The Day Our Promise Breaks

Charles gently scooped Evelyn into his arms and settled her in the back seat, his touch soft and full of care. "Take us back to the hotel," he told the driver.

The car slipped quietly through the night streets.

Charles glanced down at Evelyn, unconscious but still crying silent tears. Even in sleep, she kept whispering, "Charlie," over and over.

His chest ached. It felt like his heart was being torn apart.

He leaned down, his face etched with worry, and kissed away the tears from the corners of her eyes. Resting his forehead against hers, his voice came out rough and low. "Eve, I'm so sorry."

Seeing Evelyn hurting like this was almost more than he could bear. It was all his fault. She was suffering because of him.

He hated himself for it.

When they got back to the hotel, Charles immediately called for a doctor. Only after the doctor checked Evelyn and said she'd be fine did he finally leave.

Charles carried Evelyn to their room and gently laid her on the bed. He knelt by her side and carefully slipped off her shoes.

Her feet were a mess-red, swollen, the skin raw and broken at the heels and across the tops. Charles grabbed the ointment the doctor had left and tended to her wounds with slow, steady hands before tucking her under the covers.

Evelyn was beyond exhausted. Her body was heavy, her mind even heavier. Sleep came, but it was shallow and restless.

To help her rest, Charles had the doctor give her something mild for sleep.

He didn't leave her side. He didn't even lie down. He just sat at the edge of the bed, eyes full of worry and guilt, watching over her.

He studied her pale face and gently smoothed away the crease in her brow with his thumb as she slept, trying-hoping to bring her a little peace.

Time crawled by, minute after minute.

Charles couldn't shake Evelyn's words from his mind.

She'd asked him, "Charles, why can't you ever trust me?"

And she was right. How could he not trust her?

He'd doubted her so many times before. His lack of faith had broken her heart, had played a part in Charlie's death, and let whoever was truly at fault walk free.

Today, Evelyn had insisted she heard Charlie call her "Mama." She would never make up something like that. Even if she'd been mistaken, he should have turned the world upside down to find the child she'd heard-brought that person to Evelyn, so she could see for herself.

But he hadn't. Instead, he'd shut her down, refused to believe her, and made her pain worse.

That thought burned in his chest as he pulled out his phone and made a call.

This wasn't his turf-he didn't have

Ine

the same power here. Finding someone in a foreign country was never easy. But he couldn't just sit and wait.

So he called Korbin.

It took a while for Korbin to answer, his voice deep and gravelly on the other end.

Charles asked him to get the security footage from near the hotel. Korbin just replied with a short "Got it," and hung up.

Korbin worked fast. Less than ten minutes later, Charles received an email with the footage.

He opened it right away.

It didn't

right take him long to find the

saw that

stamp. The moment

small, slender figure on the

, it was like his blood ran cold.

That face he knew it anywhere. It was Charlie.

His heart jolted in his chest. He stared at the monitor, barely blinking, his heart thudding so hard he thought it might burst. He forced himself to stay calm, hands shaking as he zoomed in on the little girl's face. sŵnovel

IMS

The resemblance was unreal.

She looked exactly like Charlie.

Charlie was alive.

Tears welled up in his eyes, blurring the screen. He got to his feet, ready to rush

in and wake Evelyn, to tell her the impossible news.

But at the bedroom door, he stopped. He took a shaky breath, forcing himself to be rational.

No one knew better than him how much Charlie meant to Eve. He couldn't let himself believe it was really Charlie just because of a resemblance.noveldrama

He wanted it to be true-God, how he wanted it. But what if it wasn't?

Giving Eve hope, only to have it crushed again, would destroy her.

Charles swallowed back his excitement. He needed to think clearly. First, he had to find that little girl and make absolutely sure. Was she really Charlie?