The Day Our Promise Breaks

Charles's pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the streaks of gray and white that had newly grown into the crown of Evelyn's hair, disbelief filling his eyes.

His lips trembled. "Eve, your hair..."

Evelyn took advantage of his shock, shoving Charles hard away from her.

His left leg gave out beneath him, sending him stumbling back until he crashed into the hospital bed.

Evelyn instinctively reached up to touch her own hair, but she said nothing. She turned and strode toward the door.

"Eve!"

Charles tried to catch her, desperate for answers, but before his hand could reach her, Josephine's sharp voice cut through the air. "Charles!"

He froze at the sound, glancing back. "Mrs. Jenkins, you're awake."

"Mom, you're awake." Evelyn, too, stopped and turned, as if to go back to the bedside, but Josephine spoke first: "Eve, I'm fine."

She shot Evelyn a look-a silent plea to leave.

Seeing Josephine was alright, Evelyn said, "Mom, Brooks saved us. I'm worried about him. I want to check on Brooks."

"Go ahead." Josephine's hand closed firmly around Charles's wrist.

Charles was still reeling, his heart in pieces, watching Evelyn turn to leave. He wanted nothing more than to grab her, to force her to explain what had happened to her hair.

But Josephine's grip was iron.

He couldn't break free without a scene, so he turned, pleading, "Mrs. Jenkins..."

Josephine met his gaze. After Evelyn left the room, she spoke quietly, "Charles, sit."

No matter how much he longed to chase after Evelyn, Charles could never disobey Josephine. Biting back the pain that wracked his body, he slowly sat down.

She studied his pale, drawn face and asked, "Are you badly hurt?"

Last night, Charles had rushed in to save her first. She remembered it all-the way he'd risked everything to save her and Evelyn.

"I'm fine." His voice was hoarse.

But his injuries meant nothing now-not compared to the shock of Evelyn's gray hair.

He didn't care about his wounds. He only cared about what had happened to Eve.

In his memory, from the moment Eve joined the Jenkins family, she had always had a head of thick, jet-black hair. It was glossy and full. Where other women complained of postpartum hair loss, Eve never had to worry. Even after Charlie was born, her hair remained as black and lustrous as ever.

So how...?

"Mrs. Jenkins, Eve's hair..." he asked, voice breaking.

Josephine looked at him. Last night, he had risked everything to save her and Eve. She knew now-Charles's feelings for Eve were genuine. He truly wanted to make amends.

But it was too late.

His clinging, his regret, for Eve, were nothing but a burden.

Eve couldn't forgive him. She had never even considered it.noveldrama

"After Charlie died, Eve was devastated. She couldn't avenge Charlie. Overnight, her hair turned white."

Charles had suspected as much when he saw the gray, but now, hearing it confirmed, his eyes filled with tears.

His heart felt as if it might burst from his chest.

In that moment, he would have given anything to pull Evelyn into his arms. More than anything, he

wished he could turn back his

before Charlie was born...

Josephine saw his expression and her own heart twisted with pain, but she steeled herself. Better a short pain than a long one.

If this went on, Eve would only suffer more.

So Josephine forced herself to go on, her voice cold but steady:

"Do you know why Charlie died? Do you understand why Eve couldn't fight for him?"

"Charles, if you could ever truly feel what Charlie's death meant to Eve, you would never ask her for forgiveness."

"The hurt you caused Eve runs too deep. You don't have the right to ask for her forgiveness. Do you understand?"

This time, Josephine didn't rage. She spoke in the calmest possible tone, but every word cut like a knife.

Each syllable drove straight into Charles's heart.

He didn't even remember how he left the room.

All he knew was that his heart ached so badly it might shatter.

Aiden followed close behind,

watching as Charles's steps grew weaker and weaker. The moment Charles finally collapsed, Aiden' rushed forward to catch him. "Mr. Jenkins..."

Charles was taken back to his own room.

The doctor hurried in, carrying the test results.

Charles's body was a mess of bloody wounds, and the doctor began to redress

them.

The burns on his skin had been torn

open by Evelyn's desperate struggle, and now blood had soaked through the bandages. Every time the gauze was peeled away, it took some of his flesh with it.

The pain was excruciating.

But Charles didn't so much as flinch.

No pain of the body could ever compare to the agony in his heart.

After the doctor finished redressing the wounds, he picked up the test results with

a grave expression.

Charles's burns, while severe, were all on the surface. With time, they would scab and heal.

But his leg... that was another matter.

"Doctor, have the test results come in? What's wrong with Mr. Jenkins's leg?"