Read Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) Novel by Only For You Updated 2025 -26 - Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) Chapter 3233
Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) Chapter 3233
Morning light fell cold and pale over the Cunningham estate.
No one had slept.
The once-proud ancestral courtyard now felt like a funeral hall.
Conrad still knelt before Otto’s chamber, back straight despite the torrent of insults that had rained down on him all night. His forehead had struck the stone so many times that dried blood crusted along his brow.
The elders surrounding him trembled with rage.
“Traitor!”
“Dog of Andrew!”
“You want the patriarch to die? You deserve to be flayed alive!”
Yet Conrad did not turn his head.
Because he knew.
He had seen it with his own eyes in the Outlands.
He had seen what Andrew had become.
—
The chamber door creaked open.
Every voice fell silent.
Otto stepped out.
Gasps rippled through the courtyard.
In one night, Otto had aged ten years.
Half his hair had turned white. The domineering aura he once carried like a blazing banner was gone. In its place was something heavy—like a mountain that had already begun to crumble.
The elder who had struck at Conrad froze mid-motion.
“Patriarch… you…”
Otto raised a trembling hand.
“Enough.”
His voice was hoarse but still carried authority.
The courtyard fell into suffocating silence.
Otto looked at Conrad for a long time.
“You truly believe my death will save the Cunningham bloodline?”
Conrad bowed until his forehead pressed the stone.
“Yes.”
“Even if it means carrying the sin of forcing your grandfather to suicide?”
“Yes.”
A long pause.
The wind stirred fallen leaves across the courtyard.
Otto’s fingers tightened behind his back.
“You have grown,” he murmured.
The elders erupted again.
“Patriarch! Don’t listen to him!”
“We still have hidden masters!”
“We can call on allies!”
“We can fight!”
Otto slowly turned his gaze toward them.
“Fight?” he asked quietly. “Fight whom?”
No one answered.
Because everyone knew the name.
Andrew.
Otto closed his eyes briefly.
Last night, Conrad had told him everything—the Outlands, the defeated powerhouses, the collapsing alliances, Nate nearly dying, the royal families hesitating.
Andrew was no longer just a young upstart.
He was a storm.
And storms did not negotiate with mountains.
They eroded them.
Otto inhaled deeply.
“If I die,” he said slowly, “Andrew may spare you.”
An elder choked out, “Patriarch!”
Otto raised his hand again.
“But if we resist… the Cunningham family will cease to exist.”
The words fell like a death sentence.
Conrad’s body trembled, but he did not move.
Otto walked forward, step by heavy step, until he stood before his grandson.
“Look at me.”
Conrad lifted his head.
Otto’s eyes were no longer proud.
They were tired.
“You ask me to die for the family.”
“Yes.”
“And if Andrew demands more?”
Conrad’s lips parted—but no sound came out.
Because he knew.
Andrew might not stop at Otto’s life.
Otto gave a faint, bitter smile.
“You finally understand.”
—
Outside the estate gates, two figures approached slowly.
Andrew.
And Nyx.
The guards at the entrance did not dare to block them.
The gates opened almost automatically.
Inside, the Cunningham leadership felt it.
A pressure.
Heavy.
Unhurried.
Inevitable.
Someone whispered, “He’s here…”
Otto straightened slightly.
The last flicker of patriarchal dignity returned to his posture.
“Help me,” he said calmly.
Two elders stepped forward, supporting him as he walked toward the front courtyard.
Conrad remained kneeling where he was.
Because this was not his moment anymore.
This was Otto’s.
—
Andrew stepped into the courtyard.
His gaze swept across the gathered Cunninghams, finally settling on Otto.
No hostility.
No rage.
Just calm.
“You had until today,” Andrew said evenly.
Otto nodded.
“Yes.”
Silence stretched between them.
Then Otto spoke.
“I have come to a decision.”
Behind him, dozens of Cunningham elites held their breath.
The entire family’s fate balanced on the next sentence.
Otto looked directly at Andrew.
“If my death can extinguish your hatred… I will give it.”
The courtyard exploded in shock.
But Andrew did not react.
He merely tilted his head slightly.
“And if it can’t?” he asked.
The question struck like thunder.
Otto’s pupils contracted.
Because deep down—
He already knew.
This was never going to be that simple.
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