Chapter 307 Chapter 307

Chapter 307 Chapter 307
Chapter 307

A few days later, the morning sun lit up the spacious master bedroom as the estate nurse carefully unwrapped the final layers of medical tape from Ethan’s right leg. Ethan sat on the edge of the mattress, watching as she pulled away the thick padding to reveal the healed scar. The skin around the bullet wound was pink and completely closed up, free of any redness or infection. The nurse pressed gently around the area, checking his muscle response as Ethan barely even winced. 

She smiled warmly, stepping back to clean up her supplies. "You're healing remarkably well, Mr. Castellan. The tissue is fully closed, and you don't need the heavy dressing anymore. Just take it easy, but you are free to move around."

Ethan stood up slowly, testing his weight on both feet without reaching for the carved wooden cane propped against the nightstand. He took a few steps across the hardwood floor, feeling only a mild stiffness in his thigh. He walked toward the open glass doors leading to the courtyard, taking a short walk around the paved stone paths of the grounds. Moving under his own power without leaning on anything felt like another massive step toward leaving the nightmare behind. He took a deep breath of the fresh coastal air, watching the gentle waves of the Monterey bay down below.

Isabelle walked out onto the stone patio carrying a light cardigan over her arm, a soft smile coming over her face when she saw him standing tall without his cane. She stepped up beside him, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her head against his shoulder. "Look at you, walking all on your own," she teased gently, looking up into his face. "No stick, no limp. You look like Ethan Castellan again."

Ethan chuckled softly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and kissing the side of her forehead. "It feels good to walk normally again. I was starting to think I’d be stuck carrying that stick around for the rest of the year." He turned to face her properly, running his hand down her cheek. "How are you feeling today?"

Isabelle looked out over the courtyard for a moment, her posture relaxed. "I'm good. Really good, actually. But there's somewhere I've been wanting to go since we cleared everything up with the police. I want to visit St. Jude's, the orphanage in Monterey where I grew up."
Ethan looked at her with a gentle expression, nodding his head right away. "Then let's go. I'll drive."

"Are you sure you can handle driving?" Isabelle asked, raising an eyebrow playfully as she looked down at his leg.
"I can press a gas pedal just fine," Ethan replied with a small laugh, grabbing his car keys from the entry table inside.

They walked down to the private garage together, stepping into a clean black SUV. Ethan started the engine, pulling out of the long estate driveway and smoothly merging onto the quiet coastal road. The drive was calm, with the warm afternoon breeze blowing through the cracked windows as Monterey passed by outside.

Ethan reached across the center console with his right hand, covering Isabelle's fingers where they rested in her lap. He squeezed her hand softly, looking over at her with a calm, honest expression as he kept his left hand on the steering wheel.

"You know, while you were gone... after everyone saw you jump off that cliff two years ago," Ethan said quietly, his voice carrying a heavy, sincere tone, "I couldn't live with myself. The guilt was eating me alive every single day. I couldn't sleep, and the anxiety was crushing me. So I started driving past St. Jude’s almost every week. Donating to that orphanage was the only way I could handle the grief and stop feeling so damn guilty about how I treated you back then."
Isabelle turned her head to look at him, her eyes softening as she listened to him speak.

"I donated millions," Ethan continued smoothly, his voice dropping lower. "I did it willingly, every single dime of it. I wanted to try and fix whatever I could, to honor the girl who grew up there. I had them build a new playground, renovate the living quarters, and fund their educational programs, just trying to make up for the pain I caused."

"And then I called you fat," he said, tightening his hand on her grip as the regret washed over his face.
Isabelle looked down at the old university picture she was holding in her lap, staring at her younger self before looking back up at Ethan with complete forgiveness in her eyes.

"That wasn’t really you, Ethan," she said softly, placing her free hand over his. "You know it wasn’t your fault. Sam was pushing you, feeding you lies, and driving all of us into that toxic cycle."
She quieted down for a moment, looking down at the old university picture resting in her lap. Her thumb ran gently over the corner of the faded print as she took a slow breath, letting her mind wander back to those confusing early days.

"After everything that happened back then... after I was saved and woke up, I was just a completely different person," she said, her voice steady and thoughtful. "I woke up skinny, I didn’t even remember who I was, and I had to rebuild my entire life from nothing." She smiled gently at him, staring at her old university picture one last time before slipping it into her bag. "We both survived it."

Ethan tightened his grip on her hand, keeping his eyes on the road while his jaw set firm. He swallowed hard, taking a quick breath before glancing over at her.

"It still doesn't excuse what I said back then," Ethan replied, his voice low and sincere. "Sam was whispering in my ear, but I was the one who let those words out. Knowing what you had to go through—waking up like a stranger to yourself and starting over from scratch—it breaks my heart, Isabelle. But I swear to you, for the rest of my life, I'm going to spend every single day making sure you only feel loved and safe with me."
Isabelle squeezed his fingers tight, leaning over the center console to rest her shoulder against his arm as the SUV rolled to a stop right in front of the main entrance of St. Jude's Orphanage.