Chapter 225: Edge of Despair
Before arriving at Matthew’s apartment, Cormac had been furious, but nothing could have prepared him for the scene he walked into.
“I just came to understand the situation,” Cormac said, his voice softer as he glanced at Aurora. The girl looked fragile, too small for her age—at least twenty pounds lighter than other kids. She was malnourished, and her eyes were filled with fear.
“I don’t have any money right now, so I can’t compensate you,” Cormac admitted, his voice tight with frustration. He looked down at himself and then took off his watch. “Take this. You can sell it for some cash.”
Aurora hesitated, stepping back, still clutching the fruit knife in her hands. Cormac, sensing her fear, placed the watch gently on the table. He turned to leave, but as he reached the door, his phone rang.
The screen displayed “Galatea.” He quickly hung up, a knot tightening in his chest. Without a second thought, he powered off the phone and removed the SIM card, tossing it aside.
“I’ll give you this phone too,” Cormac said, placing the dead phone on the table. “I won’t need it soon anyway.”
With that, he walked out of the apartment, leaving Aurora to process everything in silence.
Meanwhile…
Back at the house, Stellan’s concern grew when Cormac didn’t pick up her call. She tried again, but it went straight to voicemail.
“What should we do? Cormac’s phone is off,” Stellan said, her voice laced with worry.
Alaric immediately grabbed his phone and dialed Cormac’s number, but there was no answer.
“Off?” Alaric echoed, his face hardening with worry. “Does Cormac have another phone number?”
“No. I was careless. I should’ve had someone follow him,” Alaric admitted, clearly frustrated with himself.
Stellan’s anxiety rose. “What if… What if Cormac’s thinking of doing something drastic? Like… suicide?”
Her fear was real. With the Nash family’s downfall, Cormac had lost everything—his fortune, his family, his reputation. He might have felt like there was no reason to keep going.
Alaric, already in motion, grabbed his car keys. “We have to find him.”
“I’ll go with you,” Stellan said, her voice firm despite the fear twisting in her chest. Mia and the others were looking after the kids, so they didn’t need to worry.
Together, Alaric and Stellan headed out, racing against the sinking sun.
At the Rooftop…
It was already dark when Cormac found himself standing on the rooftop of a tall building, gazing out over the city.
He had looked out over this same city countless times before. Back then, he had felt pride, ambition, and even peace as he watched the lights twinkle. Now, those same lights felt distant and cold. The city still looked beautiful, but it felt empty—none of the lights were waiting for him to return home.
The former glory of his life was gone, swept away in the wake of the Nash family’s collapse. He still clung to the faint hope that Orion’s car accident had hidden truths, something to unravel. But when he saw Aurora—Matthew’s daughter—something in him broke.
The drive for vengeance, the desire to uncover a conspiracy, slowly began to fade.
As he stood there, alone, Cormac realized that no matter how much Alaric hated Griffon, it wasn’t something Alaric would have orchestrated. His anger felt baseless now. There were no hidden truths, no vast conspiracy. It was simply fate. Fate had taken Ravenna and Orion from him in one swift blow.
Was this retribution for past wrongs? He couldn’t understand. He had wronged no one—so why was he left in ruins? Why was he being avoided, cast aside like a forgotten memory? The world seemed so vast, yet there was no place for him in it anymore.
Suddenly, his name echoed from below, cutting through the quiet night.
“Cormac! Cormac!”
Alaric and Stellan arrived at the old Nash family company headquarters, now sealed off and abandoned. They rushed inside, but after checking every corner, they found the place empty.
“We’ve checked all the places Cormac used to frequent, but we couldn’t find him,” Stellan reported, her voice full of concern after their fruitless search.
Alaric’s face darkened. “Check the surveillance. I’ll have someone review all the cameras in Arizona.”
It was a massive task—Arizona was vast, and tracking Cormac in such a large state would take time, but they had no other choice.
Back on the Rooftop…
It was past midnight now, and Cormac stood on the edge of the rooftop, the city sprawled beneath him in all its artificial beauty. The lights were dimming as people drifted off to sleep, their families wrapped in warmth.
He wasn’t part of that world anymore.
As a psychologist, Cormac had never understood the mentality behind someone who would take their own life. “If you’re brave enough to die, why not live?” he had always thought. But now, standing on the edge, he found it hard to convince himself otherwise.
How ironic—he had spent so much time analyzing the human mind, and now, he couldn’t even make sense of his own despair.
He took one step, then another, his feet moving toward the edge. The drop was so far. If he jumped, it would be quick, right?