Chapter 41 Bathing in the Same Spring

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Lucas walked over and crouched beside Sloane, then gently scooped her up into

his arms.

Her cheek pressed against his firm chest, their sweat mixing where their skin touched. She frowned in distaste. “I’m fine. Justpletely drained. I just need to rest a little.”

Lucas looked down at her, noticing her difort, then carried her over to the small bed andid her down carefully. “I’ll have Andrew prepare a bath for you. You’ll feel better after soaking.”

“Alright.” This time, Sloane didn’t argue—she really was exhausted.

Lucas turned and dressed, then made a call to Andrew. Remembering how weightless she’d felt in his arms, he added a request for some nutritional supplements as well.

Later, Sloane sank into the natural hot spring inside the vi, letting out a long sigh of relief. She hadn’t expected Lucas’s private home toe with a real geothermal spring.

The warm water wrapped around her aching limbs, slowly dissolving her tension and fatigue.

Just as she started to fully rx, she casually lifted her gaze–and spotted another figure through the mist, just beyond the edge of her pool.

A closer look revealed it was none other than Lucas.

Her eyes widened in shock.

“Don’t panici,” /icame Lucas’s voice from the other side. Calm. Gentle. “There’s a screen dividing the two pools. We can hear each other, but we can’t see through. You have my word—I can’t see you.”

Sloane frowned slightly. “I’m not panicking. But why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

Leaning against the warm stone wall, Lucas gave a small wince and said awkwardly,

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Chapter 41 Bathing in the Same Spring

“I forgot.”

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Sloane was speechless at the answer. But knowing he was just on the other side didn’t dampen her mood in the slightest.

So what if a beautiful man was bathing naked nearby? She’d already seen every inch of him during treatment.

“Ll,lla!” she hummed cheerfully, stretching out in the water.

On the other side, Lucas heard her and shook his head helplessly. To him, she was still just a carefree little girl who didn’t know the weight of the world yet.

After his soak, Lucas changed and waited in the gazebo outside for Sloane to finish.

Soon, Andrew arrived from the side path, his steps brisk. Lowering his voice, he said, “Sir, Madam Aubrey took more than a dozen bodyguards to Sand Ind. She wants to take Mason away.”

At those words, Lucas’s expression darkened instantly. A sh of emotion flickered in his eyes–so brief it was nearly invisible, but unmistakably bitter.

He fell silent for a long while. When he finally spoke, his voice was cold and steady as steel. “What else did she do?”

Sand Ind was his private territory, entirely under his control. A dozen bodyguards couldn’t even find the gate, let alone get close to Mason. If Andrew hade all this way ito /ireport it in person, she must have done something more

extreme.

Andrew hesitated before lowering his voice further. “Madam… held a dagger to her own throat. Said if we didn’t hand Mason over, she’d spill her blood on the spot. The men on the ind didn’t dare act. We had no choice but to report to you first.”

In truth, Madam Aubrey had said much worse–things Andrew couldn’t bring himself to repeat, afraid of hurting Lucas even more.

Lucas’s gaze turned cial. The temperature around him seemed to drop with it. His fists clenched tightly, veins bulging under his skin. Anger surged inside him like a rising tide–hot, cold, violent.

And buried beneath that fury… was a sorrow too heavy to speak.

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Chapter 41 Bathing in the Same Spring

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His own mother, again and again, raising a de for the sake of a foster son. And turning it–every single time–on him.

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