A Second Chance at Forever (Eleanor and Bernard) novel Chapter 1413

Bernard stood defiantly in the harsh glare of the sun, his complexion pale. His lips curled in a half-smile, but it was devoid of warmth.

"I never wanted my wife to live in fear because of me," he said, his voice laced with a mixture of resolve and sadness. "All I ever wanted was to spend the rest of my days with her in peace. Is that so wrong?"

His tenure with the Siren Organization meant he was perpetually walking on a knife's edge. One slip, one hint of his true identity, and it wouldn't just be him facing dire consequences—it would be Eleanor, their home, their entire lives, turned to dust.

"You're not in the wrong," came the reply.

"Then who is?" Bernard challenged, raising an eyebrow at Xavier.

"I'm not in the wrong, so it must be Caleb, right?"

Xavier shot him a glance but said nothing.

Bernard slowly straightened up, resting his hands on his knees, his gaze fixed coldly on Xavier.

"Do you have any idea how many lives your selfishness has cost?" Bernard's finger tapped insistently on the table between them, where the Siren Organization's roster lay. "They were turned into bioengineered soldiers for your vendetta! And Caleb, who grew up with me, died in Area Opaca, never to rest in peace! And Evan, your own adopted son—if I hadn't pushed him out of harm's way, he would've died there too!"

As Bernard thought of the fallen, his eyes turned a deep, bloody red, and his fists clenched so tightly that his veins stood out like cords.

"Xavier, Evan was your boy, and you were willing to sacrifice him. What kind of heart do you have?!"

Xavier had always known Bernard to be a master at controlling his emotions, maintaining a calm composure even in the face of infuriating situations. But now, Bernard was yelling at him, hysterical with grief for Caleb, Evan, and the others—it was a rare sight indeed.

"Even though Evan was my adopted son, his biological father was Victor, so there wasn't much of a bond," Xavier said, as if that justified any part of it.

So it turned out that the Darkness Xavier's father had schemed to seize was rightfully Evan's all along.

"Evan spent his whole life honoring an enemy as his father," Bernard muttered, making Xavier somewhat angry.

"The end justifies the means," he said. "It doesn't matter whose son one is, as long as the balance of benefits is maintained."

Bernard looked at Xavier as if he were seeing him for the first time, his eyes filled with detachment.

"You're telling me all this, and you're not afraid I'll tip off Yates?"

"If I didn't tell you, and you found out anyway, wouldn't you inform him regardless?"

Xavier shot back the question and then sat up straighter, looking directly at Bernard.

"Now that we've finished with those trifles, let's discuss the matter at hand."

Trifles? To Xavier, all these grudges, the lives entangled, were nothing but trifles?

"I know you'll go back to Area Opaca no matter what, to avenge Caleb and the others," Xavier began. "I have only one condition: help me take out Yates. After that, we're even."