Forced Marriage: My Wife, My Redemption by Lilyheart

Chapter 155: You have to lose, to win it back

After the whirlwind of truths and the emotional tidal wave that had swept through the dining table like a storm,

the silence that lingered was almost unbearable.

Tension still clung to the corners of the room, refusing to leave entirely despite the softened expressions now

resting on most faces.

And then, like the first gentle breeze after a storm, Jessica spoke.

Her voice was soft, yet it rang clearly. "Can we toast to this new beginning?"

She raised her glass—not just in celebration, but in hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, something good could

finally grow from all this chaos.

For a moment, no one moved.

Then Elliot Raven was the first to lift his glass, followed by Davis. One by one, each person followed, glasses held

high, as they toasted to their heart felt wishes.

"To new beginnings," Jessica said again, firmer this time, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "To

family," Bella whispered beside her. "To peace," Elliot added with a heavy nod.

Clinks echoed around the table as glasses touched.

The atmosphere, which had earlier been thick with shock, finally began to lift. Conversations resumed with light,

cautious chatter, but sincere.

The air loosened, and quiet laughter slowly made its way into the corners of the room.

Even Ethan had started to smile again though it cwith a side of resigned heartbreak as he kept stealing

glances at Bella, as if mourning what could never be.

Amid the subtle chatter, Davis turned slightly in his wheelchair, his eyes locking on Richard with a knowing look.

"How did it go?" he asked under his breath, barely loud enough for others to catch.

Richard, who had just taken a sip from his glass, nodded and leaned slightly closer.

"It was positive," he said, keeping his voice low. "He signed."

A small sigh of relief escaped Davis's lips.

Richard continued, "As things are, there's calm returning to the Allen Group. The pressure is easing. But..." He

paused.

The room, sensing the shift in his voice, fell into silence once again.Richard looked around the waiting faces,

then dropped the next sentence like a sledgehammer.

"But he will soon declare you dead."

The words crashed down like thunder.

Jessica froze, her fingers tightening around the stem of her glass.

Bella's head snapped toward Davis, her expression etched in confusion. Even Elliot seemed momentarily

stunned.

Richard pressed on, "Seeing the signature... he recognized it immediately and suspected you might be the one."

He said with a playful smile tugging his lips in recollection of Desmond frightened and contemplative face.

"Then, how did you manage to get him down?" Davis asked with a guess already forming in his mind.

"1 only convinced him. Because the document was already prepared with your other nDave Ravensdale he

believed it."

"1 am surprised he didn’t know you by that nwhen he is your uncle." Richard smirked.

"Dave Ravensdale" Jessica murmured quietly. Davis leaned back slowly, closing his eyes for a second as

memories stirred from deep within him. His expression softened with nostalgia, pain... longing.

"I didn’t just pick that nout of nowhere," he said, opening his eyes again. "It was a nmy mother gave

me... long ago. | was only seven." Everyone listened silently as he recounted its origin.

"She told me," Davis continued, "that if | ever found myself in danger... life-threatening danger... | was to

abandon the Allen name. | was to call myself Dave Ravensdale instead." He paused, staring down at the table,

lost in memory.

"At that time, | was just a kid. | didn’t understand why she said that. | even asked her why she didn’t just say

‘David’ and who are the Ravensdale?

And she just smiled and said... ‘Dave is a none would never align with any family and Ravensdale ncan

grant you temporary protection until you get to safe place. It's safer. It’s freer."

"I think | am.beginning to understand it better, she never connected herself to the Ravensdale in public and had

just givento search for my alternative root, be protected by them." He smiled lightly.

"She really prepared well for eventuality." Jessica murmured to herself, proud of the woman who she never met.

But then, her heart clenched as she imagined little Davis, just seven years old, being handed a nlike a

lifeline in a sea of dangers he couldn't yet understand.

"She madememorize it. Drill it into my head. And when the accident happened, when everything went

wrong... it was the only n| could remember that didn’t carry weight. That didn’t carry blood."

Richard looked at him with quiet understanding. "That's why | told him you were Dave Ravensdale. He believed

me—well, enough to move forward. But he’s still suspicious. We've bought stime, but... when he makes that

announcement... it won't be the same."

"Let him make the announcement, | already accepted that fate the very t| was declared missing." Davis said

simply.

Everyone turned toward him again trying to understand what he is up to.

"There's no returning to the Allen Group now," he continued. "Not as Davis Allen, anyway. Not yet. But as Dave

Ravensdale... | can move freely. Strategically though wouldn't make a public appearance" he concluded.

Jessica looked at him in awe. It wasn’t the nthat impressed her—it was the calm with which he embraced

such a dangerous path. The clarity in his eyes. The refusal to be a victim of circumstance.

"Do you know the implications of switching your identity?" she whispered. He glanced at her, the edge of his lips

tugging into the faintest of smirks. "Yes," he said. "But you've already taken the first step preparing the

document with that nbesides | can still merge the names later. No biggie."

Elliot cleared his throat. "It's dangerous," he said gruffly. "Going along with this game, letting the world believe

you're dead. Do you understand the weight of that?"

"I do," Davis answered without hesitation. "But sometimes... you have to lose everything in plain sight just to win

it back in silence."

Bella blinked, clearly overwhelmed. "So you... you're going to let the world think you're gone?"

Davis turned to her, his voice softer. "Not gone. Besides not my choice. Just an adaptative measure of survival.

Just... hidden. For a little while."

q ), q

Jessica couldn't explain the rush of

emotion that rose inside her. Pride

for him gradually paces

a eas Fr r the unknown

path he is taking and challenge

ahead and pain due to heartache of

what he will pass through for that

plot to hold. The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

All these emotions tangled into one mess that she could barely bear it. She had known Davis was strong.

But now she was beginning to understand just how deeply his strength ran. Richard leaned back, analyzing the

situation silently.

"If you have made this decision then all things are now easier as you finally traced your maternal home. Let your

nbe added to the family register immediately and from there we take it step by step. He suggested.

"Because once he makes that declaration, there's no turning back." He concluded.

Elliot nodded slowly. "Then let's make sure that when Davis Allen returns... the entire world will have no choice

but to take a knee."

~At the Allen Family Residence~

Desmond returned home, a satisfied smile playing on his lips, confidence brimming in his stride, with the

certificate of auditing and certification of tax payment in his hand, his curled up.

He hadn't expected to emerge unscathed from the storm that had raged through the Allen group threatening it

downfall as it hung by a single thread of hope, but somehow, he had.

The young man had delivered

grudgingly, but the fact that he had

fulfilled the requests @yrta it) !

ThopgHR fad cost Desmond a

figurative pound of flesh, the

outcwas worth every bit of it

and he is proud of that. The content

is on novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

With both certificates in hand, he is

sure nothing can stop him from

advancing further aqd(Bkiag Over his

rightful Position as the CEO. He dares

the shareholders and board

members who will defy his

authority—he will take care of them.

For a long time, Desmond had been unable to reach the mysterious man he once aligned with, often times he

wondered if he was dead because he had gone to quiet to believe him alive.

But dead or alive, his loyalty had shifted. After all, it was the new player who had proven reliable when it

mattered most, when the world was waiting for his downfall.

And in Desmond's eyes, only a friend in need was truly a friend indeed. And for the friends that had turned his

back on him when the law clamped down on him, he promised to pay back in folds.

With measured gait and a heart full of conviction, he made his way toward Elder Allen’s study to present the

certificate as