I Followed My Maid Home After She Secretly Took Bread—Then One Family Photograph Revealed Why I Owed Them Everything.

When Adeline arrived back at the estate, the gates were broken open. The grand mansion was eerily quiet, the echoes of the civil war having faded into a chilling stillness. She stepped out of the car, ignoring the driver’s pleas to stay back.

She ran up the marble steps, her practical shoes slipping slightly on the debris. She pushed through the shattered mahogany doors of the grand foyer.

The hall was a disaster. Broken glass and shattered statues littered the floor. And in the center of the room, kneeling on the marble, was Elias. His white dress shirt was ruined, his breathing shallow and heavy as he supported his weight on one arm. Standing over him with a weapon raised was the mentor—an older, silver-haired man with cold, dead eyes. Victor lay unconscious nearby.

“You ruined a perfect empire for a ghost, Elias,” the mentor sneered. “Thomas Hayes was a nobody. You are a king. Why throw it away?”

“Because he was a better man than you will ever be,” Elias growled, his voice weak but his spirit unbroken.

The mentor raised his weapon to deliver the final blow.

“Stop!” Adeline screamed, stepping fully into the foyer.

The mentor turned, his eyes narrowing at the beautiful woman standing defiant amidst the wreckage. Elias forced his head up, his dark eyes widening in panic for the first time.

“Adeline, run!” Elias roared.

The mentor smiled, aiming at Adeline instead. “The loose end comes to me.”

But before the mentor could pull the trigger, Elias summoned the last ounce of his tremendous strength. He lunged upward from the marble floor, driving his shoulder into the mentor's chest, tackling him backward into the grand staircase. The weapon clattered away. Elias didn't hesitate. He secured his grip and delivered a final, devastating strike that knocked the mentor completely unconscious.

Elias collapsed back onto the floor, his energy entirely spent.

Adeline ran to him, falling to her knees beside his large frame. She pulled his head onto her lap, her hands desperately checking his pulse. He was battered, exhausted, and barely holding on, but he was alive.

Elias looked up at her fair, rosy face, a faint, genuine smile touching his rugged lips.

“Noah?” Elias whispered.