Cassius''sshes were damp with tears, his heart feeling as if someone had gouged a hole straight through it. The grief was so raw, it nearly took his breath away.


    Arnold noticed at once how pale his brother looked and hurried over, his voice tight with worry.


    "Cassius, what''s wrong? Talk to me!"


    "Evadne... she went to the airport. She went after Chasel," Cassius murmured, his voice hollow and numb, a metallic taste of blood rising in his throat.


    Arnold froze, his own heart sinking. "She went to the airport? Evadne went after him again? What on earth happened?"


    Cassius couldn''t speak another word. His broad shoulders slumped, and he wavered where he stood, barely able to keep his bnce.


    Chasel was gone. Evadne had gotten into a car ident trying to chase after him -now she was battered and broken.


    He''d sworn he''d protect them both. In the end, he''d failed them all...


    Cassius turned away, his steps unsteady as he stumbled out of the hospital room. rmed, Arnold rushed after him.


    In the empty corridor, Cassius pressed his forehead against the cold wall, mming it against the ster again and again.


    Tears streamed down his face, hitting the floor in heavy drops, darkening the linoleum in spreading rings.


    "Cassius! What are you doing?!"


    Arnold had never seen his brother unravel like this. He panicked, grabbing Cassius by the shoulders, trying to steady his trembling frame. "Please, tell me what happened! We''ll figure it out together, I promise!"


    "There''s no Chasel anymore..."


    Cassius''s forehead was raw and red. His eyes were unfocused, his voice broken, barely more than a whisper. "He... he broke up with me. He''s gone."


    Arnold stared at him in shock, drawing a sharp, cold breath.


    ...


    Back in the hospital room-


    Emeric read over Evadne''stest test results, and only then did the worried faces


    of the three women-Aviana, Suri, and Myra-ease a little.


    "Mr. Chad, thank you so much for your help. If you hadn''t been here, my daughter would''ve been all alone in the hospital, and who knows what might have happened." Emeric''s mind still lingered on the ambiguous scene he''d witnessed when he entered, but no matter how uneasy he felt, it would have been rude not to thank the man who''d watched over his precious daughter.  s


    "Please, Chairman Emeric, just call me Chad. I was here for a checkup myself and happened to run into Ms. Evadne."


    Chad''s handsome features seemed almost sculpted from marble, and his gentle smile radiated an easy warmth. "It feels like fate, meeting Ms. Evadne here."


    Emeric pre


    his lips together.


    If his daughter were single, he would have let thement slide without much thought.


    But Evadne already had someone. Hearing Chad say this made him distinctly ufortable.


    Evadne exhaled quietly, ncing sidelong at Chad-only to find him meeting her gaze with the same gentle warmth. Their eyes met, and to the rest of the Ashbourne family, the air seemed to take on a subtle,plicated tension.  s


    "I heard the driver who hit Evadne just dumped her at the hospital and disappeared? Didn''t even bother to check on her?” Aviana Ashbourne seethe "What kind af heartless


    person does that? Even if he didn''t want to take responsibility, the least he could do was apologize and exin himself! Running off like a coward-that''s hit-and-run, in and simple! The Ashbournes don''t need his money, but he owes us an exnation!"  s


    Suri clenched her jaw, her eyes still rimmed with red. "Myra, at least he brought her to the hospital. Imagine if he hadn''t cared at all—that would''ve been truly terrifying."


    Myra Barlow Ashbourne''s elegant brows pinched in concern. "Let''s check the security cameras. After everything Evadne''s been through, we have to find the person who did this. We can''t just let it go."


    Aviana agreed at once. "Absolutely! I''ll have our team at S-Star Group investigate. We''ll track him down within three days, no matter what!"


    Emeric turned back to his daughter, anxiety etched into every line of his face. "Evadne, where''s Thaddeus? You''re in this state, and your fiancé isn''t here with you? What''s going on?"


    He had no idea what had happened earlier. All he knew was that his daughter had been unconscious for more than a day, and when she finally woke, it was Chad at her bedside, not Thaddeus. He couldn''t make sense of it at all.


    Evadne''s heart skipped a beat. She forced herself to remain calm, swallowing the pain that threatened to spill from her dark eyes.


    As she scrambled for a way to shield her father from the truth, Alexia spoke up, feigning surprise.


    "Chairman Emeric, you mean you haven''t heard? Thaddeus and Evadne have broken up."