"The footprints vanish here. The snow must have buried them!"


    Captain Sean''s brow furrowed with worry. "We''ve been shouting Ms. Evadne''s name this whole time. With so many of us calling for her, she should have heard us if she were anywhere nearby."


    "The wind is howling and the snow is thick," Thaddeus said, his voice a low rumble. "It muffles everything. She might not have heard us."


    *Evadne.*


    The name slipped out so naturally, he didn''t even notice.


    "My fear is that she copsed. What if she''s injured, fell somewhere, and lost consciousness? In this cold, she could freeze to death!"


    The search party exchanged grim looks, their hearts pounding in their chests. Captain Sean wasn''t just being a pessimist; it was a brutal reality. Every year, one or two people died in Pine Grove Park. The wilderness was a treacherous, unpredictable beast.


    "We split up."


    Thaddeus stared into the pitch-ck forest, a vise of terror and dread squeezing his heart. "I''m not leaving this mountain until I find her."


    "But what if..." Captain Sean started.


    "If anything happens to her, I''ll be buried here beside her. I mean it."


    Without another word, Thaddeus turned and plunged into the darkness, leaving the others behind.


    As Captain Sean watched the man''s silhouette dissolve into the thick night, he let out a heavy sigh. "They say the greatest love storiese from the grandest houses. I''m starting to believe it."


    Thaddeus trudged through the deepening snow, his mind racing. Evadne had fought so hard for the chance to make him grant her one request, and all she had asked was for him to go hiking with her.


    It couldn''t have been just a hike.


    Perhaps she wanted to revisit their past, to feel what they once had.


    Putting himself in her shoes, where would she have gone after heading up the mountain alone?


    His heart hammered against his ribs as he forced himself onward, finally arriving at the cave where he and Evadne had taken shelter during thendslide all those years ago.


    Staring into the empty darkness of the cave, memories flooded his mind-the two of them, clinging to each other, having narrowly escaped death.


    "If heaven won''t protect you, I will."*


    The solemn vow was carved into his very soul. He had made that promise to her, and he had never forgotten it.


    Suddenly, the world spun. With a strangled cry, Thaddeus''s strength finally gave out. His vision blurred, his eyes burning as he copsed to his knees.


    "Evadne... I have to find you..."


    Hey in the snow, clutching a fistful of frozen earth, fighting to rise from the grip of despair. "I will... find you."


    ...


    As his hope dwindled, the temperature continued its merciless descent. The weather was as cruel as reality itself.


    Huddled behind a rock, Evadne was almostpletely entombed in a nket of white. A casual nce would have missed the living person curled into a tight balt, shivering beneath the snow.


    Her eyes were shut, her lips a deathly shade of purple. Hypothermia had taken hold, and her consciousness was fading. Soon, her body would freeze solid, and death would im her.


    As she trembled, warm, dreamlike images from her childhood flickered through her mind. She no longer felt the cold; instead, a gentle warmth spread through her. Her mother, gone for so many years, was there, holding her, embracing her with all her love.


    "My sweet Evadne, don''t be afraid. Mommy''s here."


    The beautiful, gentle woman stroked her hair. “I know you''re tired. Go to sleep, my


    love. I''ll watch over you..."


    "Mom... I''m so tired..." Evadne


    whispered, tears freezing on her cheeks She felt as fragile as spun ss “Mom Thaddeus doesnt want me anymore. I can''t do this... Please... take me with you..."


    Just as her consciousness began to dissolve into nothingness, a familiar voice, faint and distant, echoed in her ears.


    "Evadne!"


    *Thaddeus?*


    A jolt, like an electric current, shot through her. Her eyes flew open, but the woman''s face in her vision remained blurred.


    "He''s abandoned you, Evadne," the alluring voice whispered, eroding her will to fight. "He doesn''t want you. Why would hee looking for you? Just sleep... sleep..."


    Evadne''s heart shattered. She managed a bitter, broken smile.


    *She''s right. It can''t be him.*


    She would never let herself hope for that man again.


    But in the next instant, a pair of strong hands gripped her shoulders, the fingers<fn1257> This content belongs to F?nd-Novel</fn1257>


    digging into her flesh as if trying to reach her very soul.


    She forced her eyes open again.


    Through the murky haze, she saw him. Thaddeus''s eyes, zing like stars, were bright enough to rival the sun and moon.