"Elsie? Who is that?!" Alva was confused, knowing Mrs. Abernathy had many friends and family.
"My sister-in-law… she's in danger! I have to find her!"
Evadne tried to move, but Alva blocked her way. "Mrs. Abernathy! You can't go alone, it's too dangerous! If you're worried, call your brothers! Aren't they all incredibly capable, and one's a police officer, right? Contact them, have them figure something out! At the very least, you need to call the police! It's absolutely not safe for you to go by yourself!"
Of course, Evadne wanted to call the police. But she didn't know Elsie's exact situation, and the police wouldn't file a missing person's report for an adult for forty-eight hours. By then, it would be too late.
"Mrs. Abernathy? Are… are you crying?" Alva saw two clear tear tracks on Evadne's cheeks and panicked.
"Alva, I can't reach anyone who can help me. I have to rely on myself," Evadne said, her voice filled with a rare helplessness born from her habit of always being considerate of others.
"Who says? You still have our young master!"
Evadne froze, her gaze faltering. "Thaddeus…?"
"Call him right now! The young master would walk through fire for you! I'll call him!" Alva immediately pulled out her phone.
"Will he… will he come?" Evadne's voice trembled, her confidence gone.
"Of course, he will. He always will," Alva said, pulling Evadne into a comforting, motherly embrace, her own eyes welling up. "Mrs. Abernathy, you can doubt anyone in the world, but not him. I don't believe for a second that one illness could make him forget his love for you. I just don't!"
A powerful sob wracked Evadne's body, and hot tears fell silently.
…
Under the early morning sky, Windermere Estate was shrouded in a quiet, misty silence.
Gordon stood guard outside Thaddeus's room like a stoic sentinel, his fists clenched tightly. The bloodshot veins in his eyes betrayed the anguish he was feeling.
Inside the room, Thaddeus was tied to the bed, a towel stuffed in his mouth. His body was wracked with violent convulsions as he endured the torment of withdrawal, an agony like a thousand ants crawling under his skin.
He couldn't take the drugs anymore. But in countless moments of weakness, the craving was overwhelming, a siren call promising to end the pain. His iron will was on the verge of shattering.
But he held on.
As a child, his mother had told him over and over to be a person of integrity, to be upright and clean. Thaddeus curled into a ball, his bloodshot eyes squeezed shut. He couldn't disappoint his mother. He couldn't disappoint those who trusted him. He would not fall. He would not become a monster.


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