From His Ex-Wife to the World's Most Sought-After Restorer (Jade and Hudson) novel Chapter 277

Bastian naturally began clearing the table, taking the dishes into the kitchen.

Jade fidgeted with her fingers, watching him work through the glass partition.

It all felt too easy, as if Bastian were slowly stitching himself into the fabric of her life, and she was powerless to stop it.

Bastian returned from the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel.

"Can you tell me now?" she asked.

Bastian paused, then took the seat opposite her.

"I can."

The story wasn't complicated. Joshua Boswell came from an elite family, while Jade's mother, Emma Nelly, was a talented but penniless orphan.

They met during a charity event at an orphanage. It was a classic lightning-strike romance.

After two years of a blissful, secret relationship, Joshua's parents found out. They demanded he marry into another powerful family. Joshua refused.

His parents retaliated by leaking news of his engagement to the press and offering Emma a massive payout to disappear.

Emma refused the money and stayed. She wanted to hear the end from Joshua himself.

But Joshua was held under house arrest by his family for over a month. By the time he broke free, Emma was gone. She had vanished without a trace.

Joshua had a massive falling out with his parents and officially disowned them.

Bastian sighed. "He thought she had left because of the engagement news. It wasn't until he learned of your existence years later that he realized she had fled to protect you. She was terrified his family would try to take you from her, so she left Crestwood and moved to Kingston."

Jade's eyes began to sting. She gripped the hem of her shirt until her knuckles turned white.

History really was a cycle.

She and her mother had made the exact same choice when they found out they were pregnant.

But...

Her mother had saved her child. Jade had failed hers.

Bastian saw the tears gathering in her eyes. His brow furrowed, and he reached out, his thumb catching a tear before it could fall.

"Don't cry."

Seeing her like this felt different now. Beyond the pity, there was a strange, sharp ache in his own chest.

The skin under his thumb was warm and velvet-soft. Jade's skin was thin, and his fingers were calloused from years of handling firearms; even a light touch left a faint, rosy mark near her eye.

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