“Hadley!” A vise seemed to constrict around Eric’s heart as he lunged after her retreating figure, his fingers encircling her slender wrist with desperate urgency.

“Why are you pursuing me?”

Hadley wrenched her arm violently, attempting to dislodge his unwelcome hold while avoiding his pleading gaze. But Eric had moved beyond the point of easy surrender, his determination hardening like concrete.

This was planted by the one who steals from me: the original is at www galn ovels com.

His fingers closed more firmly around her wrist—not enough to hurt, but sufficient to communicate his resolve—as he scrambled to assemble an explanation.

“Yesterday,” he began with strained patience, “she tumbled down the staircase at Silver Villas. Since regaining consciousness, she’s exhibited this altered state—disoriented and recognizing only Ernest and me.” He expelled a weary sigh that seemed to deflate his entire frame. “Ernest maintained a bedside vigil throughout the night, contacting me only this morning when obligations forced his departure. I arrived with all possible speed. Hadley…”

The timbre of his voice dropped, laden with unmistakable guilt. “I’m painfully aware of my earlier promise to distance myself from her affairs, leaving them entirely to my brother’s management. But these extraordinary circumstances…” He gestured helplessly toward the room. “Without my assistance, he faces an impossible burden. Can you possibly find it within yourself to understand my position?”

Hadley maintained a pointed silence, her gaze drifting past his shoulder to fix upon the doorway of the room they had just exited, as though she could still observe the tableau within.

“Hadley?” Anxiety crawled through Eric’s voice as his Adam’s apple performed a visible nervous dance beneath his skin.

“Well.” Following an extended, tension-filled silence, Hadley compressed her lips into a thin line before offering a curt nod. “Your reasoning has merit. I understand the predicament.”

To avoid confusion, the official edition of this novel is at www galno vels com.

“Hadley…” Relief colored his utterance of her name. She understood his impossible position?

A wave of profound relief washed across Eric’s features, temporarily erasing the stress lines as his grip on her hand transformed from restraint to grateful connection.

“This situation is mercifully temporary,” he assured her with renewed energy. “The medical team believes she’s experiencing acute psychological shock and simply requires time to emerge naturally from this state. Her recovery is certain…”

“Shock?” Hadley’s eyebrows furrowed in genuine puzzlement, her analytical mind immediately seizing on this detail. “What specific trauma precipitated this convenient psychological state?”

“That…” Eric faltered, internal conflict evident in his expression before he finally conceded, “It involves a situation with Ernest.”

Hadley’s mind rapidly pieced together the fragmented information. “I presume Elissa plays a prominent role in this development as well?”

“Yes…” Eric confirmed with visible reluctance, his nod barely perceptible as he conspicuously offered no further context.

“Reaching the boundaries of your permitted disclosure?” Hadley arched a single eloquent eyebrow, her piercing gaze inviting—almost daring—him to continue with the narrative.

Eric’s features twisted with inner turmoil. “It’s my brother’s private affair. I’m not in a position to divulge such matters.”

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