Even in Darkness She Chose to Rise (Tatiana and Jasper) novel Chapter 71

Chapter 71 A Fragile Truce

She flipped down instinctively, revealing the detailed exposé of the rehab center’s dark secrets.

Her breath caught.

Jasper’s voice reached her ears: “Are you satisfied with this outcome?”

Tatiana snapped her head up to look at him, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

This thick file… it was full of evidence of the rehab center’s crimes.

Jasper kept his gaze lowered, not looking at her. “You can choose how to deal with them,” he continued.

For him, this statement was a concession. He rarely backed down; this was the first time. Though not an explicit apology, it was his form of amends.

The suffering she endured for four years… finally, a casual offer of compensation.

A sourness rose in her throat. She asked softly, “You… know now?”

Jasper grunted in affirmation.

The atmosphere grew heavy.

She put the file down and gave a self–deprecating laugh. “There’s no need for this.”

Jasper finally looked up at her, his eyes dark. “Are you blaming me?”

She looked down, avoiding his gaze. “I wouldn’t dare.”

He glanced at her tightly clenched hands. Clearly, she wasn’t indifferent.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Tatiana, who had managed to keep her composure, nearly broke at his question.

Didn’t say anything?

I did.

If he had just paid attention, he would have seen the scars, seen that something was wrong.

But he didn’t care, so he never noticed.

A thousand words welled up, but in the end, they became only: “There’s nothing to say.”

The next second, he grabbed her wrist, his grip tight. “Are you blaming me?”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Tatiana, just tell me. What do you want?”

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She couldn’t pull her hand away. Gritting her teeth, she said, “There’s nothing… I want.”

“You’re lying.” He was convinced she wanted something.

Tatiana flared up, her wrist aching. She went along with it. “Fine! Then can you… let me go? Stop… controlling me.”

“Let you go?”

“Yes. I’m tainted. I’m carrying someone else’s child. I’ll disgrace your name. My existence is an eyesore to you. I’m no good. Let me leave, can you? I promise… I promise I’ll disappear.”

She begged him, pleaded for him to show mercy, not to push her to the brink.

She couldn’t love him anymore. She just wanted to escape.

The emotion in her eyes was raw and honest, without a trace of falsehood.

Jasper seemed lost for a moment, motionless.

Seeing him silent, Tatiana felt a flicker of hope. “Jasper?”

He snapped back to reality, released her hand, and threw out two words: “In your dreams.”

“Until Grandpa’s condition stabilizes, you will behave yourself.”

It was just another one of her manipulative games. He had almost fallen for it.

She had tried disappearing before. At Grandpa’s insistence, he had been forced to find her himself. After searching everywhere, he found her hiding on the rooftop he frequented, waiting for him.

When he found her, her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. “Only you could find me, Jasper. Don’t you dare ignore me again.”

Sometimes clinging, sometimes vanishing, like a child playing games, using every trick to make him yield.

She hadn’t changed.

The guilt he had felt moments ago began to recede.

Tatiana looked at the red mark on her wrist, her eyes dimming. She said nothing.

Late at night.

They lay in the same large bed, but far apart.

Tatiana barely slept, tormented by nightmares all night. She woke exhausted.

Jasper was just as drained.

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LIJe། ་། ༡༣།།RJ།།།་རྟ།ན་ན་

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