Chapter 369 - 261: Fortune
When Paige Summers woke up, she found that it was late at night.
Looking out through the carved window lattice, the evening gloom seemed even more oppressive than usual, a heavy blackness that felt as if it could press down and shatter everything on the ground at any moment.
She gave a sudden start.
Only then did she realize she had fallen asleep and woken up again. At some point, she’d been placed on the large bed Marcus Monroe had been using. He, however, was nowhere to be found.
Unfamiliar with her surroundings, she got out of bed and tiptoed toward the bedroom door.
She had just reached a plant stand at the edge of the living room, not yet having rounded the corner, when she heard Marcus Monroe snap, "Blackie! That’s enough!"
Paige Summers stopped in surprise, instinctively silencing her movements.
Unaware of her arrival, Marcus Monroe was still fuming into the phone, "Can you stop being so nosy?!"
On the other end of the line, Black S feigned a wounded tone. "Me, nosy? I’m concerned about you! You are, after all, the heir to Jovitas. You leave the city for one trip and make a complete mess of yourself. You’ve been out of sorts ever since you got back, and it’s all because of that woman. How could I not ask?"
Marcus Monroe sighed inwardly, knowing the other man was genuinely upset. He softened his tone. "I know you’re concerned about me. She... she came back with me, but she was already asleep when I woke up. We haven’t had a proper talk yet. I ruined the plan she’d been working on for so long. She must still be angry."
Black S snorted. "That just goes to show how unreasonable women are! You never should have left the city to help her in the first place!"
A vein bulged on Marcus Monroe’s forehead.
He remembered who had so strongly supported him going after Sheldon Reid. Now that things had changed, the blame was being pinned on Paige Summers instead.
"This was my own mistake; you can’t blame her. I’m just sorry that I may have brought trouble upon Jovitas this time."
Black S was silent for a long moment. "Enough with the nonsense. What exactly are you going to do about this?"
"I’ve already sent someone to the Power User Federation, posing as a friend of hers."
"And their reaction?"
"They were taken in. Tonight, they’ve already been sent to that Old Devil Doyle of the Dudley Family."
Black S sighed. "What a pity. It’s not easy for us to cultivate one of our own."
Marcus Monroe said, his face devoid of expression, "If you can’t bear to lose them, we can still act tomorrow. Old Devil Doyle’s appetite isn’t that big. A Seventh-rank Superpower User should last him at least two meals."
"Let’s not talk about it. I feel like throwing up just thinking about that old vampire! So be it. What’s one Superpower User if it means protecting your woman? I just hope he doesn’t develop a taste for it!"
Marcus Monroe slowly shook his head. "No, this matter won’t end here. I won’t let them get away with targeting her."
Black S was silent on the other end for a long while before he spoke. "Didn’t you say you’d forgotten? From the sound of it, you’re even more protective of her than before. Does Jovitas come second to her now, too?"
"I have forgotten." Marcus Monroe tilted his head back, gazing at the ceiling with a touch of resignation. "But after we were apart, first came the constant dreams, then the insomnia... until today, when I finally fell asleep in her presence."
Black S couldn’t contain his frustration. "Damn it! What the hell is wrong with you? Can’t you live without this woman?"
"Probably..."
"And you dare to admit it?!"
Marcus Monroe ignored his friend’s fury, his gaze still fixed dazedly on the ornate patterns of the ceiling. But in his mind, he pictured the woman’s peaceful expression as she slept in the bedroom. "People are truly strange. At that moment, when I woke up and found her asleep by my bed, I suddenly felt so at ease, as if we were always meant to be together. So, I’ve decided. Regardless of what she thinks, I’m not letting her leave again. As for Jovitas, I only need Arthur Anderson and a few others to help me. You still have time; you can easily pick another heir you’re satisfied with. Or... Hugh Whitlock isn’t a bad choice..."
Black S never expected him to say something like that and was so furious he was left gasping for breath.
Hearing his friend’s state over the phone, Marcus Monroe grew a little tense himself.
Frankly, his memory of the bond between him and Black S was also gone. His concern for the man’s health was partly because he knew Black S was good to him, and partly a purely rational desire to prevent the man from collapsing before another heir could be found.
After a long moment, Black S finally recovered.
His voice was noticeably slower when he spoke, tinged with a hint of despair. "If you’ve really made up your mind, I can’t stop you. But remember this: if Jovitas suffers any loss because of this incident, you will be the one to blame."
Hearing the man start to give way, Marcus Monroe immediately made several promises.
Paige Summers, standing behind the plant stand, could no longer process the specifics of what he was saying.
She stood there, her face pale. In the dim light, her slender frame looked exceedingly fragile.
When Marcus Monroe hung up and turned to head back to the bedroom, he saw her and for a moment feared she was about to collapse.
He rushed over in a panic and held her. "Are you... all right?"
Paige Summers didn’t say anything for a long time. Only after he had carried her back to the bed in the bedroom did she slowly come back to her senses.
She looked up at him, took his hand, and placed her own palm in his. "I’m actually very happy..." she said slowly. "I thought that since you’d forgotten our past, I shouldn’t force us to be together. When you said you dreamed of me, that you lost sleep over me, I could barely believe it. I never imagined you would be willing to give up everything you have for my sake... again."
"I feel so happy, truly happy!"
As she said this, Marcus Monroe saw two distinct trails of tears stream from the corners of her eyes.
His expression softened with a tenderness he had never shown before. He held up the clear teardrop he had caught on his finger. "If you’re happy, why are you crying?"
Paige Summers closed her eyes, and more tears streamed down her face.
Marcus Monroe leaned down and kissed away each of her tears.
"Let me say it for you."
"It’s because you don’t want to accept my arrangement. You don’t want to let some unrelated person face a Tenth Rank Superpower User in your place. Especially since he’s a monster who maintains his youth by feeding on the blood of other Superpower Users!"
"Your pride, your self-respect, your conscience, and your sense of morality won’t allow you to do it. So, you want to tell me that despite everything I’ve done, you still insist on going to see that man yourself."
"Am I right?"
Paige Summers looked at him through tear-filled lashes and suddenly broke into a brilliant smile. "It turns out you understand me even better than I understand myself. It’s wonderful."
She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and closer until her body was pressed tightly against his.
"I’m so glad I didn’t lose you. This is my good fortune."
Marcus Monroe hugged her back.
There had been so much he wanted to say.
But now, he didn’t want to say a thing.
It felt as if he had been waiting for this embrace for a very, very long time. So long, in fact, that he had nearly lost his way.
Finding his way back to this path of love—wasn’t that his good fortune as well?