Chapter 5
The hospital felt different in the hours following my father's forced eviction. The fluorescent lights seemed dimmer, casting long, predatory shadows in the corridor outside his new standard room. I sat beside his bed, watching his chest rise and fall with labored, uneven breaths. The monitors beeped erratically, each sound a countdown I couldn't bear to acknowledge.
Cole paced at the foot of the bed, his jaw clenched tight, the muscles in his forearms twitching with barely contained rage. 'This is inhumane,' he muttered, glaring at the door as if he could burn through it with his hatred. 'Dad needs the VIP care. You know what the stress of this move could do to his heart. Braylen is a monster. A goddamn monster. And that woman—'
'Be careful, Cole,' I whispered. My voice sounded foreign to my own ears, hollow and distant. I hadn't spoken much since signing those papers. What was there to say?
'Careful?' Cole spun toward me, his eyes blazing with protective fury. 'You almost died because of them, Rori. Our baby is gone because of them. And you're telling me to be careful?'
I didn't answer. I couldn't. The grief inside me had crystallized into something cold and impenetrable, like a diamond forged under unbearable pressure. I stood up slowly, my body still weak from the miscarriage, and moved toward the door.
'I need some air,' I said, not looking back at my brother.
The corridor was eerily quiet, most of the patients settled for the night. I walked toward the nurses' station, my footsteps echoing against the linoleum. The fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting the hallway in a sickly, pulsing glow.
I felt it before I saw it—a shift in the air, a prickle along my spine. I turned.
A man stood twenty feet away. He wore hospital scrubs, but they hung awkwardly on his frame. His eyes were dead, calculating. In his right hand, partially concealed by his sleeve, I caught the glint of metal.
My body froze. My mind, however, crystallized with perfect, terrible clarity. This was no random attacker. This was purposeful. This was Mariah.
The man began to move, his steps measured and silent. I backed up, my heart hammering against my ribs, searching for an escape route.
'You shouldn't be here,' he said, his voice flat and emotionless.
Before I could respond, Cole burst through the doorway behind me. 'Rori, get back!'
Everything happened in a blur. The man lunged forward, the knife arcing through the air. Cole threw himself in front of me, his body shielding mine as the blade plunged into his chest.
'No!' I screamed, the sound tearing from my throat as Cole crumpled to the floor.
The man turned to flee, but hospital security, alerted by my scream, rounded the corner. He disappeared into a service door, leaving me on my knees beside my brother.
Blood pooled beneath Cole, soaking through his shirt. I pressed my hands against the wound, trying to staunch the flow, but it was useless. Too much blood. Too deep a wound.
'Rori,' Cole gasped, his eyes finding mine. He reached up, his hand trembling, and touched my cheek. 'Don't... let them... win. Promise me.'
I nodded, tears blurring my vision. 'I promise, Cole. I promise. Stay with me. Please stay with me.'
But his eyes were already growing distant, losing their focus. His breathing grew shallow, each inhale a desperate struggle.
'You were... always... the strong one,' he whispered. His hand fell away from my face, and his body went still.
I don't know how long I knelt there, cradling my brother's body, until a nurse gently led me away.
Hours later, the final blow came. The monitors in my father's room flatlined, the sound cutting through me like a knife. The doctors rushed in, but it was too late. The stress of the move, the shock of Cole's attack—it had been too much for his already fragile heart.
I stood in the waiting room, alone in a sea of uncomfortable chairs and false sympathy. I should have been drowning in grief. I should have been broken. But as I watched the hospital staff move around me, a strange calm settled over me.
I walked to the window, staring out at the city lights below. The woman who had loved Braylen Martinez, who had believed in second chances and forgiveness, was gone. In her place stood someone new—someone forged in the crucible of unimaginable loss.
I pressed my palm against the cold glass, watching my reflection. My eyes were dry, my expression serene. But beneath the surface, something dark and absolute was taking root.
Braylen and Mariah had taken everything from me. Now, I would take everything from them.
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