Chapter 838
Donovan didn’t hesitate. He chose the child.
A ten-year-old Sage had dropped to his knees, begging the doctor to save his mother.
But he was just a child. The doctor’s hands were tied.
Lying on the freezing delivery bed, Mira cried out, begging for Donovan to see her one last time.
Donovan told the staff it was bad luck to visit a bleeding woman.
He told them not to ruin his wedding night, quoting that every second of passion was worth its weight in gold.
Completely shattered, Mira gave up her will to live.
When Castle was born, she didn’t even look at him. She simply turned her head and passed away shortly after.
When the doctor carried the newborn Castle out of the delivery room, Sage was the only person waiting in the hallway.
As the years went on…
Sage carved out his own empire in Portside City, while Castle grew into a brilliantly capable man.
Donovan, on the other hand, married several more times but never managed to father another child.
Finally, he walked in on his brand-new Fourth Wife sleeping with the chauffeur.
The sheer shock triggered a massive heart attack, leaving him permanently bedridden.
With his health gone, his three remaining wives immediately started embezzling his assets.
That was exactly when the two brothers struck.
Standing on either side of his hospital bed, Donovan thought his sons had returned to save him.
Instead, they coldly informed him that the Fourth Wife had been a plant- handpicked by them.
The entire scandal had been a calculated move to destroy the Joyner family from the inside.
A week later.
Donovan Joyner died.
His lawyers announced that the empire he had built, Destin Group, was now under Castle’s full control.
His very first act as CEO was to forcibly expel the Second and Third Wives from the board.
He then dragged them to court for corporate embezzlement.
The Second Wife got ten years behind bars, and the Third Wife got eight.
With that, the brutal war for the Joyner family was finally over.
Having practically raised him, Sage knew his little brother inside and out.
He looked at him with a heavy heart. “Are you planning to fight for custody, hand Katy over to Noreen, and then… join Harriet?”
Castle’s silence was all the confirmation he needed.
Sage sighed and handed over a letter Harriet Caldwell had entrusted to him right before she died.
“Harriet figured you might pull something like this. She wrote this letter and told me to give it to you when the time came. Read it before you do anything stupid.”
***
Seth had turned off both his and Noreen’s phones.
He had absolutely no intention of being interrupted.
The car cruised smoothly up the winding road all the way to the peak.
At the very top was an observation
deck that offered ation
panoramic view of The Esplanade.
The heater in the car was on blast, creating a cozy warmth that practically invited sleep.
With the alcohol already kicking in, Noreen ended up dozing the entire ride.
When they arrived, Seth couldn’t bear to wake her, so he dismissed the driver.
It seemed the car seat wasn’t
mfortable, as Noreen let
Let
groan and furrowed her.
brows.
Seth reached over, gently pulling her into his embrace so she could rest her head on
his arm.
The comfortable shift in position drew a soft sigh of contentment from her.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, gazing up at him through a hazy, drunken fog. Seth hadn’t expected her to wake up so soon.
His body immediately tensed.
He was terrified that, with a clear head, she would violently push him away again.
That she would raise those impenetrable walls and refuse to let him anywhere near her.
Moments like this were impossibly rare.
All he wanted was to drag it out for just a few minutes longer.
So, he coaxed her softly, “Go back to sleep.”
If she was asleep, she couldn’t push him away.
Noreen stared at him for a while, her eyes watery and unfocused.
Her voice was equally thick. “Seth.”
She called his name.
“Yeah?” he answered gently.
“Your lips look really kissable.”
Seth’s rigid posture vanished instantly.
Unable to help himself, he murmured, “Do you want to kiss them?”