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As the questioning came to an end, the elderly gentleman released a deep, weary breath, his tone turning grave. “Have you found the answers you sought? Do you now accept that all this was done for Athena, or is it remorse that’s gnawing at you?”
Emmett remained silent, instead mumbling to himself as if ensnared by his own jumbled thoughts.
“Grandfather… I see it clearly now. My feelings for Athena run so deep… If she were to return, I’d do anything…
The old man reached out to touch Emmett’s brow, finding it hot with fever as he’d expected. With a somber expression, he instructed for Emmett to be taken back to his quarters, his body frail and feverish.
As he watched Emmett being escorted away, the elderly man felt a surge of conflicting emotions, his heart burdened with both grief and acceptance.
‘Athena… If Emmett has truly wounded you so profoundly, perhaps it’s best to cut all ties. But this grandson, who’s only now realized the depth of his affection… he’ll carry this regret for years to come!
The old man leaned heavily on his walking stick, immersed in melancholy reflections.
He couldn’t help but ponder if he had made a crucial error long ago.
if he hadn’t pushed for Emmett to wed Athena, linking the inheritance to her, would events have unfolded differently? Could that destined connection have grown into something genuine, something lovely?
But there was no use in entertaining “what ifs.”
He acknowledged that the Davidson family was indebted to Athena.
A profound sense of shame settled in his chest, and his aged hands covered his face, overwhelmed with remorse.
For three days, Emmett was consumed by fever; his mind lost in delirium as he repeatedly whispered Athena’s name.
“Athena… Athena…”
Every time he closed his eyes, he was transported to a dream, a vision of the life he had yearned for. It was always him and Athena, childhood sweethearts, walking side by side into a joyful marriage, raising a child in a home filled with mirth, a family of three, living in perpetual bliss.
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But upon waking, it all proved to be a fantasy, an illusion he couldn’t bear to leave behind.
Even that false reality, distorted as it was, became something he desperately clung to.
He resisted the doctor’s care with all his might, refusing sustenance and retreating into a fog of intoxicated numbness, a dreamlike state that felt like death itself.
Only in this dark, endless void did he truly feel alive.
The medical team, powerless against his resistance, had no choice but to follow the old man’s directives and provide life support, keeping him tethered to existence through intravenous
means.
For a month, Emmett drifted in a spectral, barely human state.
But eventually, the old man could no longer endure it.
On the day Emmett’s eyes fluttered open, he heard a single statement that pierced through the haze of his mind. “If you’ve given up on living, you’ve abandoned all hope of ever seeing Athena again.”
It was this simple truth that finally stirred something within him.
From that moment, Emmett began to cat, started to cooperate with the doctors, and his health gradually improved.
The fallout from the Aliana incident was undeniable, casting a long, dark shadow over the Davidson family.
Emmett returned to the company, throwing himself into damage control, working tirelessly to mitigate the harm caused by the scandal.
Once everything was settled, Emmett felt completely drained, but it was then that he truly grasped the absurdity of his actions.
He had wronged Athena in every imaginable way. Now, not only was redemption beyond reach, but even the faintest trace of her presence had vanished.
Emmett’s friends watched helplessly as he sank deeper into despair, missing work and ignoring their calls. They took it upon themselves to search for Athena, cach playing the role of the well–intentioned mediator in a desperate reunion attempt.,
But what they didn’t realize was that the agent who had aided Athena’s disappearance had also vanished–quitting the job and setting off to explore the world. Every trace of Athena had been erased, and Emmett would never find her again.
“I was truly blind,” Emmett muttered to himself, voice heavy with regret. “I always believed I loved Aliana, but Athena just forced her way into my heart… and it wasn’t until she walked away without looking back that I understood how much she meant to me…”
