Shaun Quinn’s Adam’s apple bobbed a few times at Wren Wynter’s tentative question, but he didn’t answer.

When he saw the look on Wren’s face after she heard Kaden Xavier was dead, his heart ached so much that it felt like his entire body was crying out in pain.

He had never seen her so vulnerable in all the time he’d known her.

But all her sorrow, all her tears, were for another man.

"Shaun, please say something!" Wren’s voice was terribly hoarse, like a drowning woman clutching at straws.

"Wren, do you still have feelings for him?" Shaun avoided her question, his knuckles white as he instead asked one of his own.

Shaun’s refusal to answer made Wren stumble back a few steps.

She didn’t even know how she would face Helen Sawyer in the future, or her deceased grandmother.

She sat on the bed, pulling her legs up and burying her face between her knees.

’Am I sad?’

’Of course I am.’

’So why can’t I cry?’

Wren didn’t know. All she knew was that her chest was seizing with waves of pain—a pain so suffocating it stole her breath, a pain so intense she couldn’t even stand.

Shaun witnessed her complete breakdown.

His own heart felt like it was being sliced by a knife, an intense, sharp pain radiating through his chest.

With great difficulty, Wren tapped on her phone, typing out a sentence on the screen.

[Can I go see him?]

"Okay." Shaun didn’t object.

Wren quickly headed out of the tent.

Suddenly, she heard Shaun’s voice from behind her.

"You lost your voice over him."

Wren didn’t explain or even pause.

’She didn’t know how to explain her feelings for Kaden to Shaun.’

’It wasn’t love, but it wasn’t simply ’like’ either.’

’It was something else. Kinship, perhaps.’

Shaun, for his part, didn’t know what to say or how to feel.

He knew he shouldn’t remind Wren of the pain Kaden had caused her in the past, but he was terrified she would go back to him.

He sensed that he had become nothing more than a bystander in their relationship.

「These past few days.」

He had witnessed Kaden’s love for Wren. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

He had witnessed him willing to get hurt for her sake.

And he had witnessed Wren willing to do anything for Kaden.

Even though Wren insisted she didn’t have feelings for him, that her heart wouldn’t be swayed, he could see that Kaden still held a place deep inside it.

A place where, other than Kaden, no one else could enter.

He had tried to force his way in, only to find his efforts were in vain.

He’d told her Kaden was dead to test her feelings for him.

But seeing her so heartbroken was more painful than he could bear.

Shaun led Wren to another tent.

Inside, Kaden Xavier lay on a cot, his eyes shut tight, his face pale and devoid of color.

Catherine was there, wiping his hand with a cloth.

Director Archer, the man in charge, was also inside the tent.

"Wren, you’re here!" Catherine stopped what she was doing.

Wren slowly walked toward Kaden, her eyes fixed on him the entire time.

"Wren, Kaden, he..."

"Catherine," Shaun cut in. "Let’s step outside."

Catherine shot a reluctant glance at Kaden, then turned and followed Shaun out.

Director Archer looked at Wren and sighed. "Dr. Wynter, rest assured. The organization will give you a full account of what happened here."

Wren gave a faint nod.

Seeing that her mind was elsewhere, Director Archer said no more and left the tent.

Wren sat down beside Kaden. She wanted to wipe his face, but then she remembered her fingers were wrapped in bandages and couldn’t get wet.

She gave a bitter smile and simply sat beside him in silence.

Her heart was full of things to say, but because she’d lost her voice, not a single word could escape her lips.

She sat like that for the entire afternoon.

Images flooded Wren’s mind: from the day they first met, to their divorce, and now, to the moment he’d risked his life to protect her.

’How was she going to face Helen Sawyer? How could she gently break the news that her son, Kaden, had died saving her life?’

’But she couldn’t think of a way. She knew that no matter how it was phrased, it would be impossible for a mother to accept the news of her child’s death.’

Wren got up, ready to leave.

Suddenly, a murmured voice came from behind her—Kaden’s.

"Wren... don’t be afraid..."

Wren’s eyes flew wide open. She spun around to look at Kaden on the cot.

His brows were tightly furrowed, his expression pained, as if he were trapped in a nightmare.

Wren rushed over, took his hand, and stared at him anxiously.

’I’m not afraid,’ she wanted to tell him.

Perhaps sensing the warmth from her touch, Kaden gradually grew still.

He blearily opened his eyes and gazed around in a daze.

"I... Where am I...?"

The words had barely left his lips before Wren threw her arms around him, the taut string in her mind finally going slack.

’She didn’t spare a thought for why Shaun had told her Kaden was dead.’

’All she knew was that Kaden wasn’t dead.’

’He was alive!’

As Kaden’s consciousness gradually returned, he recognized her familiar scent and his hands instinctively wrapped around Wren’s slender waist.

"Wren, are you okay?"

Wren shook her head frantically, but tears she could no longer hold back streamed down her face, dripping onto Kaden’s clothes.

Feeling the dampness on his shirt, Kaden held her tighter, coaxing her in a soft, gentle voice, "I’m okay now. Don’t worry."

Wren finally released him after she had cried her fill.

Kaden reached out to gently wipe the lingering tears from her cheeks, his voice soft. "Wren, I’m so happy."

Wren didn’t understand.

"I’m happy that you were worried about me. It means getting hurt wasn’t for nothing. At the very least, I was able to save your life."

Wren’s brows knitted together, and she thumped him lightly on the chest with her fist.

Kaden pretended to be hurt, clutching the spot she’d hit with a pained expression.

"Wren, you’re so cruel. I just woke up, and you’re already hitting me this hard."

Wren wasn’t a fool; she knew he was faking it. Ignoring him, she made a move to leave.

Kaden quickly grabbed her arm. "Wren, why aren’t you saying anything? Did I do something to make you angry?"

Wren pointed to her throat, then after a moment’s thought, began to type laboriously on her phone again.

[I can’t speak.]

"What happened?" Kaden asked, alarmed.

[Since you’re awake, you should go back now.]

Kaden read the words she had typed, his expression darkening.

He lifted his head, his gaze meeting hers.

"Then what about you? Aren’t you coming back with me?"

[I have important work to do here. You’re different. You can’t just abandon your company.]

"I’m not going back unless you come with me. Wren, it’s too dangerous here. I can’t leave you by yourself."

[Suit yourself.]

Wren typed the message with a placid expression, clearly not wanting to linger.