?Chapter 1179:


    She dipped a cotton swab in water and gently traced it across his lips, her every movementced with care.


    Leif stepped into the room again. “Mrs. Burke, I’ve arranged for a caregiver—someone to handle the bandages, the cleaning…”


    Yvonne didn’t even nce his way. Her answer was final. “I’ll do it myself.”


    Leif let out a slow, exasperated sigh. There was nothing else to say.


    Yvonne had poured herself wholly into Norton’s care, refusing to entrust even the smallest task to anyone else. Just watching her made Leif’s chest ache with quiet sympathy.


    “Mr. Burke wouldn’t want to see you wear yourself out,” he murmured.


    Yvonne only offered a faint smile. Her eyes were fixed on something far away. She turned back to Norton’s unconscious figure and replied with soft reproach, “Then he’d better wake up soon.”


    Without another word, she resumed her silent vigil—dipping a cotton swab in water with gentle precision and tracing it across his cracked lips like a prayer.


    Every day, she wiped his fevered skin, changed his bandages, and kept a constant, unwavering watch over him. Hour after hour, she remained at his side, clinging to hope with quiet desperation.


    But the toll was swift and merciless—her strength began to fade under the weight of exhaustion.


    One quiet afternoon, she sat by Norton’s bed, her head cradled in one hand, the other wrapped gently around his. Her gaze lingered on his handsome face—the same face she once knew filled with mischief and life.


    Sleep tugged at her. She hadn’t rested properly in days, and in the stillness of the room, her eyelids began to droop.


    Then—a twitch. The faintest movement beneath her fingertips.


    Her eyes snapped open, startled.


    Norton’s lids fluttered, and slowly, he opened his eyes. His blurred vision focused on her pallid face, and a flicker of pain crept into his expression. “You look so tired.”


    The moment she heard his voice, herposure shattered. Tears poured down her cheeks, unbidden and unstoppable. “You’re finally awake!”


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    He looked at her, his heart tightening. His voice dropped to a soft whisper. “My wounds hurt.”


    rm shed across her face. “Where? Let me see. Should I call the doctor?”


    Norton chuckled. He lightly grazed her palm with his fingertips in a yful gesture. “If you stay here with me, it won’t hurt anymore.”


    Realizing he was teasing, she let out a breathyugh through her tears, overwhelmed by a confusing blend of relief and sweetness.


    They smiled at each other, eyes meeting in a moment suspended in golden light—the kind that made the rest of the world fall away.


    Then, as if jolted by memory, Norton shifted. “Pass me my phone,” he said. “I need to check if there’s anything urgent I’ve missed.”


    Yvonne shot him a half-scolding re but handed it over anyway. “Even now, you can’t stop working?”


    He unlocked his phone and saw a message from Shelly waiting. Curious, he opened it. It read, “Can we meet one more time?” His fingers moved without hesitation. He typed, “No.”


    Then he deleted the conversation and blocked her number.


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