Chapter 1120

He’d grown up at Maxine’s side, and many assumed Maxine favored him. But they never knew his true pain. She was cruel and fickle. Gentle one day, vicious the next. Her temper could twist into such hatred that she would torture him within an inch of death. He grew up trembling, living in fear. N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on find[?]ovel.net

Whenever Maxine punished him, he would lie awake, staring at the stars, imagining his parents’ faces, wondering where home might be.

He dreamed of it countless nights but never believed he would see it. Yet, here it was, real before his eyes. He was a Henderson. His true name was Cutler. From this day on, Jules was gone. He was Cutler.

Clutching the report, his voice shook. “Where are my parents? Can I see them?”

“Cutler!” Eloisa cried all of a sudden. She had feared he wouldn’t acknowledge her, but the moment he spoke, all her fears dissolved. Her son longed to come home.

Cutler’s eyes drifted past Elliana at last. He saw them — his family — standing with tears glistening. The woman who had called his name was sobbing hardest of all.

He studied her face, and deep inside, a memory stirred. He saw himself as a toddler chasing bubbles, laughing, and running toward a woman, calling “Mommy” again and again.

“Mommy!” he cried, the word bursting out of him.

Eloisa rushed forward, wrapping him in her arms, weeping without end. Gatlin, Charles, and Barbara gathered close, and together the family clung to one another, their tears washing away years of pain.

It was a heartbreaking sight. A family once torn apart for years was finally whole again.

The emotion in the basement was so thick that it felt as though the very air was heavy with tears.

Elliana and Cole lingered quietly in the background, giving the Hendersons the space to embrace what they had lost for so long.

When the flood of emotion eased, Elliana signaled for the shackle to be removed from Cutler’s ankle, granting him his freedom.

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Gone was the careless grin Cutler used to wear. He looked at Elliana with a new gravity. “You want answers about the Serpent Society. Ask me. I won’t hold anything back.”

Relief softened Elliana’s face. “Good. Let’s have this conversation upstairs.”

The group left the dim basement and gathered in a modest drawing room, where silence settled before Elliana asked, “Where is the Serpent Society’s stronghold? And where is Maxine?”

Cutler shook his head. “Maxine’s a ghost. She never lingers. The last I saw, she was aboard a cruise ship, but it has vanished without a trace. As for their bases… there isn’t just one. Centuries ago, after being defeated by the Campbells, the Griffiths family scattered their forces, vowing never to rely on a single nest. They built hidden headquarters across the map, most known only to a chosen few. Even I was kept in the dark. Though Maxine betrothed me to Katrina, she never revealed the family’s deepest secrets. Katrina herself knows little. The only place I can name is Gearveil Hall in Delta. That’s where Katrina and I were raised.”

Gearveil Hall.

The name struck like a stone. Elliana and Cole froze. Both had built their own power in Delta. Both knew the weight that name carried.

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