Chapter 1583
Eleanor pulled her hand back, meeting his gaze without flinching. "I meant it."
She gave him her answer.
lan's Adam's apple bobbed, a flicker of raw agony crossing his eyes.
His body was burning with a high fever, but his heart felt like a block of ice, heavy and suffocating. Every beat sent a dull, throbbing ache through his chest.
"Let's get your fever down first. We can talk about this later," Eleanor said, wrapping up the cord of the hairdryer and walking toward the bathroom.
When she returned, lan was sitting in the exact same spot, completely motionless. It was obvious he was sulking.
"Why? There has to be a reason you're saying this to me, right?" lan lifted his head, refusing to let the issue go. He wanted to get to the absolute bottom of it.
Eleanor's brows furrowed slightly, though her voice softened. "Enough. Let's drop it for now. We'll talk when your fever breaks and you're feeling better, okay?"
"Feeling better?" lan abruptly stood up. His towering frame closed the distance between them, bringing a stifling sense of oppression. His voice dripped with bitter self-mockery. "Do you honestly think I care about that right now?"
Eleanor knew she had crossed a line last night. She fell silent for a moment before offering an apology. "I'm sorry. I was entirely too harsh yesterday."
lan let out a heavy sigh, a hollow laugh escaping his lips. "I know Mansfield, Xavier, and Joel are all great guys. If I hadn't been obsessively tying you down, you probably would have found real happiness by now."
Eleanor froze. She hadn't expected him to bring them up voluntarily. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
lan lowered his eyes, his voice dropping to a weary whisper. "I admit it. Over the last three years, I used every dirty trick in the book to keep any other man away from you. If you resent me for destroying your chances at love, then go ahead and hate me-"
Eleanor's frown deepened. Where was he getting all this?
But if he wanted to fixate on that excuse, there was no point in explaining herself further.
"Alright, stop overthinking. Eat something and go to sleep," she urged him.
An invisible fist squeezed lan's heart, leaving him breathless. Clearly, he had guessed right.
Was it his grandmother's death that made her realize life was too short? Did she finally decide she needed to seize her own happiness instead of wasting it on a dead-end relationship with him? She had infinitely better options.
She had everything she could ever want, along with the luxury of choosing any perfect partner she desired. Why would she continue draining her life away on her ex-husband?
Eleanor's evasiveness was an answer in itself.
So, to her, all his recent efforts and deep devotion were just seen as desperate, manipulative harassment?
The dizziness and nausea from his fever, compounded by the crushing
ache in his chest, forced him to
stagger backward until he collapsed
onto the sofa. A fine layer of cold sweat broke out across his drain
bis
forehead, draining the last bite
color from his face.
"I can't eat," he whispered, sounding utterly depleted.
Eleanor stepped forward, crouching down in front of him. "Just have a few bites. You
took medicine on an empty stomach; it's going to make you sick."
lan didn't say a word. Instead, he suddenly reached out and pulled her fiercely into his arms, crushing her against him. He pressed his feverish cheek against her cool face, like two swans entwining their necks He was desperate for some kind of
response from her.
"I don't care—you can't just abandon me. You know I don't give up this easily—" His voice was a raw, gritty rasp, filled with unyielding stubbornness and a clinging desperation.
Suddenly, Eleanor felt a drop of moisture against her cheek. She didn't know if it was residual water from his shower, or something else entirely.
Then, she heard it—a low, muffled sob right next to her ear.
It was suppressed, almost entirely inaudible, but it sent a tremor straight through Eleanor's spine. She froze in his arms, wide-eyed with disbelief.
lan Goodwin was... crying?