Her anger momentarily forgotten, Elliana stilled. Curiosity slipped in.

“What is it?”

A slow smile spread across Cole’s face as he pulled a ring from his breast pocket.

Even at a glance, Elliana knew it was an antique of incalculable value.

Just then, the car rolled to a stop outside the gates of Regal Grove.

Myles and the driver stepped out, closing the car doors gently to give the two privacy.

Leaning against the gate of Regal Grove, Damian hesitated. He wasn’t sure whether to open the gate.

Cole turned the ring over between his fingers.

“This ring is over two thousand years old. It’s the only one of its kind in the world—impossible to replicate. Whoever wears it controls all of Blaze Wildfire.”

Then, his eyes met hers, intense and unflinching.

“You’ve heard of Blaze Wildfire, haven’t you? The powerful force in the Delta?”

Elliana’s eyes lingered on the ring in Cole’s hand, a dry, brittle laugh almost escaping her lips. Had he really just asked if she was aware of Blaze Wildfire? Aware? She knew them far too well.

Since the day she’d founded Thorn Rose, Blaze Wildfire had hounded and hunted her group, nearly annihilating her forces more times than she could count. Carving her organization from the chaos of Delta’s unforgiving wilderness had been a grueling battle, marked by a gauntlet of near-death experiences—all orchestrated by Blaze Wildfire.

In Delta, the leader of Blaze Wildfire—Blaze Wraith—was her unrelenting foe, the shadow that haunted her every step. The trials she’d suffered because of Blaze Wraith were carved deep into her soul. She loathed Blaze Wraith with an intensity that could scorch the earth, often imagining what it would feel like to finally eliminate him. If she ever managed to kill Blaze Wraith, she’d preserve that bastard’s head in a glass jar and curse it whenever frustration gnawed at her.

And now, Blaze Wraith—the figure she despised more than any other, the embodiment of her deepest fury—turned out to be Cole, the man she had hopelessly fallen in love with. The irony hit so hard it nearly stole her breath.

A raw, mirthless chuckle broke free from Elliana at last.

“Cole… you’re truly Blaze Wraith?”

g?lnσνs?c?m brings endless adventures

“Yes. I am,” Cole said, sincerity lacing every word. “Back in Podgend, when I sensed the relapse creeping in, I didn’t waste a second—I filed for divorce. I gave the ring to Myles and told him that if anything happened to me, he should bring it to you. This ring… with it, the entire Blaze Wildfire empire has your back.”

Unaware of the storm unraveling inside her, Cole continued to bare his soul.

“In Delta, Thorn Rose has always been our greatest enemy. I spent years trying to destroy them—every resource, every weapon I had, I used against them. But their leader… Death Thorn… she was unlike anyone I’d ever faced. Sharp. Unpredictable. No matter how many traps I set, I could never win. At best, we ended in a draw. Recently, when I was ambushed by the Phantom Mercenaries in Podgend, it was she who saved me. She didn’t know I was Blaze Wraith and only intervened because she adored Jason. Anyway, I owe her my life. That’s why Blaze Wildfire stepped back from every competition with Thorn Rose. For her sake.”

Elliana’s mind clicked into place. So, the sudden withdrawal of Blaze Wildfire hadn’t been a calculated tactic—it was a favor returned. A quiet, personal act of…

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