Chapter 2202

Chelsea hadn’t run away just to be with Jason. There was another reason gnawing at her—a reason she rarely said aloud. The suffocating air of her parents’ house had finally become more than she could bear.

Since she’d entered her mid-twenties, every conversation with them felt like a broken record. Either they pressured her about marriage, or they compared her to some cousin who already had a glowing career and a chubby grandbaby on the way.

In the end, she packed her life into two suitcases, rented a modest loft, and moved in with Jason. She found an ordinary nine-to-five job, and to her surprise, the steady routine made her feel as light as a kite drifting over an open field.

That night, she tugged the blanket over her shoulders and drifted back to sleep, completely unaware that across town, her parents lay wide-eyed in the dark, their racing heartbeats ticking in time with the bedroom clock.

Kingston paced the rug as though trying to grind his worry into the floorboards. “So this is your perfect daughter!” he shouted, his voice cracking with frustration.

Phoebe rolled her eyes, arms folded tightly across her chest. “Oh, please. As if she isn’t yours too.”

Kingston opened his mouth, but no words came. His breath soured into helpless silence.