Evadne stared at him, her consciousness drifting in and out of focus, her breath a fragile wisp in the frigid air.


    "It''s me, Thaddeus!"


    He saw her small face, drained of all color, her delicate body shaking like a leaf. She reminded him of a tiny kitten he''d once rescued from a dark alley on a winter''s night, nearly frozen to death. A wave of profound sorrow churned in his chest, hot and searing.


    "Thaddeus..." Evadne''s tongue was stiff with cold, and she struggled to form his name. A tear slid down her cheek as she gave a self-mockingugh. "I must be dying... It can''t be him... He''s noting back... He doesn''t want me..."


    She mumbled on, her damp eyes losing focus until her body went limp, slumping to the side.


    "Evadne! Don''t you dare fall asleep!"


    Her disbelief was a shard of ice in his heart. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he reached to pull her into his arms. "I''m Thaddeus! Open your eyes and look at me!"


    He knew the greatest danger for someone suffering from hypothermia was losing the will to live and drifting into a final, fatal sleep. He was terrified that if she closed her eyes now, she would never wake up.


    Darkness pressed in from all sides.


    Evadne''s vision swam with tears as she looked at the man before her, his gaze burning with an intensity that made her frozen heart begin to tremble.


    How long had it been since she''d seen that light in his eyes? Ever since he''d woken from hisa, those brilliant stars had been lost in a sea of darkness, colder than the night, deeper than the snow.


    But it was toote. Right now, he was thest person she wanted to see.


    Letting out a chokedugh, Evadne closed her bloodshot eyes and, with thest ounce of her strength, pushed him away.


    "You''re Thaddeus... but I don''t need you anymore."


    His brows knitted together, a sharp twist of pain echoing in his chest. He could tell himself she was delirious from the cold, that her words were meaningless. But each onended like a blow, making the flesh around his heart clench into a tight, agonizing knot.


    Ignoring her feeble resistance, he firmly pulled at her snow-soaked jacket.


    "Don''t touch me... Don''t..." Evadne''s eyes were wet and red. Her voice was a protest, but her body had no strength left to fight.


    His expression grim, he silently stripped off his own coat, still warm with his body heat, and wrapped it tightly around her frail, icy form He pulled a thermos from his pack soaked her scarf in the hot water, and pressed it against her chest, trying to transfer warmth directly to her heart.


    After a few moments of his practiced first aid, Evadne''s eyshes fluttered, and a faint hint of color returned to her ashen face. But she was still frozen, still in grave danger.


    Ignoring the biting cold that now gnawed at his own body, Thaddeus swept her into his arms and began the arduous journey back, each step sinking deep into the snow.


    "Thaddeus..." Evadne murmured against his chest, her voice so faint the wind nearly carried it away.<fnfa50> Newest update provided by fι?dnοvel</fnfa50>


    "I''m here," he answered immediately, his voice hoarse.


    "All this time... I was the one who was stubborn... who overestimated my own strength..." Her words were punctuated by a fresh wave of tears that broke through thest of her resolve. "But now... I really... I don''t want to love you anymore."


    Thaddeus''s steps faltered. The arms holding her trembled, but he forced himself to keep moving. His voice, when he finally spoke, was rough and dry. “I''m getting you out of here first. We can talk about everything elseter."


    "Later... There is noter." Evadne wept, her bitter tears soaking his cor again and again. "Thaddeus I''m so exhausted. Sometimes, L almost wish you''d just forgotten me,pletely. It would be better than this... Every time I let myself hope, you just leave me with more disappointment."


    Thaddeus''s eyes burned, but he said nothing. Her quiet, defeated words crashed through him like a tidal wave, surging into his throat until he felt like he was drowning.


    Thaddeus had found her just in time. His quick thinking had saved her life.


    After being rushed to the


    Evadne fell into aa, but she was, miraculously out of danger She remained in the ICU for O observation, where doctors treated her frostbite and ran tests to see if her organs or brain had sustained any damage.


    Jason wouldn''t dare keep something this serious from the family. He immediately notified Emeric, as well as Arnold and Aaron Ashbourne in Elmsworth. He even managed to reach Cassius Ashbourne, who had been off the grid for some time, searching for Chasel Bright in another country.


    The Ashbourne family rushed to the Elmsworth hospital. It was destined to be a sleepless night.


    Meanwhile, Thaddeus had quietly gone to have his own gunshot wound treated. The doctor told him that if he had waited any longer, he would have lost the use of his right arm.


    When Gordon burst into the room, a nurse was just finishing dressing Thaddeus''s wounds. Stark white bandages were wrapped around his forehead, his arm, his shoulder, and his torso. Dots of fresh blood seeped through the gauze, a shocking constetion of red against the white.


    But his spine was straight. He hadn''t bent, not even by an inch.


    "Mr. Thaddeus!" Gordon''s throat constricted, his eyes welling with tears.