Chapter 105
Matilda staggered backward, her face turning ashen under the weight of Yvan’s words.
“Yvan, I just couldn’t be as ruthless as you!” she yelled inwardly.
Just then, the ringtone of her cellphone cut through the tension, her hands trembling as she fished it out of her pocket. The sight of the incoming number made her heart sink.
A bad omen, she thought.
“Hello? Are you the sister of the guy who just got into a wreck on Lupia Skyway?” a stranger’s voice crackled through the line. “We’re taking him to the City Hospital right now. You better come quick; any later and you might not get to see him alive.”
Matilda’s grip loosened, and the phone crashed to the ground, the screen shattering like a spiderweb – a stark reflection of her fragmented heart.
It was as if a thunderclap had gone off beside her ear, buzzing and disorienting.
Her brother… her brother was in an accident!
Because she couldn’t bring Logan home, Gideon must have guessed that Yvan had given her a hard time, prompting him to hurry over.
As Matilda, shaking violently, spun on her heels and dashed for the door, Yvan felt a stab of pain and chased after her, grabbing her wrist. “Hey, what the hell are you doing?”
“To the City Hospital!”
Her legs gave out, and Yvan’s pull sent her tumbling to the ground.
Her voice quivered. “To the City Hospital. My brother’s been in an accident!”
Yvan’s expression shifted, and without another word, he scooped her up and raced to his car. gunning it toward the hospital.
Forty minutes later, Matilda faced the icy, endless corridor leading to the operating room. It felt like a merciless black hole pulling her in as tears blurred her vision and her mind spun in chaos. The doctor’s regrets echoed in her ears as she pushed through the door, her knees buckling at the sight of Gideon’s lifeless body.
She felt as if her soul had been drained, her eyes numbly wide open. Memories of Gideon flickered through her mind in a rapid montage, slowing to a haunting crawl, pulling her back to the grim corridor, freezing on his still face.
Yvan had always imagined a breakdown to be a dramatic, over–the–top affair. But he never considered it could be this silent and deadly, as if someone had hit pause on her world, leaving her stranded in a cage of pain with no escape.
Matilda stood stone–faced, rising slowly from Gideon’s bedside.
Chapter 105
Yvan moved to support her, but when she looked up, the hatred In her eyes was sharp as knives, her voice hoarse, her stance weak, yet he sensed her utter despair.
“Are you happy now?” she asked.
And then she laughed a laugh so hollow and full of tears it was almost grotesque.
The medical staff, accustomed to the grief–stricken outbursts of loved ones, moved to restrain
her.
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