?Chapter 726:

    To Cole, love was a fragile, elusive thing—something rare, like a star one could only admire from a distance. He didn’t think he’d ever get to hold it. He just needed a woman to fill the role of his wife. Wanda or anyone else—it made no difference.

    The question tormented Cole like a persistent shadow. Why did his mother insist so fiercely that he marry the Campbell family’s daughter? The mystery gnawed at him, defying every attempt at understanding.

    Restlessness crept through his bones just as his phone shattered the silence with its urgent buzz. Wanda’s message glowed on the screen. “Cole, my parents and brother reached Ublento today and settled into Harmony Estate. I’ll join them soon. When you want to see me, find me there.”

    Cole’s fingers moved with mechanical precision as he typed his response, “Fine.” The phonended with a dull thud on his desk. He turned back to the scattered documents, but his mind wandered to darker territories.

    His mother had nted the seed of the engagement arrangement when he was barely three years old. The decree was simple: he would marry the Campbell daughter. Yet, Wanda hadn’t been born then. And even if she had, she would still have carried the Craig name, not Campbell. No one could have foreseen her eventual connection to the Campbell family.

    Thus, it wasn’t Wanda whom his mother wanted him to marry. It was the title. “The Campbell family’s daughter” represented something far more valuable than the girl who currently imed it. If Wanda lost that precious designation tomorrow and another girl stepped into her ce, his intended bride would simply shift to match. The person mattered less than the position.

    But what made that title so intoxicating? What power did it hold that his mother would sacrifice his happiness for it? The puzzle remained unsolved, so he buried it in the depths of his mind.

    Cole lifted his gaze to the Fletcher four siblings standing at attention before him. “I’m nearly done with this paperwork. Afterward, I’ll retreat to my room. You should all find rest as well.”

    The four siblings bowed with practiced reverence before disappearing into their private courtyard. Behind closed doors, their formal masks melted away. Hugh shattered the heavy silence first. “Is Ms. Marsh truly gone?”

    “Impossible!” Aron’s voice exploded with fierce conviction. “Others might not grasp who she really is, but we know the truth. She’s Death Thorn of Delta—a force that doesn’t surrender to death so easily. This has to be an borate escape, a carefully orchestrated vanishing act.”

    Myles nodded in agreement. “Aron is right. Think about it—before leaving Ublento, she dismissed every staff member at Regal Grove and listed the estate for sale. It was all theater—a masterful n to erase Elliana from this city forever.”

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    “Exactly,” Paulina added, her voice steady and certain. “She leads Thorn Rose. Defeat isn’t in her vocabry. I believe she staged her supposed death to escape the Campbell family’s crushing pressure. She’ll return with a new face, a new name. We just need patience.”

    But worry creased Paulina’s features like gathering storm clouds. “What troubles me is this—even if she’s slipped past the Campbells for now, she’ll have to face them directly if she ever hopes to reim Cole’s heart. And when that confrontationes, predicting the victor bes impossible.” Thorn Rose was powerful, but its influence paled against the Campbell family’s ancient roots. The Campbell family was a centuries-old noble n, their power stretching across continents like invisible threads. Their true strength remained beyond mortalprehension.

    Myles’s expression darkened. “Before Mr. Evans lost his memory of Ms. Marsh, he entrusted her with the ring thatmands ze Wildfire. If things get desperate, she could mobilize both Thorn Rose and ze Wildfire. But who knows whose side Mr. Evans will be on by then?”

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