Chapter 76: Elowen still loves Soren.

The smugness in Theron’s eyes vanished. He looked at Elowen, unable to understand why she had just stopped Soren.

She had accused Soren, made him admit he was wrong, and demanded an apology.

Theron had believed she was on his side. He had thought he had finally won. But the instant Soren began to bow, Elowen had stopped him. She couldn’t bear to see her husband humiliated.

Despite the years of hurt Soren had caused her, she still cared about his pride. No matter how badly Soren had treated her, she couldn’t let him go. Deep down, she still loved him.

This realization was unbearable. It was something Theron refused to acknowledge.

The satisfaction he had felt a moment ago drained away.

He had convinced himself he was the only one who could make her happy, the only one who truly understood her. Yet here she was, protecting Soren’s pride.

Theron felt as though his heart was tearing apart.

’Why? Why does she still care about the man who hurt her for years? Why can’t she see that Soren doesn’t deserve her?’

He wanted to make her see him, fall for him, and break up with Soren. But all he could see was her clinging to the man who didn’t love her.

Theron felt as though everything was slipping out of his grasp. And he was standing there helplessly, unable to do anything to stop her from drifting away from him.

Soren glanced at Theron and noticed how ashen his face was. But he paid him little attention. His focus was on Elowen.

"Alright. Go bring Sera. I’ll wait in the car."

Elowen hurried back into the house.

The moment she was gone, Soren turned to Theron. A knowing smirk returned to his face.

"See? Even if she is angry with me, she can’t stand to see me humiliated. This proves how much she cares about me, Theron. She loves me."

He leaned closer, his voice dropping. "And you can’t replace me in her heart."

"Don’t be so confident." Theron shot back, forcing himself to regain his composure. "You are only pretending to love her because you feel threatened that I’ll take away what you think belongs to you. But let me make one thing clear..."

He took a step toward him.

"Elowen is not your possession. She is a person with her own mind and her own choices. For years, you took her for granted. You neglected her at every turn. Now that you’ve suddenly changed your attitude, you believe she will choose you and stay with you?"

He snorted contemptuously. "Sooner or later, she will see how hollow your act is. When she finally understands the depth of my love for her, she will leave you and come to me."

Soren almost laughed at his overconfidence. "Keep dreaming. That will never happen. She won’t leave me. I’m her family. Why would she choose you over her family?"

He paused and then added with deliberate emphasis, "Besides, she loves her children. She will never raise her children away from their father."

"Children?" Theron’s eyes flew open. The word landed him harder than any of Soren’s blows.

Elowen had only one daughter, Seraphina. Why had Soren said children?

Something clicked in his mind.

’Until she is pregnant.’ The words echoed inside his head.

His chest suddenly tightened.

’No. That can’t be right.’

He had never known about her second pregnancy. There had been no second child in the past life. Then why was Elowen pregnant this time?

His mind raced as he tried to make sense of the revelation.

’He must be lying. It has to be a lie.’

Theron thought Soren had said that only to make him give up on her.

"You are lying," he grumbled.

Soren chuckled. "What would I gain by lying about something like that?"

He spotted Elowen and Seraphina coming. "Think about what I told you. Stop chasing an illusion. You will get nothing but disappointment."

He stepped forward and opened the door for them. Once they settled inside the car, he took the wheel and drove away.

Theron remained standing there, motionless. His thoughts were in chaos.

’Elowen is pregnant! How is that possible? She wasn’t pregnant in her past life. Then why have things changed this time?’

He replayed the events of his previous life in his mind, searching for an explanation.

A possibility occurred to him.

In his previous life, Tahlia had orchestrated the accident that killed Elowen. If she had been capable of something so heinous, tampering with the autopsy report was nothing to her.

Theron’s face turned ghostly white.

’So Elowen was pregnant back then. Tahlia killed three lives.’

The realization made his stomach twist.

Theron had already punished Tahlia in his past life. He had killed her right after she had finished Soren off.

At the time, He hadn’t cared that she had been carrying his child. To him, she had merely been a tool he had used to take down Soren. And once she had served her purpose, he had discarded her without hesitation.

But now, the possibility that she had murdered Elowen while she was pregnant made him feel like his punishment in the previous life was insignificant.

’Tahlia Blackwood, you won’t get away with this.’ His jaw tightened as rage took hold of him. ’This time, the punishment will be harder.’

His fists shook as he fought to keep his anger in check.

’I’ll deal with you personally once I finish Soren.’

Theron kept looking at the gate long after Soren’s car had disappeared from sight. He made no move to go back into the house. He kept standing there, his mind struggling to process everything that had happened.

"Theron..."

His mother’s voice from behind startled him.

He turned and saw her approaching, with worry written all over her face.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Charlotte’s worry deepened as she drew closer. She reached up and caressed his cheek. "You look like you have seen a ghost."

She studied him carefully. "Did anything happen between you and Soren?"

That question caught him off guard. Theron was at a loss for words for a moment. But he regained his composure soon.

"What are you saying?" He forced out a chuckle, hoping to ease the tension coiling inside him. "What could possibly have happened? We were just talking."

However, Charlotte wasn’t convinced. The softness on her face disappeared.

"You think I didn’t notice the tension between you and Soren. You both were looking at each other like you couldn’t wait to tear each other apart."

Theron’s smile faded. He turned his head aside.

"It’s nothing like that. We are just no longer the best friends we once used to be. Some issues from the past drove us apart. We can’t simply pretend that everything is fine between us."

"Past issues?" Charlotte repeated, as if weighing his words. "You’ve never told us what happened between you two back then. I never forced you to explain. But I want to know everything tonight."

She gently held his arm. Her touch was enough to make him look back at her.

"Tell me the truth," she demanded. "Is it because of Elowen?"