Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Fragile Jay

Ivy looked at Ember, who rarely showed such vulnerability, and sighed softly. "You’ll find out soon enough," she said, her tone gentler than usual.

"But don’t worry too much; you never were the one who caused him any kind of pain... so he should react positively."

Ember’s heart, throbbing with pain and fear, calmed down a beat.

Soon, they arrived at the place where Jay was.

He was lying on the lush green grass with a dazed expression. Metallic chains were restricting his mobility, while his eyes were filled with remorse.

On closer inspection, he looked like someone who wanted to end their life.

Jay was indeed feeling so.

From his perspective, he believed that one of the old women had most likely kidnapped him, and now he was either trapped in an illusion, placed in an experimental laboratory, or worse, already dead.

The faint sound of footsteps didn’t ignite any hope; instead, the despair in his heart intensified.

"Kill me... If you try to force yourself on me..." Jay began, but midway through his sentence, he froze.

What did he see?

A woman with ink-black hair and sapphire-blue eyes, her pale skin gleaming under the faint light.

"Ember..." He whispered in a dreamy voice.

"Hold on, Jay, I will free you right away." The familiar gentle voice escaped Ember’s lips, trembling slightly as she rushed toward him.

Her hands shook as she touched the cold chains binding his wrists, the metal biting cruelly into his skin.

"Ember... Is it really you?" Jay’s voice was filled with disbelief, his pupils trembling as if afraid she’d vanish any second. "No... This can’t be real... I must be dreaming... how can you be here? You left me, right..."

"I’m here," she whispered, her voice breaking as she knelt beside him. "I’m really here, Jay."

The moment the chains clicked open, Jay’s hands shot up, gripping her shoulders tightly, almost desperately.

His touch was weak and trembling but full of life. "You... you’re warm..." His voice cracked, a tear slipping down his cheek. "It’s not a dream."

Ember’s own tears blurred her vision, but she smiled faintly. "No dream would let you cry this much."

Jay gave a weak laugh, a sound filled with relief and sorrow all at once, before his arms wrapped around her, pulling her close as if he could merge her into himself.

"Don’t ever disappear again," he whispered hoarsely against her shoulder. "Not again..."

Slowly, Ember’s hands rose and hugged him back. "I won’t," she murmured. "Not as long as I can help it."

Jay’s faint sobbing sounded like a knife to Ember’s heart.

The steady man who doted on her and pampered her now looked like a corpse. His cheeks had turned slightly gaunt, and he seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

"I am sorry... I am sorry..." The word of apology stumbled out of her mouth, while her guilt surged like tidal waves. "I shouldn’t have left you..."

Ember couldn’t think about the consequences in case she hadn’t arrived.

Jay didn’t respond immediately. His head rested weakly against Ember’s shoulder, his breathing shallow but steady. After a long pause, he whispered,

"You didn’t leave me... I failed to protect you."

Ember stiffened, her eyes widening. "Jay..."

He shook his head, a bitter smile forming on his pale lips.

"You don’t have to apologize. If anything, I should be the one saying sorry. I wasn’t strong enough to stand against my mother. If I had left the family long ago... things might not have progressed like this."

Ember’s eyes burned with tears she refused to shed.

"No. Don’t say that. You’ve already suffered enough." She reached out and brushed the hair off his forehead, her fingertips trembling as they touched the rough skin marked by exhaustion. "You don’t have to carry everything alone anymore."

Jay’s hand found hers, cold and shaky. "Then... don’t leave my side again."

Her throat tightened. She wanted to promise, to swear that nothing in the world could separate them again...but in this world, promises were fragile things. Still, she nodded firmly. "I won’t. I’ll stay."

Behind them, Ivy’s eyes softened just a little. But when she saw her brother-in-law’s condition, she coughed softly, "Ember... I think we need to feed him first."

It was only then that Jay’s attention shifted.

He stared at the beautiful woman with pink hair like candy floss and a face that resembled Helena’s. He was suddenly reminded of what Ophelia had stated...

Ember’s long-lost sister has been found.

’Is this woman... Ember’s sister?’ He wondered.

"She is Ivy... my lost younger sister." Ember introduced, "He is Jay... my fiancé."

Jay froze while Ivy greeted him with a wide smile, "Hello, brother-in-law."

A trace of relief flashed in Ivy’s eyes.

The regrets of past life were getting resolved in this life. People who had unfortunate endings but a sincere heart now found each other.

"Hello." Jay’s suppressed, excited voice made Ivy snap out of her daze. When she saw Jay’s joyous grin, she knew he was satisfied by the way Ember had introduced him.

Jay resisted the urge to kiss Ember right away and asked in a shy voice, "That... do you know where we are and if there is any bathroom here?"

"Well, it’s a secret place." Ember softly stated, "And I will lead you to the bathroom."

With that, she scooped him up in a bridal style and walked toward the bathroom in a good mood.

Ivy’s jaw widened when she saw Jay not resisting at all.

A thought flashed in her mind: ’Brother-in-law truly loves Ember to death! Sigh! I need to find Silas and cuddle with him; otherwise... I will cry from loneliness.’

Though she thought so, her heart was brimming with happiness.

She wished her life could remain happy-go-lucky like it was for now.

Just as she was immersed in her fantasy, she sensed the arrival of Silas in Nightbane’s house and exited the temporal storage.

"Surprise... Eh? Silas? What happened? Why do you look so grim?"