Just as Eleanor was about to hang up, Gavin added urgently, "Miss Sutton, please take care of Mr. Goodwin. My dad was just hospitalized, and I can't leave."

Eleanor paused, then replied, "Okay."

She opened the door to find the living room lit by a single, dim wall lamp. Ian was lying on the sofa, seemingly asleep. As Eleanor got closer, she noticed his breathing was shallow and rapid, his brow furrowed in a troubled sleep.

She reached out and touched his forehead. As she'd suspected, it was burning hot.

His fever was back.

Eleanor went to the bathroom, wrung out a cool towel, and placed it on his forehead. As she was checking the medicine on the table, a hoarse, incredulous voice came from behind her. "Eleanor?"

"When did you last take your medicine?" Eleanor turned and asked, her gaze cold.

lan frowned, trying to remember. "Around four, I think."

She knew it. He hadn't taken his medicine on time, which was why the fever had returned. She stood up, brought him a glass of water, placed the prescribed pills on the table, and commanded the man on the sofa, "Take your medicine."

lan stared at her for a few seconds.

"Get up and take your medicine," Eleanor repeated.

lan pushed himself up and obediently took the water, swallowing all the pills.

The entire time, his gaze remained fixed on Eleanor, filled with a fragile and complex mix of emotions, as if he feared that the moment he finished the medicine, she would leave.

After taking the pills, lan didn't lie back down but remained sitting, leaning against the sofa. He looked up at Eleanor slowly. "I thought... you'd never speak to me again."

Eleanor handed him a thermometer. "Take this."

He took it, and after a minute, handed it back. It read 103.3 degrees. She refilled his water glass and set it down.

As Eleanor instinctively moved away from the sofa, lan suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Eleanor, don't go yet—"

Eleanor yanked her hand back, hatred flashing in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. Jan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were filled with a deep, suffocating regret and pain About your father I am so sorry. Truly... so sorry."

His voice was raspy, with an almost imperceptible catch, as if the apology came from the very depths of his soul.

Eleanor stood her ground, her face a mask of indifference. "I didn't come here for an apology. I just need you to be healthy rough not to interfere my upcoming experiments, and not to jeopardize Evelyn's future security."

lan was stunned. He leaned back against the sofa, his face looking even paler in the dim light.

"So, in your eyes, I'm just a donor?" he asked with a bitter, self-mocking laugh.

Eleanor didn't answer.

"I understand," he said softly, his voice tinged with a weary resignation.

Eleanor turned away from him, walked over to the farthest armchair, sat down, and started checking emails on her phone.

The living room fell into a dead silence, broken only by lan's slightly labored breathing.

lan closed his eyes, and the final words of his father-in-law, Elliot Sutton, flooded his mind. "Ian, I'm entrusting you with this final hope... you must conquer it... But remember dontevertelf Ellie Not a single word."

5

"That child is just like me, too stubborn... I can't let her carry such a heavy

burden. She deserves to live a lighter life. With you on the research... I can rest

easy."

"Promise me, lan. Don't let her know. Don't let her become... like me."

"I promise you, Elliot."

It was the last promise he had made to the dying man.

As the memories washed over him, lan opened his eyes and looked at Eleanor

across the room, a bitter smile twisting his lips.