"Cassius..."


    Chasel copsed in front of the man, his trembling hands gently cupping Cassius''s blood-stained face. "Why did you do that... How could you be so stupid?"


    "I wasn''t stupid. It was the smartest decision... I''ve ever made."


    Cassius ced his warm hand over Chasel''s. The muscles around his ruined left eye sagged limply, but his right eye curved into a gentle, affectionate smile. "One eye in exchange for our little fox''s life.


    It was more than worth it."


    "You idiot... you idiot..."


    Tears streamed down Chasel''s face as he leaned in and hugged Cassius tightly, wishing he could fuse himself into the man''s very flesh and blood. "Your little fox is back, your little fox was wrong... I''ll never run away again."


    ...


    Aaron Ashbourne arrived with his team to removen''s body and clean up the gruesome aftermath.


    Although there were signs of a struggle, Elvis and his team had jammed all the security cameras in the facility. Besides the fractures and intracranial hemorrhaging consistent with a fatal fall, there were no other lethal wounds onn''s body.


    So, it could only be written off as an idental death.


    Cassius was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.


    Completely disregarding his own physical condition, Chasel waited anxiously outside the operating room alongside the rest of the Ashbourne family. His heart felt like it was roasting over an open me, and a bitter taste coated his throat.


    "Chasel!"


    Evadne Ashbourne, dressed in a baggy hospital gown, dragged her still-recovering body down the hall and threw her arms around Chasel without a second thought. Crying like a lost child, she sobbed, "You finally came back... Chasel... I''m so d you''re home, I''m so d you''re home..."


    "Evadne, I''m sorry..."


    Overwhelmed by a suffocating wave of guilt and regret, Chasel''s voice


    broke his sobbing making his words nearly unintelligible My


    selfishness... caused this... I''m the reason Cassius is no longer whole... It''s all my fault..."


    "Chasel, if you truly feel sorry for my brother, then please... never let go of his hand again Evadne gently patted the man''s shuddering back Her voice was firm, radiating a gentle yet undeniable strength.


    She didn''t care if it was emotional ckmail. She was putting her foot down.


    She was going to make sure her brother held tightly to his happiness. She wanted him and Chasel to be together forever, never to be separated again.


    Hours seemed to blur together before the light above the operating room finally flicked off.


    The doors pushed open, and the doctor stepped out with a heavy expression.


    "Doctor! My partner... his eye..." Chasel rushed forward immediately, but the moment the words left his mouth, a crushing panic set in. He was terrified to ask for the details.


    The doctor lowered his head, hesitating for a moment before speaking tactfully. "Our hospital''s prosthetic eye manufacturing technology is quite advanced..." "Prosthetic eye? What do you mean?"


    Evadne staggered over, breathless, supported by Thaddeus. "My brother needs a


    prosthetic eye? What are you saying? Will his eye never heal?"


    Thaddeus''s brow twitched, his own heartbeat skipping a beat.


    "I''m sorry, Ms. Evadne."


    The doctor let out a heavy sigh, keeping his voice low. "Mr. Ashbourne''s wound was too deep The eyeball and the optic nerve sustained severe damage. A full recovery... is impossible."