She's Too Busy Winning to Watch Him Cry novel Chapter 190

The loss of her father had shattered her world.

In the dead of night, the grief was a physical weight. She desperately missed the man who had always shielded her from the storm, the patriarch who had kept their family safe under his wings.

The crushing regret of the darkness made it hard to breathe.

Then—

A soft rustle of fabric whispered against the other side of her bedroom door.

Lyra froze.

Someone else in the house was awake.

She padded quickly to the door and pulled it open with trembling hands.

Delilah stood in the hallway, her face as pale as a sheet of paper, her eyes vacant.

"Mom?"

Without a sound, Delilah swayed and collapsed straight toward the floor.

"Mom!" Lyra screamed.

She lunged forward, catching her mother's limp body, the sheer dead weight dragging Lyra down until her knees slammed violently against the floorboards.

A suffocating wave of despair and primal terror crashed over her.

Tears blurred her vision as she threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Caleb! Caleb, help! Somebody, please!"

"Liam! Martha!"

Her shrieks tore through the absolute silence of the sprawling estate.

Frantic footsteps thundered down the hallway. Caleb sprinted down the stairs, his shirt unbuttoned, while the household staff bolted from their rooms. Lights flicked on one after another, illuminating the panic.

In the chaos, Caleb scooped Delilah into his arms and bolted for the front door. Kayla rushed out a second later, tossing a thick shawl over her unconscious mother-in-law.

Trembling and freezing cold, Lyra climbed into the backseat with her brother and sister-in-law, speeding through the night to the emergency room.

At the hospital.

The attending physician finished his examination and turned to the terrified family. "It's severe exhaustion and low blood sugar from poor sleep and lack of nutrition. That's what caused the fainting spell."

Her chest was tight with an agonizing panic.

She was terrified her mother was going to repeat the tragedy of her past life. Back then, Delilah had suffered a complete mental breakdown. Lyra couldn't bear to watch her shatter again.

"The doctor said you haven't been eating enough, and your body just couldn't handle the strain," Lyra coaxed, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Martha made that comforting seafood soup you love. It's still warm in the thermos. Let's have a few bites, okay?"

Delilah looked at her children's exhausted, pale faces. "What about all of you?" she whispered. "Have you eaten?"

Caleb and Kayla nodded quickly, forcing a lighthearted tone. "We grabbed something from the cafeteria, Mom. Don't worry about us."

Delilah gave a faint "mm," allowing Lyra to help her sit up and wash her face.

Once she wiped her mouth, Kayla opened the insulated thermos, pouring out a steaming, fragrant bowl of creamy seafood soup.

Watching her mother's pale, quiet face, Lyra felt as though a giant, invisible hand was squeezing her heart.

Uncontrollable flashes of her past life surged to the surface—this exact same hospital room, this exact same frailty. Later on, Tabitha and Jasmine had relentlessly provoked and manipulated her mother until her mind fractured completely, leaving her unable to even recognize her own daughter.

In this life, she would never let Tabitha get anywhere near her mother.

If she could just keep them away, maybe the nightmare would finally end.