Chapter 25
Emmett poured the entire bottle of liquor down his throat, the fiery burn doing nothing to numb the ache inside. His friends watched in stunned silence, too shocked to stop him. Finally, one of them, his voice trembling, managed to speak.
“Wait… I think Athena still can’t forget you.”
Emmett laughed bitterly; his gaze lost in the vast, empty horizon. “That’s impossible. If she still cared, she
would‘ ve come back a long time ago…”
With a sudden motion, he hurled the bottle off the cliff, watching it disappear into the void. He turned to his friend and asked, his voice raw with despair, “If I jump, do you think I’ll see her?”
His friend’s heart clenched in fear, rushing forward to pull him back. He had known Emmett for years, and the sight of
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his friend’s broken state struck deep. He feared Emmett might actually go through with it.
It pained him to see Emmett like this, but there was nothing he could do. He could only watch as his friend spiraled further, trying in vain to convince him that Athena. was truly gone, either abroad or, worse, lost forever.
But Emmett wouldn’t listen. His mind was too clouded, and after pushing up the mountain, he returned to the edge of the cliff, once again drowning his pain in E alcohol.
“You should go back,” Emmett slurred, his words barely forming. “Don’t try to stop me. I won’t die.”
A bitter, hollow smile tugged at his lips, but as he spoke, the world tilted dangerously, and he almost collapsed, his body swaying on the edge.
“Emmett!”
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His friend reacted quickly, grabbing him just in time. With years of experience dealing with the aftermath of Emmett s drinking, he knew exactly what was happening: gastric hemorrhage. It was only a matter of time before things took a darker turn.
In a frenzy, Emmett‘ s friend hauled him into the car, speeding toward the hospital. Even through the sharp turns and blaring horns, Emmett‘ s voice echoed, calling out Athena’s name in a broken, desperate chant.
His friend gritted his teeth, frustration, and guilt gnawing at him. “If I’d known… I would’ve stopped this. I should‘ ve never let it go this far.”
He had been the only one to advise Emmett to hold on to what he had, but Emmett had brushed off his warnings, stubbornly pursuing his own path. Now, everything he had feared had come true. There was no room for sympathy, only a deep, bitter
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resentment. He couldn’t help but think that Emmett had brought this upon himself.
At the hospital, Emmett was diagnosed with a gastric hemorrhage. The doctors moved quickly, prescribing medication and doing their best to stabilize him, but there was an unsettling redness in his eyes.
“Once, I ended up with a gastric hemorrhage after a night of drinking with you guys,” Emmett whispered hoarsely, his mind drifting back to a memory. “I barely made it home before I almost passed out in the bathroom. It was Athena who carried me to the hospital.”
He could still picture her, small but fierce, and how she had somehow found the strength to carry his heavy frame, rushing him to safety like his very life depended on it.
The next morning, Athena quietly returned home, her hands carefully preparing a bowl of warm cereal for him.
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Back then, he had been quick to complain that the rice was too soft, but now, the taste of it was nothing but a distant memory, slipping through his mind like sand.
A wave of misery washed over Emmett as he turned over in bed, gazing out the window. And then, his heart froze.
There, in the long stretch of the hospital corridor, a familiar figure appeared–one he had been yearning to see for what felt like an eternity.
His heart skipped a beat; his voice cracked. as he hoarsely called out, “Athena!”
The covers were flung aside as he sprang from the bed, clutching his pillow in a sudden rush of urgency. He stumbled forward, disbelief clouding his thoughts as he double–checked. No mistake, there, standing before him, was the Athena he had dreamed of for years, holding a little girl in her arms.
Three years had passed, and Athena
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remained as fragile as ever. The weight he had once helped her regain had vanished, leaving her looking as thin as she had before.
But the question that gnawed at Emmett was–who was the girl in her arms?
He held his breath, his eyes fixed on her, unable to look away as he leaned forward ever so slightly.
Sensing someone approaching, Athena turned instinctively, greeting with a polite, practiced smile, “Doctor, you‘ re back. I…”
But before she could finish, her words trailed off, and her face froze.
A few days earlier, Eira had fallen ill, and despite a few days of medicine, her condition hadn‘ t improved. The doctor had suggested returning to her home. country to seek treatment from a traditional medicine practitioner.
At first, Athena had hesitated, uncertain. But seeing Eira‘ s fragile state, the
