Chapter 146 

Chapter 146 

Dan had a minor heart attack. The doctors treated him in time, and now he’s in the 

: VIP ICU. 

It’s almost midnight, and Kaiden, Mom, and I—we’ve been here for hours, sitting outside the ICU in numbing silence. The kind of silence that doesn’t comfort but claws at your insides. 

The fluorescent lights overhead were too bright, the white tiles too clean, too sterile–like they were mocking the mess our lives had become. 

Kaiden sat hunched over with his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor like it had answers. His hands were locked together so tightly his knuckles had gone pale. 

Mom… well, she hadn’t spoken a word since we got here. Her eyes were red, but no tears came. Just that hard, blank expression, like she didn’t want anyone to see what intensity of pain she is going through. 

And me? I kept replaying everything–Dan’s words, that yell, the look on his face when he clutched his chest. The panic. The sound of Kaiden’s voice breaking when he shouted for an ambulance. 

A part of me wanted to run away from all of it. Just disappear into the quiet corners of the hospital where no one would know who I was or what I had done. But I couldn’t move. My guilt had cemented me here, on this cold, uncomfortable bench, waiting for news I was too afraid to hear. 

I looked at Kaiden. He hadn’t looked at me once. Not since Dan collapsed. And honestly, I didn’t blame him. Maybe if I hadn’t let things go that far… maybe if I had listened- 

Mom’s phone buzzed suddenly, slicing through the silence like a blade. She pulled it from her purse and answered it without hesitation. 

“Did you get her?” Her voice was clipped, all business. “Okay. I’m coming right now. Yeah, do that.” She hung up, shoved the phone back into her bag, and stood. 

No explanation. 

No glance. 

No words. 

She just walked away, her heels clicking sharply against the floor like punctuation marks to a sentence none of us understood. 

A seed of suspicion began to grow in my stomach, but I ignored it because this wasn’t the time for doubts or drama. It was a crucial moment for both Dan and Kaiden. Though I wasn’t as capable as a doctor, I could still pray for Dan’s stability. 

“Oh God, please, make Dan get well soon. Please, make Dan get well soon… Please…” Hands clasped together, head bowed low, I began to chant under my breath. 

Again and Again. Over and over. 

The words became a rhythm. A mantra. A thread of hope I clung to like a lifeline as the minutes dragged and the air grew heavier. 

I must’ve repeated the line a hundred times–maybe,more–when Kaiden’s phone buzzed violently on the bench beside him. He gave just one glance and snatched it up, answering it on the first ring. 

“What?!” he snapped, his voice sharp and already cracking. “Fuck! Stop her. Right now. First that article and now this?! Fuck!” 

He shot up from the bench like he’d been electrocuted. 

“Get Selena out of that room and call Dr. Pilboi. I’m coming. I’m coming there right now.” His words spilled out in a rush, frustration and urgency wrapped around every syllable. He didn’t wait to hear a response before hanging up. 

Without looking at me, he turned to the nurse passing by in the corridor. 

1/3 

08:31 Mon, 30 Jun 

Chapter 146 

“Please,” he said, breathless but commanding, “watch over my dad. Don’t leave him alone, not for a second. I want twenty four–seven supervision. 

And then–he walked away. 

He didn’t give an explanation. 

He didn’t tell me about my mom’s involvement. Nothing. 

He just ran, with the same wild urgency that Mom had a few miner 

ago, his footsteps echoing down the corridor like alarms in my ears. 

And suddenly, that tiny seed of suspicion that I shoved away, it began to sprout. Faster than ever. 

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as I pushed off the bench and sprinted toward the exit. 

As I burst through the lobby doors, my eyes caught Kaiden’s without planning, Iran. 

car 

coming from the parking lot. He was just seconds away from leaving. Without thinking, 

Straight into his path. 

His headlights flared against my skin, and for a second, I froze. Everything went still. The sounds of the hospital–ambulance sirens, muffled announcements, hurried footsteps–all muted in a terrifying instant. It felt like the world had stopped breathing. 

In that single second, I was one hundred percent sure that I was as good as dead. 

But luckily Kaiden slammed the brakes. 

The car screeched and jolted to a stop just inches–centimeters, maybe—from me. 

The silence shattered. 

Sound returned in layers: the wheels skidding, an ambulance wailing down the street, someone shouting in the distance and the hollow beat of my racing heart pounding in my ears. 

Kaiden flung the door open and stormed out, his jaw clenched, his expression dark. “What the hell, Lucy?!” he barked, slamming the car door behind him hard enough to make the whole vehicle shudder. 

“Wherever you’re going, take me with you,” I said, stepping forward, my voice steady even though my knees were still trembling. 

“I don’t think you should-” 

“You called my mom’s name,” I cut in sharply. “Which means she’s involved. And it’s serious enough that you needed to call a doctor.” I took another step toward him. “Whatever’s going on, I deserve to know, Kaiden.” 

He stared at me for a second, chest heaving. His hands flexed at his sides like he was trying to hold something in–anger, maybe. Emotions. Rage. 

Finally, he let out a harsh, tired breath, dragging a hand down his face. 

“Fine,” he muttered, “Whatever. Get in the car. Don’t tell me that I didn’t try to 

I didn’t hesitate. 

I yanked open the door and slid in, the door thudding shut behind me like the closing of a chapter with a dangerous cliffhanger. 

To be continued…