Chapter 634

She stared at the door, a silent scream echoing in her heart. The words "safe travels" lingered on her lips but never escaped.

The metallic clang of the closing door cut through the silence like a knife. A red light flickered on the electronic screen beside it as the countdown began.

Evelyn's grip on the glass window faltered. The world before her twisted, colors bleeding away until only suffocating darkness remained.

"Evelyn!"

Alexander's desperate cry was the last sound she heard before plunging into the abyss.

......

Consciousness returned slowly. The soft mattress beneath her and the sharp scent of disinfectant confirmed she was in a hospital bed.

Her eyelids felt leaden. Fragmented conversations drifted to her ears.

Alexander's deep voice stood out: "...39-degree fever, low blood sugar. Dr. Lightfoot has already examined her."

Though he spoke in hushed tones, the underlying anxiety was unmistakable.

Through the fog in her mind, Evelyn pieced together scattered thoughts. How were her mother and sister now?

Voices carried from the hallway—Alexander, along with Anthony and Teresa Taylor, and Margaret Hamilton.

"My greatest regret is not finding her sooner," Anthony's voice was hoarse. "What does the company matter? I just want my daughter to be happy."

A wheelchair creaked softly. Teresa murmured, "We owe her, but this isn't the way to make amends."

"But she'll feel indebted," Alexander sighed. "That's just how she is."

"Then tell her we're getting old," Anthony said firmly. "We only want to live quietly with our daughter."

Margaret's voice suddenly interjected: "Grace insists on returning to their hometown today."

"So soon?" Teresa gasped. "Is she well enough?"

"Emily has grown up overnight," Margaret said, her voice thick. "She says she wants to put her father's mind at ease."

Anthony immediately responded, "I'll arrange for someone to accompany them."

The fractured conversation drifted into the room. Through the haze, Evelyn grasped the crucial detail—her mother and sister had already taken her father home.

The tension in her nerves dissolved all at once.

Her eyelids no longer felt so heavy, yet she kept them closed. Perhaps because, for this fleeting moment, she could finally lay down all her burdens.