All Chapters of The One He Chose: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The Weight of WorkThe apartment smelled of fresh paint and possibility.It wasn’t much—two small rooms above a cobbler’s shop, with ceilings low enough that Henry had to duck near the beams. The windows opened onto the street, where children chased each other with wooden hoops and merchants called out the day’s bargains.To Henry, it was more precious than a palace. Because this was theirs.But as he sat at the rickety table, staring at the stack of coins left in his hand, the truth weighed heavy.“We can’t last on this,” he murmured.Evelyn glanced up from the basket of mending she had taken in from a neighbor. Her needle flashed in the morning light. “I told you, Henry. We’ll find a way. This is not the first time we’ve started with little.”“I know, but it has to be different this time.”She looked at him, her eyes full of faith. “So, you’ll go find work.”Henry nodded, the decision already burning in his chest.Grayhaven was not a city of towers and gleaming cars. It was a town

The InterviewThe next morning smelled of bread, ink, and fresh beginnings. Grayhaven’s streets were already alive with voices, carts rattling over cobblestones, and the rustle of shop signs opening for business. Henry adjusted his worn jacket, the one Evelyn had brushed and pressed until it looked respectable, and clutched the folded paper of his application in his hand.Today was different. Today he would not haul sacks of grain or sweep the mill floor. Today, he would step into the world as something new—a clerk, perhaps, if fortune allowed.He tried to steady his breath, but his heart thumped like a drum.“Henry,” Evelyn called as she tied her shawl at the door. “You’ll do well. You have your father’s smartness, my endurance, and your own courage. A desk and a ledger cannot defeat you.”He smiled. “It’s not the desk I fear, Mother. It’s the questions.”She touched his cheek. “Then answer them with truth.”The office was not far, a brick building on Ashford Street with wide glass

Finding His Place The days that followed Henry’s first days at the company flowed into a rhythm that surprised him with its simplicity. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t waking up to whispers about being the exile’s son, or the heavy gazes of people who either pitied or despised him. Instead, every morning, he woke to his mother’s warm smile, a hurried breakfast of toast and tea, and the promise of a new day at work—a place where he was just Henry. No stigma. No chains of the past. On his second morning, he arrived at the office early. The building wasn’t yet filled with the noise of keyboards and ringing phones, and Henry enjoyed the stillness. He straightened the files on his desk, checked the computer system, and neatly arranged the notepad and pen he always kept at his side. He wanted to be ready for the day before anyone else arrived. By the time his coworkers trickled in, they noticed. “Morning, Mr Henry!” called out a young woman with curly brown hair who sat two des

The SummonsThe office the following morning, the Phones rang, printers hummed, and the paperwork never seemed to stop. Amidst the organized chaos, Henry worked with precision. His desk had already become known as the corner where problems were solved. Numbers balanced when they passed through his hands, reports made sense, and disputes between departments somehow melted away after he mediated them.People noticed.In less than a month, whispers floated through corridors about the young man in administration who could handle anything. His name was on everyone’s lips, but Henry remained focused. He didn’t do this for recognition. He did it because work kept his mind occupied—away from thoughts of Adrian’s kindness, Elias’s strength, and Damien’s intoxicating power. Away from the past he was still running from.But destiny has a way of catching up.That Thursday morning, just as Henry was preparing a revised schedule for the finance division, a call came through the intercom.“Mr. Henry

The Empty HallsBlackwood Academy had always been a place of structure. Bells rang with precision. Students filled the corridors in tides of chatter and laughter. Teachers lectured with authority. Order reigned within its walls.But ever since Henry and his mother had disappeared, the rhythm had faltered.The bells still rang, but they seemed duller. The corridors still filled with voices, but whispers often drowned the laughter. Even the faculty meetings had lost their usual momentum. It was as though the heart of the Academy had been plucked out, leaving only a body that went through motions without meaning.And at the center of it all was Adrian, the Principal.He sat in his office that morning, the blinds half-closed, casting lines of shadow across his desk. Papers lay untouched. A cup of coffee cooled beside him. The chalk and old books filled, but none of it comforted him as it once did.Adrian’s eyes were on the empty chair opposite his desk—the chair Henry had sat in countless