She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 492

The hospital.

Everett wasn't sure if it was the sterile scent of bleach that roused him.

When he opened his eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted him.

It felt as though he had just awakened from a long, confusing dream. The memories flooding his mind felt foreign and entirely surreal.

It was as if he had died and come back to life.

Blinking his heavy, exhausted eyelids, Everett stared at the ceiling for a long time before he could finally sort through the jumbled fragments of his past.

He slowly rolled his hazy gaze toward the corner of the room, and that was when he saw the person keeping watch by his bed.

Melanie.

Everett called out her name in his heart.

In that instant, a suffocating wave of despair crashed over him.

How long had it been since he last saw her?

He couldn't remember.

Or perhaps, it hadn't been long at all.

After all, it was because of Melanie that he had returned to Averin in the first place.

His mind felt split, as if it held the memories of two different men.

One was his true self.

The other was the man he had become when he lost his mind.

Yet, he knew with absolute clarity that both were him.

He remembered the past, he remembered his time in a mental fog, and he remembered protecting Melanie at the nursing home, taking the brutal hit to the head from Evelyn's potted plant.

Everett gazed at Melanie and took a deep breath.

His chest ached.

He had been struck in the head, but the agonizing pain was tearing at his heart.

The hospital room was dead silent.

He didn't dare wake the woman resting beside his bed.

He was terrified.

For a fleeting moment of clarity, he found himself wishing he had stayed in the dark.

If his mind had remained broken, he wouldn't have to face any of this.

There would be no pain, no crushing regret.

She studied his face closely, her eyes widening.

"Everett, you... you have your memory back, don't you?"

Seeing the spark of hope in her eyes, he nodded.

"Yeah."

"That's amazing!"

She jumped with genuine excitement.

He could tell she was truly happy for him.

But he found it impossible to share in her joy.

It wasn't that he was ungrateful for being rescued from the ruthless hellhole of The Marlowe District, nor did he wish to remain mindless.

It was just that some forms of agony and remorse could only be truly felt when one was fully awake.

Relieved that he had regained his intellect and health, Melanie sat back down and filled him in on everything that had happened recently, including her divorce from Dominic and everything Evelyn had done.

Everett listened quietly, his presence as understated as it had always been.

The more she spoke, the more complex the emotions swirling in his eyes became.

"Alright, I think that covers just about everything. Do you have anything you want to say to me?"