Chapter 15
Three days later, Kane showed up at the community center again.
This time, he was noticeably better groomed compared to his last visit.
Noticing his gaze fixed on her, Eleanor turned to the security guard and said, “Don’t let him in again to cause trouble.”
Having him trailing behind her like a shadow was just plain annoying.
But Kane was quick to interject, “I’m here to volunteer.”
Eleanor just sighed and thought, if he wants to help, let him. It had nothing to do with her.
And indeed, Kane seemed genuinely committed to volunteering. He accepted any task the center assigned him without complaint.
Once his work was done, he moved towards Eleanor, but before he could reach her, a familiar sharp pain struck him, causing him to cough up blood.
Eleanor glanced at him briefly, finally acknowledging his presence.
Her eyes, however, held no trace of worry or concern. Kane noticed that she even said to the director, “Director, please don’t let him volunteer here again.”
“If something were to happen to him on our premises, we couldn’t bear the responsibility.”
She spoke as though he was contagious, and quickly ushered the children back to the dormitory.
Kane watched her indifferent figure disappear, feeling something inside him quietly shatter.
He realized that whether she was his Eleanor or not, he had lost her completely.
In the days that followed, Kane visited the community center whenever he could muster the strength to get out of bed.
When they no longer allowed him to volunteer, he donated a seven–figure sum to the center, securing his position as a benefactor.
Despite his deteriorating health and constant coughing fits, Kane clung to the hope that Eleanor might show him a sliver of concern, ask about his condition, just once.
But it never happened.
Gradually, Kane came to accept a harsh truth- even if he died in front of Eleanor, it might not stir her in the slightest.
It was like the indifference he once showed her; back when she told him she was dying, he dismissed it as melodrama and a ploy for attention over Lillian.
His current suffering felt like a deserved reckoning.
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Chapter 15
Yet, when the boomerang of neglect came back to hit him, it hurt far more than he could have imagined.
Eventually, Kane stopped expecting anything. He no longer hoped for her attention.
He just wanted to see Eleanor every day. It seemed to be the only way he could feel alive, no longer a mere shell of a person.
Then one day, he unexpectedly ran into Selene at the community center entrance.
Selene, too, spotted Eleanor, and her expression mirrored Kane’s initial shock upon seeing her.
“Kane, she’s Ellie, isn’t she? My Ellie, she’s alive?” Selene exclaimed.
Kane didn’t answer directly. Instead, he asked, “Why are you here?”
Glancing behind him, he noticed a car parked about ten meters from his, his brows furrowing deeply.
“Have you been following me?”
This was a secluded area in the suburbs, far from Yates Manor.
Kane had stumbled upon this place by chance after spotting Eleanor at a park and tracing her here.
Selene didn’t deny it, gripping his arm tightly. “Just tell me if it’s true!”
She didn’t mention that she had noticed a change in Kane lately. He seemed to have cleaned up his act, leaving the house well–dressed, unlike his previous disheveled state.
She had followed him out of a sense of injustice for her daughter, thinking he had moved on from Eleanor.
She never expected to find Eleanor here!
Kane gently freed his arm from her grip and replied coolly, “She’s not Ellie.”
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