Unwanted Blood (Harper) novel Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Ryder’s POV

Grayson and Logan were standing at the doorway of the ward when Harper laughed.

They froze. The next second, the corner of Grayson’s mouth twitched upward. He was trying to smile. But before the expression could fully form, his eyes went red.

He turned away from the bed, his back to everyone, and brought his thumb up to the corner of his eye, and wiped away a tear.

Logan wasn’t doing any better. He turned away hastily and said, “I’ll check with the nurse about any new test schedules.” Then he turned and walked out.

The ward door clicked shut behind him.

I leaned back against the head of the bed and watched those two tall figures disappear down the corridor, one after the other.

Something turned over in my chest.

I thought about a long time ago-the four of us standing in that empty room after Harper’s faked death, holding that farewell letter, in a silence so heavy it felt like the whole world had collapsed. We hadn’t been able to cry back then. The shock had been too big.

And now, she had just smiled. That was all. And they had cried.

I lowered my eyes and looked at my left arm in the cast. A clear thought

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formed in my mind:

She came back to life. So did we.

The door opened again.

Colton walked in, holding a file folder. He took in the room-just Harper, me, and the pile of food Grayson had bought on the bedside cabinet, and paused.

“…Where did everyone go?”

I didn’t explain. “Did you finish the statement?” Colton nodded. He came over and set the folder on the cabinet.

He hesitated for a second, then spoke. “The investigation department has closed Marcus Kane’s case. The dashcam, the airport contractor

registration records, the fingerprints lifted from the brake pad-they all point to him. The chain of evidence is complete. The judge sentenced him on the spot. Death penalty.”

“The appeal period has passed. He waived it.”

The ward went quiet for a few seconds.

When I heard those words, I felt something that had been pressing down on my chest for a very long time finally, completely, drop away.

From the day Harper faked her death. From the day Marcus first appeared in the bar corridor and pinned her against the wall. From the night at the care home when a bullet grazed my shoulder.

That string had been pulled tight for so long. And when it finally snapped, the release was light.

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“Good.” One word.

Then I looked at Harper, who was sitting beside the bed. She was looking back at me.

We didn’t say anything. But I knew she was thinking the same thing I

was.

This whole thing is finally over.

{

Harper’s POV

Half a month later.

On the day Ryder was discharged from the hospital, I stood at the entrance and watched Grayson and Logan walk out on either side of him, supporting him. The cast on his left arm had been removed, but he was still walking slowly. The injury to his right leg hadn’t fully healed.

But compared to the person lying in the ICU half a month ago-pale, grey, surrounded by machines-at least now he was standing.

During those half a month, I hadn’t deliberately avoided Grayson and Logan. I accepted the food they brought. I wore the thin jacket they’d bought for me. When I ran into them in the hotel lobby, I’d share the elevator. We didn’t talk much, but the wariness from those first days had faded.

The night before I was supposed to leave, I was in my room packing.

A knock on the door. I opened it.

Ryder was standing there. Behind him were Grayson and Logan.

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The three of them stood in a row, different expressions on each face.

Ryder spoke first. “You’re really leaving tomorrow?”

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