A Second Chance at Forever

Chapter 1427
Cradled in his arms, Eleanor’s whole body trembled, yet as she caught the familiar, icy scent of him, her shaking subsided.
Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet the chiseled jawline of the man looking down at her with his long lashes casting shadows on
his cheeks.
In each other’s gaze, they saw a reflection of their own faces – one pale, the other resolute neither willing to look away.
“Eleanor, let’s go home.” Ignoring the gunshot wound in his shoulder, Bernard scooped up Eleanor in a bridal carry.
The effort caused blood to trickle from his wound onto Eleanor’s cheek, a startling crimson smear.
“Put me down!” Eleanor commanded.
–
He was injured and still carrying her was he out of his mind? Eleanor, worried he was in pain, struggled to be released, but
Bernard leaned in, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“Easy, don’t move.”
That familiar term of endearment, “easy,” once again brought tears to Eleanor’s eyes.
“It’ll hurt if you exert yourself.”
His lips were white from strain, yet he smiled faintly. “As long as you don’t squirm, it won’t hurt,” he said.
Moved by Bernard’s stubbornness, Eleanor wrapped her arms around his neck for a fleeting moment.
She buried her face in his chest, feeling his heartbeat, her tears flowing uncontrollably.
“Bernard, you’re such a fool...”
This fool, for her sake, was willing to do anything. Even if it meant giving up his life, he was always without regret.
Bernard’s love was so pure that Eleanor felt overwhelmed with guilt.
Because she never treated him as well, yet this fool didn’t mind.

With this thought, Eleanor lifted her tear-filled eyes, looking at him through a mist.
“It hurts me to see you like this, please put me down.”
She rarely expressed her concern for him, which only deepened the smile on Bernard’s lips.
Cedric once said, there’s no shame in a wife’s concern.
So, Bernard, leaning on his wounded shoulder, held the woman in his arms tighter as he walked out.
-“Bernard lowered his eyes, looking at the bewildered Eleanor, and smiled again. “I’m not letting
“Honey, I need your concern, so-” go.”
Not letting go.
Never letting go.
Eleanor protested, “There’s a baby on the way, it’s heavy.”
Bernard replied, “Even with an extra one, your husband can carry the weight.”
Their intimate exchange faded into the distance as they left.
Yates stepped out of the safe room, watching their retreating figures without trying to stop them.
He didn’t hope for Eleanor’s forgiveness, only watching quietly, as if through them he saw himself and Pauline from years past.
Pauline, pregnant at the time, had also been heartbroken to see him wounded. She must have loved him dearly.
But fate played its cruel hand, and the seeds of his own making were discovered by Pauline, who then left without looking back,
taking their child.
Before she left, she clung to him, crying that she had fallen in love with him and found it unbearably hard to leave.
Yates aged eyes clouded with tears at the memory of Pauline’s painful departure.
Until the figures before him blurred, he spoke in a low, regretful tone.

“The puppet you locked away, I’ll take care of it. Area Opaca will trouble you no more.”
Bernard and Eleanor heard him but offered no reply.
Eleanor’s last ties of kinship were severed by Yates’ threats.
Bernard’s life was shortened by a chip in his brain, a consequence of Yates’ doing.
Between them, one had lost family, and the other still harbored hatred. Who would bother with him?
From the moment Area Opaca fell, Yates had foreseen this lonely end.
He could no longer regain Eleanor’s affection; his final act would be to settle scores with Xavier, and then...
Yates lowered his gaze to the blue tattoo on his hand.
After it ended, it was time to join her.
At the elevator in the corridor, Robin, Evan, Gianna, Aidyn, Scott, and countless members of the Siren Organization stood still.
They had seen Bernard shoot himself to save Eleanor and atone for the Siren Organization while breaking down the door above.
They admired Bernard’s responsibility and worried for him, relieved when the robust steel door of the biozone finally blasted
open.
Their destruction of the door caused the elevator shaft to be blocked, and after a long detour, they found the escape room. They
emerged just in time to see Bernard, holding Eleanor, stepping resolutely from the dark corridor.
When Robin saw Eleanor nestled in Bernard’s arms, her small face turned up, oblivious to all but him, he knew.
In Eleanor’s heart, no one could replace Bernard.
And the shot Bernard had fired without hesitation proved how much she mattered to him.
In that moment, Robin felt his own unrequited feelings fade away as if they were insignificant.
After making sure Eleanor was safe, he gestured to his team and, with a nonchalant swagger, walked away.