Chapter 384

Evelyn stepped out of the hospital with trembling hands. The afternoon sun burned her swollen eyes as she searched for an ATM.

Her fingers shook as she inserted the card. The machine beeped, mocking her grief. She withdrew enough cash for a one-way ticket to Aldenria.

The flight attendant gave her concerned looks throughout the journey. Evelyn didn't care. Silent tears carved paths down her cheeks the entire six-hour flight.

When she landed in Aldenria, her reflection in the airport windows startled her. Puffy red eyes. Pale skin. A ghost of the woman she used to be.

Rosalind gasped when she opened the door. "Evelyn! My God... Is Liam...?" The unfinished question hung between them like a guillotine.

That was all it took. Evelyn collapsed into Rosalind's arms, sobbing so violently her entire body convulsed. The dam had broken.

"Shhh... I'm so sorry, darling." Rosalind stroked her hair, tears welling in her own eyes. "But you must be strong now. The living must go on."

Exhaustion finally claimed Evelyn during the car ride to Wright Manor. She slept like the dead for fifteen straight hours.

Archibald and Margaret hovered anxiously outside her door. "What happened?" Archibald demanded in a hushed tone.

Rosalind swallowed hard. "General Blackwood... he's gone."

The color drained from Margaret's face. Archibald immediately pulled out his phone. "We need confirmation. Call Ryan."

Margaret put the call on speaker. Her voice trembled. "Ryan... is it true about Liam?"

Silence. Then Ryan's confused reply: "Madam Wright? General Blackwood is resting at Blackwood Manor. He's injured but stable."

Three stunned faces exchanged glances.

"But... then why..." Margaret gestured helplessly toward Evelyn's room.

Ryan sighed through the phone. "Perhaps General Blackwood sent her back to Solterra? He's been quite insistent she leave for her safety."

Rosalind nodded slowly. "That would explain it."

Margaret composed herself. "Please give Liam our regards for a speedy recovery."

As Ryan hung up, the three shared another bewildered look.

At Blackwood Manor, Ryan pocketed his phone just as Victoria Hudson approached. "Good afternoon, Ms. Hudson."

Victoria's gaze flicked upstairs. "How is he?"

Ryan gestured upward. "Awake but weak. The injuries were... extensive."

Her perfectly shaped eyebrows arched. "Life-threatening?"

"Nearly bled out after two days in a water cell," Ryan admitted. "Then took another bullet during extraction. It's a miracle he's alive."

Without another word, Victoria ascended the grand staircase.

Her knock was answered by Liam's hoarse but eager voice: "Come in."

The disappointment on his face when she entered was palpable. His shoulders slumped as he returned to staring at his silent phone.

Victoria smirked, perching on the edge of his bed. "Expecting someone else? Cassandra perhaps?"

Liam's jaw tightened. His thumb brushed over the screen - a message thread filled with his unanswered texts and voice notes. The last one dated a month ago.

"You know," Victoria said sweetly, "maybe if you stopped sending novels and just wrote 'I'm alive'..."

Liam powered off the screen with a sharp click. He leaned back against the headboard, closing his eyes as if the very act of hoping exhausted him.