When Evadne passed out, Hans rushed her straight to the hospital, carrying her all the way in his arms and never letting go until she was inside the ER.


    Even before the doctors started working on her, she still had a hazy thread of consciousness. She could feel the cold, sharp aura of the man in ck leather boots holding her tight. It was oddly familiar, almostforting despite the pain.


    But that pain-God, it was brutal. Her mind was in shreds, dark and scattered, barely able to hold onto a single thought.


    Caught somewhere between the world and oblivion, Evadne started to dream. Or maybe it wasn''t a dream so much as her mind furiously stitching together every clue and memory since she''d arrived on Rose Ind. So many scattered fragments that never made sense until now.


    Chasel leaving hadn''t been the end. It was just the beginning.


    She couldn''t let anyone else get hurt. No matter how faint her awareness, she forced herself to keep thinking, to piece it together.


    From the RC Research Center in Country M, to the drug trials, to Avery, to Hans- who looked uncannily like Hubery. Avery, who''d died in prison, probably from drug abuse. Thaddeus, whose mind and emotions had been damaged by the same drugs. And today, just when she tried to stop Chasel from leaving the country, one of her brother''s old crew showed up out of nowhere and messed everything up...


    There had to be a connection. There just had to.


    Blurry shapes of doctors and nurses buzzed around her bed. Their anxious voices echoed in her ears. Hershes, wet with unshed tears, trembled as her eyes drifted closed.


    Get it together, Evadne! You can figure this out. You have to!


    Suddenly, she felt as if she was sinking into freezing water, deeper and deeper, her body numb and her thoughts slipping away. Just as she felt herself about to be swallowed uppletely, someone called her name-


    "Evadne? Ms. Evadne? Evadne..."


    Outside voices called her "Ms. Evadne." Family called her "Evadne." But only one person-Thaddeus-ever called her "Evadne" with that certain tenderness.


    She gasped, snapping her eyes open, red and raw from tears.


    But the face she saw wasn''t the one she yearned for. It was pale, handsome,posed—a kindness in his eyes that only made her heart sink further.


    Chad.


    "Thank goodness you''re awake, Ms. Evadne," Chad said, sitting in a wheelchair beside her bed. His dark eyes were full of worry as he looked at her bruised, pale face. “How do you feel? Is anything hurting I''ve already called the best surgeons in all of Elmsworth. You''re safe now. I won''t let anything happen to you."  s


    Evadne''s eyes shimmered, weak but stubborn. "What... did you just call me?"


    Chad met her gaze, voice low and gentle. "Evadne. May I call you that?"


    She didn''t answer, but a faint frown creased her brow. Clearly, she didn''t like it.


    Chad noticed and smiled


    apologetically. "Sorry. I remember


    now-Evadne is what Thaddeus


    used to call you. That was your


    specialthing. shouldn''t


    have


    crossed that line. Please believe me, I didn''t mean anything by it."  s


    Her heart twisted painfully. Lovers... Were she and Thaddeus still lovers?


    Chad went on, his tone patient, "The doctor said that sometimes, when a patient is unconscious, hearing name might help them wake up just kept calling you, hoping you''d


    Evadne''s lips twitched in a bitter little smile. She''d always had bigger things to care about than small details like this.


    "Mr. Chad, why... are you here?" she managed, her whole body aching as she tried-and failed to sit up.