The Day Our Promise Breaks (Charles and Evelyn) novel Chapter 650

“Charles, you can’t! This is way too dangerous!”

Andrew desperately wanted to save Charlie, but even more than that, the thought of Charles getting hurt was unbearable.

He knew exactly what it meant to be a human test subject. The worst-case scenario? Charles could die right there on the table. Best case? His organs would be wrecked, and there was no telling if he’d ever recover. It was just too much of a gamble.

“Luna.” Francis broke the tense silence. His voice was quiet, but the message was loud and clear.

“She’s had heart surgery.”

Charles hadn’t dismissed the idea of using Luna. She was the one who’d poisoned Charlie, after all. If she wouldn’t hand over the antidote, Charles wouldn’t hesitate to use her to fish it out—no pity, no second thoughts.

But her body was clearly too weak. Using Luna as a live test subject would be a dead-end. Her own life hardly mattered—someone that vicious deserved no mercy. But Charlie couldn’t afford to wait for a safer plan.

“Andrew, use me! Charlie’s out of time!” Charles locked eyes with Andrew, his voice growing more determined with every word. “Charlie’s my daughter. I owe her this. Use me. Right now. Inject whatever you took from her blood straight into me!”

He didn’t care what happened to him—life, death, or worse. The only thing that mattered was saving Charlie.

Andrew looked at Charles, searching his eyes. Behind him, Charlie lay fighting for her life. Seeing Charles’s resolve, Andrew finally nodded and rushed to get everything ready.

Charles stood beside Charlie’s bed, his eyes rimmed red as he watched his daughter struggle through the pain. He leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

“Charlie, I promise—I’m going to get you through this. Stay strong, sweetheart. Your mom’s still waiting for you.”

…

Once Andrew had everything set up, Charles stepped into the lab without a second thought and climbed onto the cold metal table.

Andrew had to keep a constant watch—tracking the poison, monitoring every reaction, tweaking the protocol, trying one antidote after another. Each new attempt brought a new wave of agony.

Vomiting, diarrhea, full-body pain, a burning, maddening itch that wouldn’t let up—

Charles was strapped to a special hospital bed, tubes everywhere, his body twisted by endless spasms. His teeth ground together so hard that blood oozed from his lips and gums. His fists clenched so tight, his nails tore into his palms, drawing blood.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, battered by wave after wave of pain, always on the edge of breaking. But the thought of Evelyn, and his desperate need to save his daughter, kept him hanging on.

One thought throbbed in his mind: He couldn’t give up. If he did, Charlie was lost for good.

As Charles endured his own private hell, Charlie’s condition was sliding downhill fast.