How? You tell me how i’m supposed to forgive you? Can a shattered heart be pieced back together? Can a severed head ber
“I know, I know I made mistakes… unforgivable mistakes, I’ve been trying to make it right. I know it’s hard. But no matter what, you’re my son–my flesh and blood. Since Heft Shadow Moon Pavilion, I haven’t stopped thinking about you”
She had forfeited the right to return to the Pavilion. Her endless search for the Codex had been, in part, her desperate attempt to get her on
back.
“Heh… If you really saw me as your son, why did you do those things? Why? Why did you make me see it with my own eyes? Do you even realize that day became a nightmare I’ll never wake up from?
“Why do you think I became like this? It’s because of “you“. You and “him“. You both made me who I am!”
Zeke’s voice cracked with pain. He clutched his forehead, unable to suppress the turmoil inside.
Even as a child, Zeke had been withdrawn and emotionally unstable. When he was five, he witnessed something that would scar him forever
His mother, Ximena, had secretly met with Chu Yuan–one of Shadow Moon Pavilion’s instructors. They thought he was asleep, unaware he was hiding in the commer
Zeke saw everything. He saw h his mother in the arms of another man. Heard them talk about eloping
As fate would have it, Zorro–his father unexpectedly returned from a mission and caught them in the act
Zeke could never forget what happened next.
His father erupted in a fury, whipping Ximena and brutally punishing her lover. He dismembered Chu Yuan on the spot, drenching the room in blood.
Zeke had walked out from the shadows as his father stood, covered in gore, shouting, nearly rabid. His mother had collapsed on the ground, screaming and begging for mercy.
Then Zorro grabbed Zeke by the collar and “forced” him to watch.
“Remember this!” he shouted. “This is what happens to traitors!”
They could never comprehend what kind of trauma that left on a child.
It twisted Zeke forever.
As he grew older, he developed violent impulses, especially during breakdowns. He’d want to hurt people, to sever limbs–because only then could he feel some kind of release.
Listening to his rage, Ximena sobbed uncontrollably.
Of all her sins, this one haunted her most. She had failed him as a mother–never once fulfilling her responsibility.
Zorro had exiled her, forcing her to sign a death contract. The price of her life was her son, Zeke
And she had paid it.
“I thought you were doing fine all these years,” Zeke sneered, calmer now but no less bitter. “You left Shadow Moon Pavilion and built a name for yourself in the U.S. Even had another daughter.
“That Zora… she’s “his“, isn’t she? The bastard you cheated with? That’s your filthy lovechild?”
19:56, Wed, 18 Aug
Chapter 437
7She’s your sister, no matter what,” Ximena said through tears.
“I don’t need a sister. I “never had a sister. Get that straight,
To him, Zora would always be a stain–a living reminder of his mother’s betrayal. He would never acknowledge her
“Alright… fine. Forget her. What about me, then? Zeke, tell me what can I do to make you see me again as your mother?
Her voice cracked, hand pressed to her chest, heart aching
“You still want to be my mother? Then
en tell me this why did you kill Teresa? You knew what she meant to me. You knew she was like family
“I didn’t-
“Don’t liel” Zeke snapped. “You said the same thing years ago when Father caught you, And how did that turn out?”
Ximena had no words. She couldn’t argue. She had lost the right to speak.
“Ask yourself–do you “deserve to be my mother?” Zeke turned away, lying back down. “Get out. I don’t want to see you agai
His rejection cut deeper than any wound. Watching her son turn his back on her, Ximena couldn’t stop
the tears.
It was in that moment she truly understood–she would never, ever carn his forgiveness
She stood in silence, broken, before finally turning and leaving the room.
As she stepped out and closed the door, she found Caitlin standing in the hallway, waiting.
There was no time to hide. Ximena turned her head quickly, wiping her tears in a panic.
But Caitlin’s voice was steady and cool.
“Ximena. We need to talk.”
AD
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