Chapter 309: Put Her Back Where She Belongs

"The engagement of Ares Zuvel and Larissa Reyes."

Silence filled the study.

Then, slowly, the tension drained from Artemio’s shoulders.

An engagement.

A faint breath escaped him.

For one terrifying moment, he thought they had discovered Lara’s true identity.

If Leonard had learned the truth, there would be no reason for him to quietly take Madeline to Calma. He would have confronted the situation directly—or worse, begun moving against him.

But an engagement celebration made sense.

Artemio leaned back in his chair, finally allowing himself to relax.

Then another thought surfaced.

But why would Madeline come?

His brow furrowed. He thought back to Leonard’s birthday party. He remembered the conversation.

Leonard and his wife had mentioned that they intended to take Lara as their goddaughter.

Artemio’s expression gradually eased.

That must be it.

Madeline wasn’t going to Calma because of Lara’s identity.

She was going because of the engagement—and because of the relationship they had begun forming with the girl.

At least, that was what Artemio told himself.

And for the moment, it was enough.

"Let me know when Leonard and Madeline arrives in Calma."

The man nodded then exited the study.

...

Left alone in his study, Artemio closed the door behind him.

The silence that followed was absolute.

He walked toward his desk, but instead of sitting down, he pulled open the top drawer and reached beneath a stack of documents. His fingers brushed against something he had kept hidden for years.

Two photographs.

He placed them carefully on the desk.

The first was old and slightly faded. It was taken on his graduation day in the military academy.

A much younger Artemio stood beside a young woman, both of them smiling at the camera. His expression was unusually carefree, almost boyish—a version of himself that no longer existed.

The woman beside him was radiant.

Madeline.

His Addie.

Now Madeline Norse.

Her smile had always been like that—warm like the sunshine,, enough to make even the darkest days feel lighter.

Artemio’s gaze lingered on her face.

Back then, he thought he had all the time in the world.

They met during university, during his ring hop ceremony

Madeline had been one of the few people who never feared him, never tried to impress him, and never treated him differently because of his family name.

She had simply talked to him as though he were an ordinary young man.

And Artemio had fallen for her the first time he saw her.

But in her eyes, there was only Leonard Norse.

Artemio clenched his fists.

To him, Madeline had been his white moonlight—the one pure thing in a life already becoming consumed by ambition, family expectations, and violence.

Whenever the world became too dark, Addie was the person he thought about.

He remembered her eyes.

They had shone like stars against the night—bright, warm, and impossible to ignore. One look from her had been enough to make the darkness around him feel a little less suffocating.

And her smile...

He still remembered the first time she smiled at him. It had caught him completely off guard, stealing his breath before he even realized he had fallen for her.

For Artemio, Addie had been the light he could never reach—the one beautiful thing he wanted to keep untouched in a world that had already begun to consume him.

But to Madeline, he had only ever been a friend.

Nothing more.

Artemio had never been the person she thought about. Her heart already belonged to someone else.

Artemio’s eyes hardened at the memory.

He turned the photograph over. A jagged cut ran through one side of it.

Someone had once been standing beside Madeline.

Leonard Norse.

Artemio had cut him out.

He kept him and Madeline.

He destroyed the part of the picture that reminded him she had never truly been his.

For years, he told himself that if Madeline had only chosen him, everything would have been different.

Perhaps he would have remained the man she believed him to be.

Perhaps he would already be the defense minister and not just a two star general.

His fingers tightened around the edge of the photograph.

"If only you had chosen me back then, Addie..."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"I could have given you everything."

He picked up the second photograph.

It was taken only a few months ago.

Madeline was older now. Time had changed the softness of her features, but not the elegance in her eyes or the warmth of her smile.

She was still his Addie.

Still the woman Artemio had never managed to forget.

Only now, she was someone else’s wife.

And because of that, there was something almost cruel about how beautiful she still looked.

"You were the only person who ever made me want to be a better man."

A bitter smile touched his lips.

"But you loved Leonard."

He stared at her photograph for a long moment.

Then his gaze shifted to the drawer.

To the secret he had kept there.

To the daughter he had taken from her.

His expression darkened.

"Addie... if you had chosen me, I would never have taken your daughter from you. And don’t blame me for using your daughter against your husband."

The words carried no apology.

His eyes darkened and his face turned into a ruthless mask.

Perhaps that was the cruelest part.

He lost her because she had chosen Leonard.

Artemio slowly traced his thumb across Madeline’s face in the photograph.

"We lost so many years."

His eyes gleamed with something dangerously close to hope.

"But don’t worry."

He placed the photograph back on the desk.

"We still have time."

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

"One day, Addie, you’ll understand that everything I did..."

His gaze fell upon the photograph of her younger self.

"...was because I could never accept losing you."

He took out his cellphone and sent a message.

GenX:Rocky, fast-track the opening of your branch here.

A minute later, Rocky replied.

Rocky:Already arranged, General. I and the team will arrive in Calma in two weeks.

Artemio stared at the message for a moment before typing again.

GenX:Yannick, I’m losing my hold over Lara.

His expression hardened.

GenX:I need you here. She’s becoming difficult to control. I want you to find out what’s changed and put her back where she belongs.