Ready to Rule: The Real Heiress Strikes Back novel Chapter 424

Connor dropped from above like a shadow, arms out, cutting through the night with single-minded focus. As he got closer to the ground, he bent his knees and landed without a sound, cool and steady, as if jumps like this were nothing to him. In the army, they pretty much were.

“Lydia.” His voice was low.

He spotted her in the darkness, just a faint outline. Without hesitating, Connor pulled her into his arms and held her close.

Jonas, who had been hiding nearby, was still trying to recover from the shock of what he’d just seen. Before he could even process the chaos, Connor appeared out of nowhere and dropped another bomb on him. His brain felt like it had been fried.

How was Connor even here? And why was he hugging their Miss Lydia like that? This was wild.

“I’m ok,” Lydia whispered.

Connor let out a shaky breath, holding her tighter, like letting go wasn’t even an option. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

Suddenly, Lydia pushed him back a little, her eyes meeting his, serious and searching. “Connor, I killed a lot of people tonight.”

Only then did Connor really look around. The helicopter had landed, its lights cutting through the darkness, showing all the bodies scattered on the ground. Men dressed in black, lifeless.

Lydia’s voice was steady. “I’ve wanted to tell you... You and I, we’re not the same. I’m not who you think I am. Not perfect, not even close.”

He used to be a soldier, loyal to his country, to his people, to his duty. Everything he had, he gave for the greater good. Protecting others was the highest honor he could imagine.

But Lydia played by her own rules. She’d done things he never could have. Things that left her hands stained. In some ways, they were opposites. She wasn’t a hero, not in the way the world wanted her to be. Even after leaving the army, Connor’s sense of right and wrong hadn’t faded. It was part of him.

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