At the far end of the hallway.


    Bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun, Thaddeus stood in silhouette. His tall, broad-shouldered frame looked like a perfectly sculpted, timeless statue.


    "Why would I go check on him?" Evadne lowered her eyes, suppressing her emotions so fiercely her voice sounded hard, almost foreign to her own ears.


    "He got hurt. I imagine it happened when he was wrestling the knife away from that attacker."


    Chad watched her impassive profile intently. "Regardless of your past, he did do it to save you..."


    "He and I arepletely finished. I already looked back for him once; I won''t make the same mistake twice."


    Evadne''s beautiful eyes were resolute, treating the man down the hall as nothing more than a stranger. "I only have one heart, and I refuse to waste my energy on irrelevant people. Mr. Abernathy, let me take you home."


    Hearing this, a deep, satisfied smile spread across Chad''s lips. "Alright."


    The two of them walked right past Thaddeus, leaving him behind.


    Thaddeus parted his dry lips, but his throat felt as though it had been stuffed with wet cotton. Not a single sound came out.


    "Sir, I got the prescription. Let''s go," Gordon rushed over.


    Seeing Evadne supporting Chad as they walked away, Gordon felt a mix of frustration and heartbreak. “President Ashbourne is just... why is she getting so close to that viper? She should at least consider your feelings."


    "We have no rtionship. Why should she care about my feelings?"


    Thaddeus kept his dark gaze fixed on the direction Evadne had disappeared, his bandaged hand slowly clenching into a tight fist at his side. “Right now, to her, Chad is the most important person in her life."


    Those words pierced Gordon''s heart.


    He had watched his boss and Evadne fight through hell together. They had shared an earth-shattering love, protecting each other with their lives. They had held onto each other even when the world fell apart.


    And now, they were practically strangers. His boss had to stand by and watch the love of his life walk away with his greatest enemy.


    Every encounter was pure torture.


    "Sir! Your wound opened!" Gordon panicked, staring at the fresh crimson blood blooming across the white gauze.


    “It''s fine. Let''s go,” Thaddeus replied, his chest rising and falling heavily as he walked away, his face pale.


    Evadne helped Chad into his car. Just then, she received a call from Myra. Emeric''s fingers had twitched, and his heart monitor showed unusual activity. He was showing


    signs of waking up.


    “Hurry over to the hospital and stay with Chairman Emeric,” Chad said, his face lighting up with joy. "If he really wakes up, that would be wonderful news."


    "I''ll head over right now. Stay safe on the road, Mr. Abernathy."


    Evadne nodded and turned to leave.


    Watching her elegant figure walk away, Chad kept his gentle smile pinned in ce. But the second the tinted window rolled up, his expression turned lethally cold.


    *Smack!*


    Without a single word, Chad raised his pale, slender hand and pped Alexia across the face with the sudden, vicious speed of a scorpion''s strike!


    Alexia''s head snapped to the side, her cheek instantly swelling red, but she didn''t dare make a sound.


    "It seems I''ve spoiled you. You''ve forgotten your ce."


    A faint, terrifying smile ghosted across Chad''s lips, radiating absolute malice. "You''ve been with me for years, yet you still have learned when to speak and when tex keep your mouth shut."


    "I-I''m sorry... Sir. I just panicked. I wasn''t thinking. I was terrified you were going to die.....” Alexia kept her head bowed in utter submission, tears pooling in her eyes.


    In that moment, she looked exactly like the pathetic, weeping Acacia Stirling.


    Unfortunately for her, that act had only worked on a naive, emotionally stunted Thaddeus.


    It would never work on the monster sitting in front of her.


    "I know exactly what you were thinking. Let me make this clear—do not ever let this happen again."


    Chad looked out the window, his


    smile deepening as if recalling a fond memory. "Evadne is incredibly important to me. No one else has the right toy a finger on her. Not even a single hair


    "If you pull a stunt like this again, you''ll be thrown into a cell to keep Elsie Archer


    Alexia shuddered uncontrobly. "Yes... Yes, Sir.”


    "Any news fromn?"


    Chad closed his eyes, his tone turningzy. "My patience is running thin. I don''t like waiting."


    “He contacted me. He''s making his move soon," Alexia replied, a dark, vindictive gleam in her eyes. "Rest assured, those nuisances will soon disappear from the face of the earth."