Just as Eleanor was about to hang up, Gavin added urgently, "Miss Sutton, please take care of Mr. Goodwin. My dad was just hospitalized, and I can''t leave."


    Eleanor paused, then replied, "Okay."


    She opened the door to find the living room lit by a single, dim wallmp. Ian was lying on the sofa, seemingly asleep. As Eleanor got closer, she noticed his breathing was shallow and rapid, his brow furrowed in a troubled sleep.


    She reached out and touched his forehead. As she''d suspected, it was burning hot.


    His fever was back.


    Eleanor went to the bathroom, wrung out a cool towel, and ced it on his forehead. As she was checking the medicine on the table, a hoarse, incredulous voice came from behind her. "Eleanor?"


    "When did youst take your medicine?" Eleanor turned and asked, her gaze cold.


    She knew it. He hadn''t taken his medicine on time, which was why the fever had returned. She stood up, brought him a ss of water, ced the prescribed pills on the table, andmanded the man on the sofa, "Take your medicine."


    "Get up and take your medicine," Eleanor repeated.


    The entire time, his gaze remained fixed on Eleanor, filled with a fragile andplex mix of emotions, as if he feared that the moment he finished the medicine, she would leave.


    After taking the pills,n didn''t lie back down but remained sitting, leaning against the sofa. He looked up at Eleanor slowly. "I thought... you''d never speak to me again."


    Eleanor handed him a thermometer. "Take this."


    He took it, and after a minute, handed it back. It read 103.3 degrees. She refilled his water ss and set it down.


    As Eleanor instinctively moved away from the sofa,n suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Eleanor, don''t go yet—"


    Eleanor yanked her hand back, hatred shing in her eyes.


    "I''m sorry. Jan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were filled with a deep, suffocating regret and pain About your father I am so sorry. Truly... so sorry."


    His voice was raspy, with an almost imperceptible catch, as if the apology came from the very depths of his soul.


    Eleanor stood her ground, her face a mask of indifference. "I didn''te here for an apology. I just need you to be healthy rough not to interfere my uing experiments, and not to jeopardize Evelyn''s future security."


    "So, in your eyes, I''m just a donor?" he asked with a bitter, self-mockingugh.


    Eleanor didn''t answer.


    "I understand," he said softly, his voice tinged with a weary resignation.


    Eleanor turned away from him, walked over to the farthest armchair, sat down, and started checking emails on her phone.


    The living room fell into a dead silence, broken only byn''s slightlybored breathing.


    5


    "That child is just like me, too stubborn... I can''t let her carry such a heavy


    burden. She deserves to live a lighter life. With you on the research... I can rest


    easy."


    "Promise me,n. Don''t let her know. Don''t let her be... like me."


    "I promise you, Elliot."


    It was thest promise he had made to the dying man.


    As the memories washed over him,n opened his eyes and looked at Eleanor


    across the room, a bitter smile twisting his lips.