She Turned Her Grief Into Wings novel Chapter 49

The silence in the office was so absolute it chilled the blood.

Passed away?

Caden’s body went rigid. His dark eyes locked onto Aiken by the door, his chest suddenly tightening as if all the air had been violently sucked from his lungs.

“Didn't they say his condition was stable?”

Aiken hesitated, unsure of how to answer. “The doctors probably meant his condition was consistently poor. They used the word 'stable' to mean there hadn't been any sudden changes.”

What kind of logic was that?

So her father had been dying the entire time?

His fingers trembled against his phone as his mind desperately scrambled for an excuse, a way to absolve himself.

“Why wasn't I informed that her father was in critical condition?”

Aiken replied carefully, “Mr. Sutton was in surgery at the time. You gave strict orders not to be disturbed under any circumstances. You explicitly said that if Mrs. Hayes called, I was to tell her you were busy.”

Caden slowly closed his eyes and took a ragged breath.

At the time, Shera had been emotional about losing the surgical slot, Zachary Sutton was undergoing a major operation abroad, and there had been issues with a major corporate project. He had been working back-to-back endless shifts.

During the day, he was negotiating with foreign executives at the branch office, and at night, he was at the hospital, trying to keep Helga calm.

He genuinely believed Shera was just being dramatic and throwing a fit out of jealousy over the surgeon. He had no idea...

Caden pinched the bridge of his nose, a crushing sense of frustration and dread radiating through his entire body.

“When did he pass away?”

Aiken replied, “The day you returned from Germany. That was the exact day of her father’s funeral.”

So... that day she came back, she had just buried him?

She asked for a divorce because she had completely given up on him?

He had actually yelled at her for coming home late. The crushing weight of guilt slammed into his chest, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

“Also, when Mrs. Hayes’s father passed away, the hospital and I both tried to call you. Ms. Sutton answered your phone. She said you had been working overtime and were exhausted. I explicitly asked her to pass the message on to you.”

They had called him? Why hadn't he heard about it?

Aiken lowered his head, his tone tinged with regret. “I honestly thought you already knew. I never imagined Ms. Sutton would keep that from you.”

Helga...

“Understood.”

Aiken backed out of the room and gently pulled the door shut. The office fell back into a dead silence.

A silence that made his heart race with panic.

——

Shera had gone to bed early the night before. Completely physically and mentally drained, she had passed out the second her head hit the pillow.

But when she woke up, her body felt like lead. Swallowing felt like swallowing glass, and her forehead was burning up.

It was a chronic issue of hers; extreme emotional stress always triggered a fever.

A hundred and one degrees.

She forced herself out of bed and choked down a fever reducer. Looking at her swollen eyes in the mirror, she grabbed a cold soda from the fridge to use as an ice pack, terrified her makeup would look completely bizarre later.

Checking the clock, she saw she had enough time to throw together a quick bowl of soup to line her stomach.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. It was Zena.

Zena had overheard the office drama yesterday. She knew Shera was fighting with her husband and heading for a divorce, so she was incredibly worried. But seeing Shera answer the door with insanely puffy eyes left her completely speechless.