Thaddeus took a deep breath, an unfamiliar nervousness tightening his chest as he pushed open the door to the hospital room. There were very few things that could make him nervous, and even fewer people. Besides his grandfather, Evadne was the only one.


    The room was quiet, save for the soft hum of medical equipment.


    Evadne wasn''t asleep. She was propped up against the headboard, her face turned toward the window, staring nkly into the pitch-ck, starless night. He couldn''t tell what she was looking at in the empty darkness.


    His gaze froze, and he stopped in his tracks. For a moment, he felt like he couldn''t even breathe. The girl who had always been so bright and optimistic, so full of life, now seemed dim, deste, and so fragile it felt like a single breath could make her disappear.


    After a long moment, Evadne sensed his presence. She turned her head slowly, her vacant eyes meeting his, as deep and dark as the ocean.


    "What... are you doing here?" Her body, draped in the oversized hospital gown, trembled. The corners of her eyes were red, her entire frame tense with a palpable resistance to him.


    Thaddeus walked toward her, thermos in hand, his eyes nearly ck with intensity. "Are you feeling any better?"


    A coldugh escaped her lips. The blue-green veins on the back of her hand, where the IV was inserted, bulged. "Thanks to you, Mr. Dempsey, I haven''t frozen to death yet."


    The image of her curled up in the snow shed through his mind, and a nameless anger red in his chest. "Evadne," he said, his voice sharp with frustration, "is it worth it? Threatening to kill yourself, abusing your own body like this... all for me?"


    A sharp painnced through Evadne''s heart. Her already pale face seemed to lose another shade of color, as if the blood had been drained from it.


    "I told you I would keep my promise to you. Just not that day," he said, his tone hardening, perhaps out of anger.<fn5469> The rightful source is find·novel</fn5469>


    Maybe it was the illness that made her so stubborn, but she pressed on. "Why not that day?"


    "I was in a hurry to find someone."


    "Who?" she asked, her voice raspy.


    Thaddeus''s gaze deepened, and his lips parted as if to speak. The words swirled


    in his throat, but when they finally came out, they were cold and distant.


    "Someone very important to me."


    Hearing this, Evadne''s lips twisted into a bitter smile. She instantly regretted asking. Hadn''t she already embarrassed herself enough? There was a time when she was the most important person in his world Now, it seemed anyone could capture his attention, anyone could make him break their promises and cast her aside without a second thought.


    "Don''t do this again," Thaddeus said, cing the thermos on the bedside table


    and lowering hisshes. "It''s not worth hurting yourself over me."


    "You''re right, it''s not worth it," she whispered, her eyes downcast. "So... I''ll never be a fool for you again." That night, she had been drowning in despair, and in his eyes, alpit amounted to was "not worth it."


    He took out the inner container, his voice low. "Good."


    Evadne bit the inside of her lip, her eyes turning red as she forced a bright smile. "I already told you, there is no ''again.'' You haven''t forgotten that, have you, Mr. Dempsey?"


    "Drink this soup. It''s good for you," he said, ignoring her question and pouring a bowl of fragrant broth. He held it out to her.


    "Get it away from me! I don''t want your charity!" A storm of emotions surged through her. She suddenly swung her IV-punctured hand—


    The entire bowl of hot soup sshed across the front of his impable suit, soaking the fabric and leaving an ugly, messy stain.


    Beads of sweat dotted Evadne''s forehead as she huddled at the head of the bed, desperately trying to keep her distance. His sudden kindness felt like an attack, triggering a stress reaction.


    Thaddeus''s pupils contracted sharply. Only then did he see her hands, which she had kept hidden under the nket, now wrapped so heavily in bandages they looked like amputated stumps.


    "Get out... get out!" she cried, her voice cracking as she tried to hide her injured hands again.


    She never knew how to show weakness. And she would never stoop to it.


    The hot soup seeped through his shirt, scalding his skin, a heat that matched the fire in his veins. But Thaddeus paid it no mind. He funged forward, grabbing her wrist and pulling her forcefully toward him.