Chapter 438 Ashes of Apologies

For a moment, Kayden had no idea how to face Tilda. He had so much he wanted to say to her, but now that she was standing right in front of him, the words just wouldn’t come.

“Thank you, Mr. Woodward, for letting me play the violin. I really appreciate it. I’ll be going now.”

Since Kayden had shown up, she had no interest in sticking around any longer. Tilda gave a polite nod, then turned to leave.

“Hey, hey, hey, wait a second…”

Stephen started to say something, but Tilda didn’t even glance back. She walked out without a second thought.

Watching her go, Kayden still stood frozen in place. Stephen shot him a look full of disappointment. “Why are you just standing there like an idiot? When you came to help with the violins, all you did was talk about your sister, and now that she’s right here, you’re suddenly mute? What happened to all that courage, huh?” he said.

“I… I’m sorry, Mr. Woodward. I’m going after her.”

Finally, Kayden found the nerve and ran after Tilda.

Stephen let out a long sigh. “I must really be getting old, getting involved in stuff that isn’t even my business anymore. But if this is fate, then, Kayden… let’s just say I’ve repaid a favor.”

Whether it ended well or not, that part was up to him.

“Tilda!”

Kayden called out, chasing after her.

Tilda didn’t slow down; in fact, she picked up her pace, making it clear she didn’t want anything to do with him. But his voice had drawn attention. A few guests passing by in the resort turned to look, curious about the commotion.

Tilda didn’t say a word, but she stopped walking.

She turned around and gave Kayden a sharp, irritated glare. “Spit it out if you’ve got something to say.”

“Tilda, I know you hate me. I know you don’t want to see me. But running into you today… it really was just a coincidence.”

Tilda snorted. “If that’s all the crap you’ve got to say, I’m leaving, and you can get the hell out of my sight too.”

Seeing that Tilda wasn’t giving him even a second to speak, Kayden clenched his jaw and stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

“Tilda, I’m not here to talk about me. I’m here because of Justin!”

“Are you serious right now? I cut ties with the Jensons ages ago. I have nothing to do with any of you anymore. So don’t go blaming me every time one of you screws something up!”

She looked at him like he was an idiot. This guy had been chasing her down, going on and on nonstop, and now he wanted to dump some Jenson drama on her? Was this dude actually trying to pin something on her?

She must’ve been insane to even consider stopping for him.

The Jensons were all the same, one more irrational than the next.

“That piano piece you played years ago, the one you uploaded online, it saved Justin’s life.”

He knew she had no reason to stick around otherwise, so he rushed to explain.

“Tilda, you had no idea, but that video you posted? It changed everything for him. That one moment, it pulled Justin back from the edge. Without you, there wouldn’t be a Justin today, not the one the world knows. You helped create the Justin who’s now globally famous. You saved him.”

Tilda still didn’t say anything, but her eyes flicked up, one brow arching in surprise.

That she hadn’t known. That was new. Something that hadn’t happened in her previous life.

No wonder.

Back then, Genevieve had suddenly popped up, become Justin’s girlfriend, and eventually married into the Jensons.

In this life, Justin and Genevieve had already crossed paths again, seemingly out of nowhere. She had always thought it was just their shared profession that brought Justin and Genevieve together.

But now…

Turns out Genevieve had stolen her identity and her work. She’d used it to lie to Justin, to win his trust, just so she could get the Jensons’ backing and climb her way into power.

Ha.

When Tilda thought about it that way, it was almost funny.

Too bad she couldn’t go back and watch how it all ended in her last life.

Kyla and Tobias had betrayed them together. Then throw in Genevieve, completely unstable, full of secrets and ulterior motives, married into the family like some kind of time bomb.

And the Jensons?

So smug. So convinced they were surrounded by nothing but loyalty and control. In reality, the very people they trusted most had been playing them like fools the entire time.

They thought they had it all figured out. They had no idea that disaster had already started creeping in – silent, patient, inevitable.

Just thinking about it made her heart race.

If the Jensons didn’t end up worse than Tilda had in her last life, burned alive in that fire, she’d honestly feel cheated.

“Tilda, you saved Dominic. You saved Mom. You saved the entire Jenson family. And now, you’ve saved Justin, too.”

Kayden’s voice cracked with emotion. “Even us, your brothers, you changed us. You saved us. We’re blood, Tilda. Real family. We know we messed up. Bad. Dad and Mom may not say it out loud, but they live with that guilt every single day. And Dominic? You have no idea how much he blames himself. We all want you back, Tilda. Please. Give us another chance. Come back to the Jensons. Let us make it right.”

Kayden was losing control of his emotions. His eyes were red, glistening with tears he could barely hold back.

For someone like Kayden, usually so cold and quiet, this kind of vulnerability was almost unimaginable, but that only made it more real.

He knew it probably sounded like emotional blackmail, and he knew he was asking for too much, but he didn’t care anymore.

All that mattered was getting one more chance, to have one more shot at making things right.