Chapter 872



Once Kallie was gone, tears streamed down Lacey’s face. Lacey stared down at the river, its currents swirling violently below. Her heart ached with a mixture of grief and guilt.

She sank to her knees, her voice choked with despair.

“Jake, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

Lacey never dreamed that her attempt to drive a wedge between Jake and Kallie would indirectly result in Jake’s death. If she could turn back time, she would never have involved Clayton. All she’d wanted was for Clayton to keep Jake away from Kallie. She never imagined Clayton would go so far as to have Jake killed.

Lacey used to think Kallie was a terrible person, capable of anything. But now, Lacey realized she was no better.

The weight of her guilt was crushing her. She couldn’t help but lash out at herself, slapping her own face in frustration and self-loathing.

Lacey remained there, lost in her thoughts, for the entire afternoon. She stared blankly at the churning water below.

A sudden thought flashed through her mind. She wanted to jump. To end it all. Her love for Jake was intertwined with an overwhelming need to atone for what she’d done.

Yet, just as she was about to climb over the railing, the thought of Jeanette stopped her. What would happen to Jeanette if she was gone? Jeanette was just a child, alone in the world. She was all Jeanette had. And if Lacey was honest with herself, she was terrified of dying.

Lacey recalled how she had fought tooth and nail to escape their toxic family with Jeanette, vowing to build a better life together. Now, she was on the verge of abandoning Jeanette. What would become of Jeanette’s life if she was gone?

Determined, Lacey decided to descend the mountain and search for Jake. A sliver of hope lingered in her heart. Maybe, just maybe, she could find him if she ventured down. She could rescue him, just like she had before.

Call it fate or sheer luck, but Lacey indeed stumbled upon Jake. She found him huddled in a cave, unconscious and suffering from hypothermia. Jake had escaped any major external wounds, but his minor injuries had become infected without proper care.

Relief washed over Lacey as she spotted him. Tears of joy streamed down her face.

Fate had granted her a second chance to redeem herself. Lacey was aware that Clayton had dispatched search parties to this area for Jake’s body. Seizing the opportunity, she had slipped away unnoticed. Now, she had found Jake before Clayton’s men and, once again, saved his life. Was this a sign that their destinies were still intertwined?

Pushing aside her elation, Lacey set to work treating Jake’s wounds. After what felt like an eternity, Jake finally stirred. His eyes fluttered open. Through his blurry vision, he saw a woman’s silhouette. His first thought was of Kallie. But then Jake remembered the death certificate Clayton had shown him before he leaped from the cliff, and his heart sank.

In a fit of despair, he swatted away the woman’s hand.

“Leave me alone!” he growled.

Lacey, caught off guard, stumbled and cried out in pain. Only then did Jake realize his mistake. It wasn’t Kallie. As his vision focused, he recognized Lacey.

“Lacey?” he croaked, bewildered.

“What are you doing here?”

Back then, Clayton had pushed Jake to the brink, leaving him with no choice but to jump. In that moment of despair, Jake had felt utterly lost, a dark whisper of surrender tempting him to let go. But as gravity took hold and Jake plummeted toward the jagged rocks below, a surge of terror washed over him. He regretted his decision, clinging to life with a desperate intensity.

Fate, it seemed, had other plans for him. A solitary tree clung to the cliff face, its branches reaching out like gnarled fingers.

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