His Ex-Wife Is A Billionaire (Evadne and Thaddeus) novel Chapter 1201

Thaddeus remembered how much she hated the cold. All winter long, she would curl up against his chest for warmth as they slept, and whenever they went out, she'd clutch his hand as if it were her personal furnace.

“Evadne,” he called out suddenly.

She turned, and a moment later felt a weight settle on her. He had draped his own overcoat across her shoulders, his gaze heavy. “It’s cold. Wear this.”

A pang of emotion shot through her, and she quickly tried to shrug it off. “I’m fine.”

“Wear it. You get cold easily.” Thaddeus’s large hand pressed firmly on her shoulder.

A lump formed in Evadne's throat. “You… you still remember?”

The man’s lips thinned into a firm line, but he said nothing, turning instead to walk toward Jareth, who was approaching.

Evadne stood frozen in place, her eyes welling with tears as she clutched the lapels of the coat.

“I thought The Velvet Haven was sealed off. What’s Elsie doing here so late at night?” Jareth asked, his brow furrowed.

Gordon ran up, panting. “Mr. Thaddeus, we just found Ms. Archer’s car parked nearby!”

“She must have been investigating something. After all, she lived here for a long time. Besides Avery, she knows The Velvet Haven better than anyone,” Thaddeus said, his sharp gaze hardening.

“My brother Elvis is already on his way to Elmsworth!”

Evadne walked over, her eyes scanning the oppressive darkness, anxiety gnawing at her. “Let’s search the area around The Velvet Haven first. If Ellie ran into trouble here, she must have left some kind of clue!”

Thaddeus looked at her and nodded.

Jareth gestured decisively to his men. “You heard Ms. Evadne! Search every inch of this place! I’ll give a handsome reward to whoever finds a clue!”

“Yes, Mr. Fairhaven!” The men from the Fairhaven group quickly dispersed.

“I’m going too!”

Evadne turned to leave, but Thaddeus grabbed her arm. “It’s freezing. Go wait in the car.”

Jareth chimed in, “Evadne, listen to Thad. Just wait in the car. We’ll handle the search.”

“No… I have to go with you!”

Evadne sniffled, her nose red from the cold. Her eyes, stung by the wind, felt swollen and wet. “This was my oversight, my mistake. If something happened to Ellie… it’s a responsibility I can’t escape! It’s all my fault!”

“Evadne…” Seeing her so wracked with guilt, Jareth’s heart ached for her.

…

Meanwhile, Alexia didn’t have time to properly treat the swollen nose Hans had given her. She hastily covered it with a piece of gauze and rushed to Windermere Estate to see Chad.

Not a single lamp was lit in the study. The cold, ghostly moonlight streaming through the window cast a silvery outline around the man, making him seem even more frigid and desolate.

“Sir… Hans has gone too far! He’s completely out of your control!” Alexia immediately began to complain, on the verge of tears. “He assaulted me, but that’s nothing… The real problem is his insubordination! His skills are so formidable that even Thaddeus might not be a match for him. And yet he failed to handle Elsie… How is that possible?! If I hadn’t arrived in time to capture that bitch and eliminate a major threat for you, she would have gone back on high alert, and catching her again would have been nearly impossible!”

Chad’s pale, handsome face was shrouded in darkness. He listened without a word.

“Sir, Hans has been acting stranger and stranger lately. Could the drug be losing its effect?”

“Open the box on the coffee table,” Chad finally spoke, his voice unnervingly somber in the dead of night.

Alexia, wincing in pain, walked over and opened it.

Inside was a single deep-blue pill, a much darker shade than the one she’d been giving Thaddeus.

“This is…”

“The latest version of Crystal Ice. Its concentration is five times stronger than the previous one. A single dose is enough to get anyone addicted, no matter how strong their willpower.” Chad’s voice was elegant and low, with a rising inflection that made it sound as if he were discussing something amusing. “Take it and give it to Hans. And make sure you watch him swallow it.”