?Chapter 1074:


    The figure shifted, raising her head, and her face lit up with relief.


    “Eric, you’re awake!”


    It wasn’t Hadley—it was Linda.


    Eric’s hand fell back to the sheet, a quiet ache settling in his chest. Of course it wasn’t Hadley. Hadley had moved on, leaving him behind.


    “You feeling okay?” Linda asked, reaching to touch his forehead.


    “Much better,” Eric replied, turning his face just enough to evade Linda’s hand.


    “I’m all sweaty,” he added lightly, as if to exin. “Don’t want to get you messy. I’m fine, really.”


    Linda’s smile was gentle as she drew back her hand. “Good to hear.”


    The caregiver stirred too, fetching a ss of water. “Mr. Flynn, would you like a drink?”


    “Yeah, thanks.”


    “Let me take it,” Linda said, taking the ss and holding it toward Eric.


    “Here, let me help.”


    “I can manage,” Eric said with a small shake of his head. “It’s not like I’m down for the count.”


    He lifted the ss with a gentle grasp, tilted his head back, and savored the liquid in deep gulps before passing the empty vessel back to the caregiver.


    “I would like a bath. Please prepare the water,” he said.


    “Very well,” the caregiver replied with a nod, heading off to fulfill the request.


    Eric then turned his gaze to Linda. “Linda.”


    Just then, the sharp trill of Linda’s phone cut through the moment.


    She raised her phone with a small smile. “I’ll take this outside.”


    With that, she glided out of the room in her wheelchair.


    “Hello?”


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    The caregiver soon reappeared from the bathroom. “Mr. Flynn, the bath is ready.”


    “Thank you.” Eric gave a slight nod and stepped into the bathroom.


    Immersed in the soothing embrace of the water, Eric let his eyelids flutter shut. Visions of Hadley danced in his mind—her radiant smiles, yful pouts, and shes of fiery anger.


    He drew a slow, steady breath and, in a sudden impulse, slipped beneath the surface.


    It would be alright.


    Time would weave its quiet magic, and he would forget.


    Hadley had been right—life moved on, with or without someone by your side.


    He had been a solitary soul since the cradle and had carved a path through life regardless.


    Yet, a hollow ache gnawed at his chest, as if his heart were a deste in where no seed could take root.


    Was this his reckoning?


    Once, he had turned her away without a second nce, and now she had walked out of his life without looking back.


    Karma, it seemed, spared no one.


    When he emerged from the bathroom, towel in hand, Linda was back, seated at the dining table, her warm gesture inviting him closer. “All done? Come, have a seat—there’s something easy on the stomach.”


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