I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 228

His face remained stern, but the warmth in his voice was climbing steadily. "Don't turn on the waterworks just yet. I'm not finished."

He sat up straight, moving his hands from the armrests to his knees as he unleashed the burden he had carried for years.

"To be brutally honest, you broke my heart. When you first showed back up at the institute, I didn't expect a damn thing from you. I figured you'd last three days before running right back to that gilded cage. But your sheer grit lately has blown me away. You really have changed. You've severed your ties to the past completely."

He paused abruptly, his Adam's apple bobbing sharply. When he spoke again, a faint, undeniable tremor cracked his armor. "Nora... the truth is... I never actually blamed you."

Nora froze entirely. Her pupils dilated, her lips parting as she struggled to form a sound that refused to come out.

Xavier's gaze dropped to the stack of data sheets on his desk. "I was furious that you threw yourself away. I hated that you didn't value your own brilliance, that you torched your entire future and annihilated your own identity for some fleeting illusion of romance. How do you think that made the people who actually loved you feel?"

The dam broke, and Nora's tears cascaded down her cheeks. Her voice was breathless and ragged. "I'm so sorry, Professor. I was wrong. I never should have done that."

Xavier waved her off, his hardened expression finally yielding to a broad, empathetic forgiveness. "That's life. We stumble forward through a gauntlet of mistakes. You say you were wrong now, but if you were thrown back to that exact moment, you'd dive right back into the fire. Until reality beat the delusion out of you, you never would have surrendered. I know your stubborn soul better than anyone."

Nora fell silent, letting the profound weight of his words settle deep in her bones.

Xavier laughed. The deep, weathered lines on his face shifted, instantly transforming him back into the sarcastic old mentor who loved to mercilessly tease her.

Deep crow's feet crinkled around his eyes as he shot her a long-lost, wicked smirk. "Do I dare be mad at you? What if you punch me again?"

Nora burst into laughter through her tears. Swiping at her damp cheeks, she whined playfully, a thick nasal edge to her voice, "Professor! Stop making fun of me!"

The two shared a warm, knowing look, both finding the exact same profound closure in each other's eyes.