Chapter 24
With no further questions to ask, the old man let out a long, heavy sigh, his voice. turning serious. “Are you satisfied now? Do you believe all of this was done for Athena, or is it your guilt eating at you?”
Emmett didn’t answer. Instead, he muttered to himself as though caught in the grip of his own tangled thoughts.
“Grandfather… I finally understand. I love Athena… I love her so much… If she comes back to me, I’ll do anything…”
The old man reached out, feeling Emmett’s forehead, and as he expected, it burned with fever. With a solemn look, he gave the order for Emmett to be carried back to his room, his body weak and feverish.
Watching Emmett being led away, the old man was filled with a mix of emotions, his heart heavy with both sorrow and
95% 12:05
1/6
Chapter 24
resignation.
‘Athena… If Emmett has truly hurt you this deeply, perhaps it’s best to sever all ties. But as for this grandson, who has just now realized the depth of his feelings… he will regret this for many years to come.”
The old man leaned heavily on his cane, lost in a sea of sorrowful thoughts.
He couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps. he had made a fatal mistake long ago.
Had he not insisted that Emmett marry Athena, tying the inheritance to her, would. things have unfolded differently? Could that fateful connection have blossomed into something pure, something beautiful?
But there were no “what ifs.”
He realized that the Davidson family owed Athena.
A deep shame settled in his chest, and hist weathered hands covered his face, overwhelmed with regret.
95% 12:05
2/6
Chapter 24
For three long days, Emmett burned with fever; his mind lost in delirium as he feverishly whispered Athena’s name.
“Athena… Athena…”
Each time he closed his eyes, he was swept away in a dream, a vision of a life he had longed for. It was always him and Athena, childhood sweethearts, walking hand in hand into a blissful marriage, raising a child in a home filled with laughter, a family of three, living in eternal happiness.
But when he woke, everything was a dream, an illusion he couldn’t bear to
wake from.
Even that false reality, twisted as it was, became something he clung to desperately.
He fought the doctor” s treatment with all his strength, refusing food and retreating into a haze of intoxicated numbness, a dreamlike state that felt like death itself.
Only in this dark, endless limbo did he truly feel alive.
95% 12:05
3/6
链
Chapter 24
The doctors, helpless in the face of his resistance, had no choice but to follow the old man’s orders and provide life support, keeping him tethered to the world through
an IV.
For a month, Emmett drifted into a ghostly, human–like state.
But eventually, the old man couldn’t bear it any longer.
On the day Emmett‘ s eyes fluttered open,
he heard a single sentence that broke
through the fog of his mind. “If you
don‘ t want to live, then you’ve given up all hope of ever seeing Athena again.”
It was that simple truth that finally stirred something within him.
From that moment, Emmett started eating, dbegan to cooperate with the doctors, and
his health slowly began to improve.
The aftermath of the Aliana incident was bundeniable, casting a long, dark shadow
over the Davidson family.
95% 12:05
4/6
Chapter 24
Emmett returned to the company, pouring
his energy into damage control, working around the clock to undo the harm caused by the scandal.
Once everything was settled, Emmett felt utterly spent, but it was at that moment that he truly grasped the absurdity of his
actions.
He had wronged Athena in every conceivable way. Now, not only was redemption out of reach, but even the faintest trace of her presence had vanished.
Emmett’s friends watched helplessly as he sank deeper into despair, skipping work and ignoring their calls. They took it upon themselves to search for Athena, each one playing the role of the well–meaning guest in a desperate reunion show.
But what they didn’t know was that the agent who had helped Athena slip away had vanished, too–quitting the job and disappearing off to travel the world. Every
95% 12:05
5/6
Chapter 24
trace of Athena had been erased, and Emmett would never find her again.
“I was truly blind,” Emmett murmured to himself, voice thick with regret. “I always thought I loved Aliana, but Athena just barged into my heart… and it wasn’t until she walked away without a second glance that I realized how much she meant to me…”
He shook his head, bitter laughter escaping his lips.
“I’m such a fool. She‘ d been planning to leave for so long… and I didn’t see it.”
