LOGINThomas pressed a kiss to Sharon's forehead, his eyes soft."You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I'm the one who did so much to hurt you. Sharon, I'm the one who owes you an apology, not the other way around."Sharon hesitated. "You... you don't blame me?""You were thinking of what was best for me. How could I blame you for that?" He pulled her into his arms. "The better you are to me, the harder it is for me to let you go. If you'd been even a little bit worse to me, and I hadn't been able to hold on, you'd have been completely free of me by now."Sharon knew that as lightly as he said it, the pain she'd caused him had been real. And yet, he didn't blame her for it — all he seemed to think about was how good she'd been to him. It only made her feel worse.As if sensing what was on her mind, Thomas went on. "Sharon, you had your own position, your own reasons — and I had mine. You don't need to feel guilty, and you don't need to blame yourself. I chose to keep my memor
Thomas continued, "And then we lost the baby. Losing that child took a toll on your body and your mind that I couldn't undo. If I did something to hurt you again, you wouldn't survive it. But if I stayed near you, I still couldn't control myself — and all I'd ever bring you was more harm. "I thought you'd be better off without me. If someone had to wither away, then let it be me — I never had a future to lose anyway. Whatever future I did have, you're the one who gave it to me. Without you, this was always going to be how it ended for me. "All I was really doing was returning to the path I was always on, giving back what you'd given me. If I actually died, that would've been a good thing, too — no one would be left to chase after you by any means necessary."Hearing this, Sharon felt a pain she couldn't push down. She tried to speak, but Thomas's voice came first."After I got back to Leistre, I meant to hold onto our shared memories and wait quietly for the madness to take me, o
Thomas reached out and gently wiped the tears from Sharon's face."Sharon, before I met you, I could already see the whole shape of my life laid out ahead of me. My ending was always going to be the same as every head of the Ferrero family before me — dead from the madness, or killed by whoever came to seize the title next. "I never expected anything from the future. I didn't even find any joy in being alive, day to day. So I kept looking for distractions — meaningless things, just to scrape together some reason to keep going. "Before you, I never once considered falling in love. I'd already decided I wasn't going to marry. If I wasn't going to live past thirty anyway, why drag anyone else into it? As for children — survival of the fittest is nature's rule. If it was already written that every Ferrero would go mad eventually, there was no reason to keep passing on genes like that."Once he'd become head of the family, every goal he'd ever had was already met, and nothing was left
Thomas had a strong constitution to begin with, and with Uriah, Dr. Galen, and Giancarlo — three excellent doctors — looking after him, he recovered fast. Still, the scars couldn't be treated until the wounds themselves had closed. While he was still in the hospital, he'd found some excuse every time his dressings were changed to get Sharon out of the room.Once his wounds healed and the dressing changes stopped, it was time to start applying the scar-repair ointment Uriah had given her. At first, Thomas kept it from her entirely, sneaking off to apply it alone in his room. Since he'd left the hospital, the two of them had been sleeping in separate rooms — his excuse being that if they slept together, she might accidentally brush against his wounds. Sharon had already guessed the truth: he simply didn't want her to see the scars.But the burns covered his back too, and there was no way he could reach them alone. So one day, while he was in the middle of applying the ointment himsel
A month later, Thomas was discharged from the hospital. Instead of heading straight back to Marcentine, the two of them moved into the Ferrero estate. It was Sharon's first time seeing it in person.After all her years living with the Kalens, she'd assumed their house was about as big and extravagant as it got. But setting foot in the Ferrero estate, she finally understood what it meant to be the wealthiest family on earth. The floor tiles alone were cut from an exceptionally rare grade of sapphire— the kind so clear and flawless she'd only ever seen it once before, at an auction. Even the lowest-quality piece there had gone for something like half a million dollars. And that had just been a bracelet. Here, the Ferreros used it to tile the floor. Obscenely, inhumanly rich.Thomas noticed her staring at the floor and seemed to guess what she was thinking. "The family controls a good number of mines," he explained. "Stone like this is about the cheapest thing we own."He spent the n
"Whoever started it has no grounds to complain," Carmen said.Chris had nothing to say to that, too angry to bother.Carmen ignored him and turned to Thomas instead, whose dark eyes stayed calm and unreadable as ever, giving nothing away."You said that to Sharon on purpose earlier," Carmen said. "Was it because you don't want her seeing your injuries?"Chris couldn't help chiming in again. "Why not let her see? If Sharon actually saw those burns on your body, she'd probably fall even harder for you. Besides, if the scars don't fade, you'll have to wear long sleeves and pants every summer from now on, or you'll scare people half to death."Chris had seen photos of Thomas's scars before. They were, frankly, terrifying. However flawless and devastatingly handsome that face of his was, once the clothes came off, it would scare the life out of anyone."You really don't have an ounce of tact, do you?" Carmen said to Chris. "No wonder you're still single. Thomas just doesn't want Sharo
Sharon turned around and saw Theo, Carter, and Kelly standing not far away. Nate stood beside them. He had come along to lend support.In Nate's hand were two violins: one belonging to Kelly, the other to Theo.Kelly tilted her head, looking up at Carter with a face full of surprise. "Carter, Shar
Though Kelly was a bit curious, she nodded.It wasn't long before Lucy came back, holding a clipboard."Kelly, would you mind giving me your autograph?""Of course." Kelly took the pen and signed her name with practiced ease.Lucy beamed as she accepted the clipboard, then asked, "Are you here t
Matty didn't deny it. Instead, he said, "That's because you called me a bastard with no mommy. And you talked badly about Sharon."Theo snapped back, still fuming. "Sharon is my mommy. I can say whatever I want about her!"Matty raised his voice, defending her. "She's not some nanny. I won't let y
Theo stared at her in disbelief. "But… you haven't even asked what happened yet!"Sharon replied calmly, "You, too, have never asked what happened—you'd always just decide it's my fault, remember?" She lowered her head, glancing gently at Matty. "Besides... I believe in Matty. He would never hit so







