Chapter 180

Chapter 180

The snow in Veridian was falling harder now.

White flakes drifted endlessly, blurring distant lights and that black figure slowly receding into the distance.

Scarlett sat slumped in the frozen snow, her scraped knees and palms stinging in the biting wind.

But how could that pain compare to the tearing sensation in her chest?

"Thaddeus..."

She fixed her gaze on the wheelchair tracks disappearing into the shadows, tears streaming down like shattered pearls—silent and relentless.

She'd finally glimpsed a faint light in her despair—and now he was going to snuff it out himself?

Scarlett struggled back to her feet and roughly wiped the tears and melted snow from her face. Holding up her expensive dress, she charged after him like a furious wild animal.

"Thaddeus! Stop right now!"

Even if he had turned into a ghost, she would never allow him to slip out of her world again!

In a quiet alley outside the hotel.

The wheelchair struggled forward through thick snow.

The man gripped the controls tightly, veins bulging on the backs of his hands.

He didn't dare turn around.

He feared that the very moment he saw her face, wet with tears, the emotional defenses he had struggled so hard to construct would collapse immediately.

He was a cripple who couldn't even stand. What right did he have to ask for her love? What right did he have to drag down her life?

The wheelchair let out a low grating sound against the snow and came to an abrupt halt.

The man jerked his head up.

In the faint light of the streetlamp, he made out a slim figure standing with arms outstretched, blocking the wheelchair's way.

Scarlett gasped for breath, her chest heaving violently.

Her dress was stained and torn. Tangled strands of hair clung to her cheeks. She appeared completely worn out—yet her eyes burned so fiercely that he couldn't bear to meet them.

"How long are you going to keep running?" Scarlett walked toward him step by step.

"Thaddeus, you think just because you're wearing that ridiculous mask and playing ghost in a wheelchair, I won't recognize you?" Her voice was thick with tears and anger.

"Your scent, your frame..." She halted before the wheelchair, staring at the man who couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze.

"Say something!" She suddenly reached out and grabbed the silver mask.

"Don't!" The man cried out as if electrocuted, instinctively raising a hand to block her.

Scarlett didn't hesitate. She yanked hard.

The silver mask fell into the pristine snow. Beneath it, a face was revealed.

Although much leaner. Though so pale he seemed almost transparent. And with a faint scar running down the left side of his face.

But.

Those sharp brows and starry eyes. That high-bridged nose. Those tightly pressed lips...

Every curve, every minute feature perfectly corresponded to the man long buried in the depths of her memory.

Thaddeus.

It really was him.

He wasn't dead.

Scarlett covered her mouth, letting out a strangled sob.

Thaddeus sat frozen in the wheelchair.

His disguise ruthlessly torn away, he had nowhere left to hide.

He didn't dare meet her gaze. He could only turn his head away in discomfort, his eyes growing red as he fixed his stare on the snow beneath them.

"It's... me." His voice was hoarse, laced with undeniable self-loathing and pain.

"Are you satisfied now?" He laughed bitterly at himself. "Three years ago, I fell into the ocean and got swept away by an undercurrent. One of Ulysses's rivals overseas—trying to gather evidence against him—had people dredging that stretch of water. They pulled me out by sheer luck."

"I spent half a year lying in their medical facility before I barely managed to cling to this life." Thaddeus took a deep breath, as if recalling some unbearable nightmare.

"But." His gaze slowly fell on his numb, useless legs, despair flashing in his eyes. "The doctors said my spine was severely damaged in the impact. My nerves are compressed. I... I'll probably never walk again."

He suddenly raised his head. Those once-sharp, penetrating eyes were now bloodshot—like a beast trapped in a corner, claws gone, letting out a pained howl. "Scarlett, do you see?"

"I'm a cripple now!" Thaddeus clawed at his hair in anguish. "How could I face you like this? How could I let Arthur and Orla see that their father is a useless invalid stuck in a wheelchair?"

"I don't deserve you anymore, Scarlett. I can't protect you anymore." His voice dropped lower, carrying a plea so humble it was crushed into dust. "As long as you're happy, as long as you and the children are safe... even if I have to hide in the shadows for the rest of my life, I'll gladly do it."

"Go." Thaddeus closed his eyes. Two lines of tears slid down his pale cheeks. "Live the life you're supposed to live. Find a man who can actually stand beside you and shield you from the storm. Forget about me."

The wind and snow seemed to freeze in that moment.

In the empty alley, only Thaddeus's suppressed breathing echoed.

He thought these decisive words would make her give up for good.

But instead—

What came wasn't the sound of her walking away.

It was a kiss—wild and desperate.

Thaddeus's eyes flew open.

Scarlett cupped his face and, amid the swirling snow, kissed his trembling lips without hesitation.

Thaddeus's mind went blank.

His instinct was to push her away, but the salty taste of her tears on his lips left him powerless to resist.

Finally.

His arms trembled as he wrapped them around her and pulled her fiercely into his embrace.

He took the lead, shifting from passive to assertive—like a traveler perishing in the desert who had at last found an oasis. He drank hungrily from the sweetness and warmth of her lips.

On this cold winter night, in a quiet alley in a foreign land.

Two souls who had once caused each other pain yet loved one another deeply—right at this moment, through that passionate kiss—finally came together without holding anything back.

The kiss ended.

Both were breathless.

Scarlett pressed her forehead hard against Thaddeus's.

She gazed into his eyes, which had at last regained their warmth. Tears poured down her cheeks, yet her lips formed a bright, beaming smile.

"Thaddeus, you arrogant fool!" She wept and laughed all at once, her voice raspy yet resolute as she announced, "Let me tell you something!"

She held his face in her hands, her eyes blazing with the intensity of a monarch. "Even if you were reduced to a mere shell, unable to do anything but lie there motionless!"

"You're still my man! The father of my two children!"

"This life, the next, for all eternity!"

"Don't you dare try to push me away again!"