The Day Our Promise Breaks

Andrew's grip on Evelyn's wrist was firm and urgent, nearly dragging her-off balance and breathless-into the chaos of the ER.

The sharp sting of disinfectant, mixed with the unmistakable tang of blood, hit her all at once, wrapping around her like an icy shroud.

Her gaze was pulled, unrelenting, to the center of the room.

Charles.

The man who used to light up every room with his confidence and charm now lay pale and lifeless against the sterile white pillow. His skin was a ghostly blue-gray, lips cracked and dark, the rise and fall of his chest barely enough to fog the inside of his oxygen mask.

He looked like a shell, all the fire and spirit sucked out, kept tethered to this world only by the relentless, mechanical beeping of monitors—a cold reminder that, for now, life still clung to him.

Evelyn's eyes drifted down, tracing the raw evidence of his suffering. The collar of his hospital gown gaped, revealing skin crisscrossed with agony: a constellation of pinpricks, each one capped with a tiny, dried bead of blood; fresh stitches oozing faintly at the edges; unnatural swelling beneath the surface, as if his body had turned against itself.

Every scar, every wound, screamed of the brutal experiments he'd endured-all for Charlie. All for their little girl.

A storm of emotion welled up inside her: anger, grief, something dangerously close to pity.

"Ms. Evelyn!"

Andrew's voice cracked, desperate. "Please just talk to him! Say something- anything! Even if it's a lie, just let him hear your voice! That's all he needs. If he hears you, he'll fight. Please!"

But Evelyn couldn't speak.

She hated Charles.

Hated him with a fury that never dulled.

From the moment Charlie's small body went cold in her arms.

From the moment she learned that, directly or not, it was Charles who'd cost their daughter her life. That hatred had frozen inside her, a jagged block of ice wedged deep in her chest, gnawing away in the dark, year after year.

She remembered every time he'd shielded Dahlia, every time he'd made her helpless to seek justice for their daughter.

cursed him-truly wished him

And yet...

man she'd once loved beyond

her nails dug deep, sharp into her palms, but she

her mind, she saw Charlie's

still

Charlie needed her dad.

remembered how Charlie's used

her

simple, boundless love.

hero. Her whole world.

If-

her

was

was the price he should pay

it was

just a

could Evelyn let her carry the weight

She couldn't.

under

Evelyn

Charles's ear,

You reed

the words out, steady

you

"You

it

ive. Live-and

her,