His Last Command Came Back to Kill Him novel Chapter 39

She rarely used this card, but with Winona's life on the line, she had absolutely no choice.

She handed it to the billing nurse. "Please, charge this one."

The nurse took the card and swiped it through the terminal. A few seconds later, she looked up with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, ma'am. This card has been deactivated. It's declining."

"Deactivated?"

Whitley froze in place, her blood running cold.

Just last week, she had used this exact card to buy a gift for a Sherwood family elder's birthday. It had worked perfectly fine. How could it suddenly be deactivated?

There was only one explanation. Clive had personally cut it off.

It was absurd. It was sickening. A wave of profound humiliation crashed over her.

On one hand, he aggressively refused to divorce her, trapping her in the marriage. On the other hand, he silently cut off her financial lifeline.

Was this a punishment? A warning?

Did he want her to crawl back to him and beg?

Whitley stood paralyzed, her hands turning to ice, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

She stared blankly at the rejected black card, her face entirely drained of color.

Josiah saw the devastation in her eyes and his chest tightened. "Whitley, don't panic. I'll figure something out."

He knew Whitley wouldn't have a black card of her own.

It had to be Clive's.

And now it was cut off.

It confirmed his worst fears—that her marriage with Clive was rapidly disintegrating.

He turned back to the doctor. "Please, you have to stabilize her. We will have the money by tonight, I swear it."

The doctor looked at the desperate family, gave a grim nod, and rushed back into the ICU.

Whitley stood rooted to the spot, her mind completely blank.

She looked at her brother's exhausted profile, then at her parents' shattered faces. It felt like a knife twisting in her gut.

Josiah had sacrificed so much for this family over the years. The bills, the debt, Yelena's endless expenses—he had carried all of it. Whitley couldn't bear to watch him get crushed under the weight of it anymore.

The late-night hospital corridor was freezing, the draft chilling her down to her bones.

And with every unanswered call, whatever warmth was left in her heart completely froze over.

Suddenly, a soft, delicate voice echoed from the end of the hallway. "What are you all doing at the hospital in the middle of the night?"

Whitley looked up to see Yelena strolling toward them, dressed in a pristine designer sweatsuit, looking completely unbothered.

The doctor happened to step out of the ICU again. Seeing Yelena, he frowned. "Are you family?"

"The patient has an outstanding balance. Payment needs to be cleared immediately, or we risk losing her."

Yelena feigned a look of surprise. "Oh no, I don't have that kind of cash on hand. How did Grandma get so sick all of a sudden?"

"Don't worry, I'll figure it out right now."

She pulled out her phone and, with a few quick taps, called Clive.

The line connected almost instantly.

"Hi, Clive," Yelena said softly. "Grandma is in the hospital. It's an emergency and we need to pay the medical bills right away. Could you transfer some money to me? Please?"