Chapter 364: The Hidden Widow (2) The Building Suspense
"You don’t have to figure it all out right now," Lyan said gently, his voice softer than she’d ever heard it. His large, calloused hand held her son’s tiny one, and for a moment, the tension in the air seemed to ease. Clarisse looked down at the small scene unfolding in front of her—Lyan, this powerful, commanding man who had brought armies to their knees, now standing here with her son, offering him warmth and tenderness. It was hard to reconcile this image with the man she had resented for so long.
She sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly as she adjusted her grip on her child. "I just... I didn’t ask for any of this," she murmured, her voice quieter now, more vulnerable than she wanted it to be. "I didn’t ask to be a widow. I didn’t ask for my son to grow up without a father."
Lyan nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. "I know. Life has a way of forcing us into things we never asked for."
There was a moment of silence between them, the weight of unspoken emotions filling the space. Clarisse’s heart ached with the complexity of it all—the grief, the anger, and the strange pull she felt toward Lyan despite everything. He had taken her husband’s life, but here he was, making sure her son was safe, showing more care than she could have ever imagined from a man like him.
She glanced up at him, studying his face. His dark eyes were focused, intense, but there was something else there too—something softer, more human. She could see the edges of weariness in the lines around his eyes, the way his mouth pulled into a faint frown when he wasn’t speaking. He looked like a man who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and it made her wonder just how much he had been through. She didn’t want to admit it, but in that moment, she felt a strange sense of connection to him. They were both survivors of a life they hadn’t chosen, both trying to make sense of the pieces left behind.
"You visit us often," Clarisse said, her voice hesitant. "You don’t have to... but you keep coming back."
Lyan shifted slightly, his hand still resting on her son’s tiny fingers. He met her gaze with a steady look, though she could see the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. "It’s my responsibility. Your husband and father-in-law... they may have been on the wrong side of this war, but that doesn’t mean you and your son should suffer for their mistakes."
Clarisse’s heart clenched at his words. It was true, of course. Lucan and Hektor had made terrible decisions, decisions that had led to their downfall. But that didn’t make it any easier for her. "So you’re doing this out of guilt?" she asked, her voice sharper than she intended. "Because you killed Lucan?"
Lyan’s jaw tightened, and for a moment, she thought she had struck a nerve. But then he sighed, his gaze softening as he looked at her. "Maybe guilt is part of it," he admitted. "But it’s more than that. Your son... he didn’t choose this life either. And I won’t let him grow up without protection. I won’t let you suffer more than you already have."