The anguished cry echoed down the entire corridor.


    Of course, Hans heard it as clear as day.


    He froze for a split second, locking eyes with a middle-aged woman a few yards away, her gaze brimming with unshed tears.


    Without warning, his heart thudded dully in his chest, heavy and sluggish, every breath tinged with a strange, suffocating emotion he couldn''t quite name.


    It was the same hollow heaviness he''d felt watching Evadne, battered and bruised, pull herself from the wreckage of an overturned car.


    "Hubery... Is that you? Hubery!"


    Suri, always the epitome of grace andposure, was now utterly undone her face streaked with tears, her voice ragged and broken. "Hubery... It''s your mother! You''re alive... My God, you''re really alive!"


    Mother...?


    Hans stared at the woman approaching him, stunned. For a moment, his heart seemed to forget how to beat. The hand holding his cigarette trembled, rough and unsteady.


    Then a sudden, splitting headache snapped him back to reality.


    He crushed his cigarette out on the balcony rail and, like lightning, vanished from Suri''s sight.


    “Hubery!” Suri hurled herself after him, heedless of anything but her desperate hope.


    She stumbled, falling hard to the floor and skinning both knees. The pain and grief left her sprawled there, unable to rise, sobbing openly.


    Meanwhile, separated by just a wall on the next balcony-


    Hans listened to the woman''s heartbroken wails, drawing a deep, ragged breath as he fought to keep the pounding in his head at bay. Muscles taut, his jaw clenched, his eyes burned crimson with emotion he couldn''t suppress.


    Inside the hospital room, the Ashbourne father and daughter finally shared a rare, private moment.


    "Dad... please, don''t worry."


    Evadne was swallowed up in a baggy hospital gown, her tiny frame almost ghostly against the white sheets. Her face was pale as snow, as if the faintest breath would melt her away, yet she still forced a smile for her father. "I''m okay. It hurt at first, I won''t lie. But now... it''s behind me."


    "You and Thaddeus... it''s really over?" Emeric clutched her cold hand, eyes anxious and searching. "You''re my own flesh and blood. Do you really think I can''t tell what''s in your heart? I may be old, but I''m not senile-and I''m certainly not blind!"


    "Dad..." Evadne''s voice caught in her throat.


    He sighed, a world-weary sound, and shook his head. "I''m an old man halfway in the ground. Keeping my pride won''t do anyone any good now."


    Squaring his jaw, Emeric made up his mind. "Tomorrow, I''ll go to the Abernathy estate and have a real talk with Thaddeus. See if there''s any chance left for you two to make things right."


    "I''ve watched you fight for each other through so much. I don''t buy this talk of medicine or emotional disorders... As long as he''s alive and his heart''s still beating, I refuse to believe he can stop loving you just like that!"


    He knew-some loves left marks that only death could erase.


    The Ashbournes had been statesmen and leaders for generations, eclipsed only by a select few. Emeric himself had only ever begged for one thing in his life: his wife''s hand in marriage.


    This would be the second time-now for Thaddeus.


    "Dad, there''s no need. I''ve made my peace with it."


    Evadne forced herself to smile, though her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "Thaddeus needs to focus on getting well. Besides his older brother''s back-there''s bound to be trouble at the Abernathy Group. He has enough on his mind; I don''t want to be another burden."


    "Let''s just... let things happen as they will."


    "You foolish girl..." Emeric''s voice broke. "You spent three years at his side, suffering for his sake! Now that you finally found each other again, you''re about to repeat the same mistake. You''re my precious girl. How can I stand to see you hurt yourself all over again, for him?"


    His frustration burst out, raw and unguarded. "You think of everything for him— have you ever thought about yourself? If Thaddeus doesn''t love you anymore, what will you do then?"


    "He promised to protect you-what has he done to keep that promise?!"


    He''d gone too far, but the pain of watching his daughter suffer left him unable to hold back.


    "Dad, Thaddeus is the way he is now because of me. Whatever he does, I won''t me him..."


    Evadne''s smile was gentle, tinged with sorrow. "From now on, I just want him to be healthy and safe, year after year. That''s all that matters."


    Suddenly, the door burst open-


    Suri stumbled in, disheveled and unsteady, supported by two women.


    Emeric had never seen her so shaken. rmed, he rushed over and caught her trembling frame.


    "Suri, what happened?"


    "Emeric!" Suri sobbed, copsing into his arms. "I saw Hubery... Our son, Hubery! I saw him!"


    Emeric''s heart jolted. He stared at her, stunned. “That''s impossible... Hubery''s been gone for years."<fnd8ca> For original chapters go to findnovel</fnd8ca>


    "Suri, are you sure you''re not just


    e''


    seeing things because you''re upset?" Aviana''s voice was gentle but worried. "Mr. Hubery Ashbourne died in that ne crash. Not a single person survived-it was confirmed. There''s no way he could be alive."