---- Chapter 26 26 Liam drifted in a haze of pain and exhaustion. For a brief moment, there was a strange peace. The physical agony had silenced the louder torments in his mind. Then, the nightmares began. Maya, standing before him, her eyes filled with a sorrow so profound it shattered him. She was holding out her wedding ring "| don't want this anymore, Liam," she said, her voice a whisper of wind She dropped the ring. It fell in slow motion, disappearing into a black abyss. She turned and walked away, fading into the darkness. He tried to call out, to reach for her, but he was paralyzed, voiceless. He woke with a strangled cry, drenched in a cold sweat. His grandmother was sitting by his bedside. "She's gone, Liam," Eleanor said, her voice firm but laced with a deep sadness. "You must accept it. You must stop this madness. For your own sake. For the sake of this family, this company." "No," Liam croaked, his throat raw. "I can find her. | can make her understand." Eleanor sighed. She had hoped it wouldn't come to this. ---- She pulled out her phone, played a recording. It was Maya's voice, from a call Eleanor had made weeks ago, a desperate, final plea on Liam's behalf. "Eleanor, | respect you," Maya's voice said, polite but unyielding. "But | will not see Liam. | will not speak to him. He made his choices. | have made mine. He needs to move on. | have. Please, tell him to leave me in peace. If he truly ever loved me, he will grant me this one thing." The recording ended. The finality in Maya's voice, the calm, unbreakable resolve, was like a physical blow to Liam. He stared at his grandmother, his eyes wide with a dawning, horrifying understanding. This wasn't a game. This wasn't a phase. This was the end. He collapsed back onto the pillows, a racking sob tearing through him. The physical pain from Eleanor's caning was nothing compared to this. This was the death of hope. Eleanor watched her grandson break, her heart aching for him, for Maya, for the ruins of their love. "| will have you taken to the country estate," she said softly. "You need to heal. Away from here." She knew Liam. He would try to run, to continue his futile search. She would have to confine him, for his own good. ---- She was old, tired. This family drama was taking its toll. But she would do what needed to be done.