Ella's hands wouldn't stop shaking. She stood there, rain soaking through her thin dress, every drop cold enough to remind her this wasn't some nightmare she could wake up from.
And then—she saw him.
Leon Xu.
Alive.
His once-pristine white suit hung torn and soaked against him. He looked like a man who had lost everything… and yet somehow still held the power to ruin her with just one glance.
He was holding their son. Tight. Too tight.
"Let him go, Leon," Ella's voice broke halfway through his name.
Leon's eyes darkened, and for a second, something—hope, maybe regret—flashed across his face.
But then it was gone.
"You should know by now," his voice was low, almost calm. "I don't let go of what's mine."
Ella took a shaky step forward. She didn't care about the crumbling empire or the headlines waiting to be written. None of it mattered.
Just her son.
Just this moment.
"Please…" Her voice cracked. Her throat burned from holding back everything she wanted to scream.
Leon's hand tightened around the child's shoulder. His eyes locked onto hers, like he was waiting—no, begging—for her to say the words he couldn't.
"Come back to me, Ella. One last time. Or this ends here. Now."
The air felt like it shattered.
Lightning split the sky above them, a blinding flash of white. And then—
The ground beneath them shook. A loud crack tore through the manor as the old walls finally gave in.
Ella lunged forward, her hand reaching for their son—
But Leon was already gone, swallowed by the smoke and falling debris.
And just before everything collapsed, his voice cut through the chaos, raw and final:
"If not this life… then the next, Ella."