"Let me see. Does it still hurt?"


    "Let go!" she cried, struggling against him as her vision blurred with tears.


    "Don''t move, you''re still injured!" Thaddeus''s breathing grew heavy, his fingers tightening around her slender wrist.


    With tears shimmering in her eyes, Evadne wiggled her hands, which were so heavily bandaged they looked like two small, clumsy white paws. The sight was a strange mix of pathetic andical, yet beneath it all was an endearing helplessness that tugged at his heart.


    Memories of their past flooded his mind.


    He stared at her, a dark, turbulent storm gathering in eyes that had been cold for far too long. A secondter, his mind went nk. His lips, dry and foreign to this feeling after so long, suddenly crushed down on Evadne''s soft, trembling mouth, the bridge of his nose pressing against the tip of hers.


    Their breaths tangled. His kiss was clumsy, inexperienced, like a teenager fumbling through his first romance. He even identally bit her tongue.


    But she epted it all without a sound.


    Even a kiss as clumsy as this was enough to make her lose herself, to sink into the moment. It was as if she had swallowed every bitter medicine in the world; even if she found a piece of candyced with shards of ss, she would devour it without hesitation.


    Thaddeus''s deep, masculine scent wrapped around her, melting her, consuming her...


    Suddenly, an explosive pain erupted in his temples. His vision cked out for a second, forcing him to pull away.


    Evadne stared at his visibly tense face. Her lips, now glistening from the kiss, trembled slightly, and her wide eyes were swimming with moisture.


    Thaddeus felt a thousand demons screaming and wing inside his head. He bit down hard on his tongue, grinding his teeth until the sharp, metallic taste was the only thing keeping the agonizing torment at bay. He had to use every ounce of strength to cage the beast inside him, just so he could appear normal in front of her-not like the monster he became without his medication.


    "Don''t be with Chad. Don''t even see him... please," Thaddeus rasped, his voice low and hoarse as cold sweat beaded on his forehead.


    "Didn''t we break up? You were the one who ended it. What right do you have to control my choices now?" Evadne''s eyes were rimmed with red, but her smile was sharp and mocking as she deliberately provoked him. "What''s wrong? Can''t stand to see something that was once yours about to belong to someone else? Is it that you can''t stand it, that you can''t let go, or... is it that you still have feelings for me?"


    "We loved


    each other once," he said, his voice strained. "I just... I don''t want to see you get hurt again." He was reaching his limit, his trembling hand fighting the urge to reache inside his


    suit jacket for the vial of pills he kept there. I''ve said what t needed to say. You don''t have to listen, Evadne, but I would never do anything to harm you."


    With that, he turned and walked toward the door.<fn7882> Updates are released by F?ndNovel</fn7882>


    "What was that just now?" Evadne called out, stopping him in his tracks.


    Thaddeus froze, closing his eyes for a brief moment. "Goodnight."


    "You really know how to torture me, Thaddeus," she said, a brokenugh escaping through her tears.


    He strode out of the room without looking back.


    Evadne curled into herself, wrapping her arms around her body. As she reyed the kiss in her mind, a crushing weight settled in her chest. She couldn''t tell if he had kissed her because he still loved her or if it was just a deep-seated, primal instinct he could no longer control.


    A lifetime without love was too long to bear.


    But a lifetime with it was simply suffocating.


    ***


    At the stroke of midnight, Chad''s private jetnded discreetly at the Helgen Capital Airport.


    Apanied by Alexia and Hans,


    his luxury car sped through the darkened city. The silence inside was heavy and oppressive. Chad had already taken his medication and kept his eyes closed for the entire ride. With Hans driving, Alexia sat beside him, hardly daring to breathe.


    She had been with Sir long enough to know exactly who he hade all this way


    to see. Just the thought of that other man was enough to cast a shadow over her


    normally cheerful boss, making him morose and withdrawn.


    After what felt like an eternity, the car finally pulled up outside a vintage, magnificent, yet mysterious manor. Only then did Alexia dare to speak.


    "Sir?" she whispered respectfully. "Sir? We''ve arrived."