Ascension 339
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this.
Only when she saw the results with her own eyes would she believe them.
Later that evening, back at the hotel, Freya found Silas and Kade waiting. She placed her coat aside and exhaled softly. “Thank you, both of you. For today.”
Kade smiled faintly. “You don’t have to thank me, Freya. But there’s something I’d like to say- just to you.”
Freya hesitated, glancing briefly at Silas. “Then you should head up first,” she said to him. “I’ll talk with Kade for a bit.”
Silas lifted a brow, half-amused. “I don’t have the room key. Don’t tell me you’re backing out of your promise to repay me?” Newest update provided by Find★Novel.net
“I don’t go back on my word.” Freya took the card from her pocket and pressed it into his hand.
His lips curled into a small, knowing smile. He turned to Kade, his gaze cool and faintly challenging, before saying lightly, “Then I’ll wait upstairs.”
When the elevator doors closed, Kade looked after him, frustration flashing briefly in his dark eyes. “Freya, why did you give him the key? And what does he mean by ‘repay’?”
“He has trouble sleeping,” she said simply. “Sometimes he needs someone nearby so he doesn’t drift into those nightmares. He’s helped me a lot these past days… this is the least I can do.”
Kade’s jaw tightened. “So your ‘repayment’ is to stay the night with him? Freya, that’s exactly what he wants! Can’t you see? He’s playing this to pull you back to his side.”
She met his gaze calmly. “I’m just letting him hold my hand until he falls asleep. Nothing more. Whatever his intentions are, I don’t want to owe him anything.”
Her voice softened, but the resolve in it was unmistakable. “And right now, I have no room in my head for anything but finding my brother. Don’t waste your time on me, Kade.”
For a long moment, Kade was silent. Then, a faint smile tugged at his lips. “Whether it’s a waste of time or not,” he said quietly, “that’s for me to decide. I’ve never thought of being by your side as a waste.”
She looked away. “But what if it’s hopeless? What if I can never return those feelings?”
“There’s no such thing as hopeless,” he said, his tone low but certain. “Maybe one day, you’ll
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see me as more than just your little brother.”
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គ ្រ 95
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Freya gave a faint, wistful smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Kade didn’t notice-he was too busy vowing silently that he’d prove her wrong.
When Freya finally returned to the suite, Silas was sitting on the couch, his long fingers tapping across a laptop keyboard. A faint blue glow lit the sharp lines of his face. He held a phone in his other hand, his voice steady and commanding.
“Send me everything,” he said into the receiver. “And dig into the Williams family in Country D. I want to know exactly why Parker’s adoptive father did what he did.”
He ended the call as Freya stepped in.
“You’re investigating the Williamses?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied, eyes still fixed on the laptop screen. “If Parker really is your brother, then this family holds all the answers.”
Freya froze, caught off guard by his certainty. She had never openly admitted her suspicions to him or Kade-she had always chosen the word maybe, always left room for doubt.
But Silas saw through her easily. He leaned back against the sofa, his tone quiet but sure. “The way you look at him, Freya-it’s not with curiosity or doubt. It’s recognition.”
He turned the laptop toward her. “And this might help you confirm it.”
On the screen were several files-hospital records, charity event reports, and a news clipping.
“One of the Williams manufacturing sites caught fire three years ago,” Silas explained. “Parker was caught inside. He was saved by a woman named Lina. Shortly after that, the Williams family came to Country D for a charity gala. A few weeks later, Parker was announced publicly as their illegitimate son.”
Freya’s heart lurched. “Three years ago… a fire?” she whispered.
The world tilted for a second. That was the same year she’d heard whispers of a nameless survivor pulled from the ruins outside Deepmoor City. Burned, memory lost, and taken in by
strangers.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Eric…
Could it truly be him?
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