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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 then was done for Athena, or is it your quilt rating 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 Hove 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 Emmelt 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 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 its
He realized that the Davidson family owed Athena,}}
A deep shame settled in his chest, and his weathered hands covered his face, overwhelmed with regret
For three long days, Emmett burned with fever, his mind lost in delirium as he feverishly whispered Athena’s name.
“Athena Athena T
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 wake, everything was a dream, an illusion he couldn’t bear to wake from.l
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.
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 on 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.li
From that moment, Emmett started eating, began to cooperate with the doctors, and his health slowly began to improve.
The aftermath of the Aliana incident was undeniable, casting a long, dark shadow over the Davidson family.
Emmett retumed 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 wranged Athena in every conceivable way. Now, not only was redemption out of reach, but even the faintest trace of her presence
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 quest 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 trace of Athena had been erased, and Emmelt would never find her again.)
“I was truly blind,” Emmett murmured to himself, voice thick with regret “1 always thought I loved Aliana, but Athena just barged into my höpft.………. 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
