Chapter 124 She Is Just a Good-for-Nothing
Juniper had arrived only minutes earlier. She stayed just outside the hospital room, watching everything unfold through the doorway. She didn't step in. She was waiting—waiting for William to finish breaking Isabella completely before swooping in to play the hero.
"Oh my God, what happened here? William, are you bullying Isabella again?"
She rushed forward, shoving the bodyguard aside, and helped Isabella onto the hospital bed. "How can you treat an injured person like this? Isabella, are you okay?"
Isabella rejected her false concern. She shoved Juniper hard. Juniper stumbled backward and nearly fell, but William caught her arm and steadied her.
He couldn't believe it. Even after everything he'd just done, Isabella still had the nerve to lay hands on Juniper.
"Isabella, clearly I haven't taught you enough of a lesson. Do you really want me to bulldoze that house?"
Isabella ignored them all. She dropped to the floor and gathered the ashes in her hands. Embers still glowed in the pile. She didn't seem to feel the heat as she clutched them to her chest, her skin flushing an angry red.
"They're gone… everything's gone."
The tighter she held on, the faster the ashes slipped through her fingers. In the end, there was nothing left.
She had tried—tried so hard to save her grandmother's things.
She had kept them hidden in the back of the closet precisely because she feared William would find them. Only in the dead of night, when the loneliness became unbearable, would she take them out.
She never even turned on the light. She would sit in the darkness and trace the letters with her fingertips, imagining her grandmother still beside her.
Isabella clutched the ashes and cried silently, her shoulders shaking. William released Juniper and walked over to her.
"Look what I have here."
Isabella lifted her head. In his hand was her grandmother's watch—the one she had spent hours repairing with glue, piece by painstaking piece. She had tucked it away in the pocket of her winter coat, never taking it out.
How had he found it?
In William's eyes, she had no secrets at all.
And still, he wasn't finished.
"Give it back. Please…"
Before she could finish, William hurled the watch out the window.
Isabella froze. Her strength drained away as she stared at the empty sky.
Juniper slipped her arm through William's. "William, let's go. You've done enough."
William couldn't understand it. Isabella had hurt Juniper so badly, and yet Juniper still chose kindness. She never held grudges.
"Juniper, you're too gentle. It breaks my heart."
"It's just who I am."
He left with Juniper, neither of them noticing the change in the eyes watching them go.
Isabella's chest heaved. Something hot and metallic surged up her throat. She swayed, then coughed up a mouthful of blood.
A nurse rushed in. "Ms. Tudor, you're bleeding again!"
The ringing in Isabella's ears roared like jet engines. Her thoughts were chaos, a cacophony threatening to split her skull open.
She couldn't hear the nurse's voice. Her vision darkened at the edges.
The nurse helped her back onto the bed and shouted toward the hallway. "Doctor! Someone get in here—Ms. Tudor's hemorrhaging!"
Isabella couldn't stop coughing. Every cough brought more blood. The nurse panicked and slammed the call button.
"We need help! Patient is hemorrhaging!"
"Ms. Tudor, stay with me. The doctor's coming."
Isabella heard nothing. She only felt pain.
Why didn't her mother love her? Why did everyone hate her?
Would the world finally be quiet if she just died?
She was worthless. She couldn't even protect her grandmother's belongings. Her grandmother would be so disappointed.
She had failed to protect her mother too.
Her mother was right. She should never have been born.
If someone had just strangled her at birth, none of this would have happened.
So maybe she really should die.
By the time the doctor arrived, her eyes were open but unfocused. Her condition was critical. They began emergency treatment immediately.
Two hours later, she regained some consciousness, but exhaustion dragged her back under.
The nurse wanted to call her family to stay with her, but Isabella's contact sheet only listed Thalia and Amara—neither of whom could be reached.
The nurse had occasionally seen William visit, but their relationship was clearly toxic. Every time he showed up, Isabella's condition worsened. So she didn't call him.
"Doctor, how is she?"
The doctor shook his head. "Not good. She was submerged in seawater and never received proper treatment. Her lungs were likely infected then. Combined with her injuries and the fact that her body hasn't had time to heal… if this continues, I don't know how much longer she can hold on."
The nurse felt a pang of sympathy. That's why she'd been keeping such close watch.
To her, Isabella seemed like the loneliest person in the world. Like someone the entire world had abandoned.
That night, Benjamin watched his wife sleep peacefully. The tension in his chest finally eased enough for him to think back over the day's events.
What Isabella had said weighed on him. He hadn't expected her to be so cruel.
But now Isla was calm. She had stopped crying, stopped threatening to jump.
And wasn't that because of what Isabella had said?
She had used reverse psychology. She had made Isla hate her even more, deliberately said she'd take over Beatrice's things—all to give Isla a reason to keep living. To protect those belongings.
But anyone who didn't know the truth would just think she was being vicious. They would hate her even more.
She was willing to be the villain if it meant keeping Isla alive. Wasn't that proof of goodness?
They had all overlooked Isabella. Never really tried to understand her.
Yes, she had forced William to marry her. Yes, she constantly targeted Juniper. But the reasons behind those actions—no one actually knew them.
Benjamin sighed heavily. He didn't have the energy to investigate right now. He just felt sad. He had once had a happy family. Two wonderful daughters. A loving wife. Everything had been perfect.
He had thought it would last forever.
How had it come to this?
Maybe from the day Beatrice died, this family was doomed. There was no going back.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fill the void in Isla's heart.
He just wanted it all to be over. No more pain.
The next morning, Isabella woke up. Her body felt like lead as she dragged herself out of bed and pressed the call button.
The nurse hurried in. "Ms. Tudor, you're awake. Are you in pain?"
Isabella's voice was urgent. "Please tell me—how is Isla York? The patient in the other wing?"
She was terrified Isla might try to kill herself again. She needed to know she was safe.
The nurse smiled reassuringly. "The patient is stable. You don't need to worry."