Chapter 178 I’ll marry you. I promise I will
Chapter 178 I’ll marry you. I promise I will
Love gripped her phone with all her strength, her fingers wrapped so tightly around it that her knuckles went completely white, before she finally opened up the video she had secretly copied from the hospital’s surveillance system.
Without wasting another second, she pressed play and let it rip.
The recording exploded into the silent ward, filling every corner with crystal-clear sound. “I told you I’d find another one easily,” Danny’s voice boomed out, full of that arrogant confidence. “They’re all the same anyway.”
A second voice joined in with a nasty laugh. “But unlike the others, this one actually wants to marry me.”
Danny’s smug chuckle came right after, dripping with satisfaction. “Too bad I can’t marry a dead woman.”
The entire room plunged into complete and utter silence. Every single pair of eyes in the place whipped around to stare straight at Danny.
The color drained from his face so fast and so completely that he looked like he was about to collapse right there on the floor in a pathetic heap.
His lips trembled uncontrollably as he locked eyes on the phone clutched in Love’s hand.
“No…” He started shaking his head over and over again, faster and faster. “That’s not me. That’s not me at all.” His voice kept getting louder and more frantic with every desperate word that tumbled out. “I’ve been on set the whole time. I already told you that!”
Before anyone could even react or move a muscle, Love stepped forward with purpose.
A loud, sharp smack exploded through the room as her palm connected hard across his face. The force of it snapped his head violently to one side. A bright red handprint bloomed instantly on his cheek, standing out like a brand.
“You can tell that pathetic lie to the corpses,” she spat, her eyes burning with an intense, fiery anger as she glared straight into his soul. “I have the full recording right here.” She held up the phone for everyone to see.
“And don’t even think about trying to delete anything, because I made several backups long before you ever walked into this room.”
Danny’s breathing turned uneven and ragged, like he was gasping for air that wouldn’t come. Everything around him felt like it was crashing down in slow motion, completely falling apart at the seams.
His skyrocketing career, his millions of adoring fans, that carefully built reputation he had spent years crafting, and all those countless women who looked up to him with stars in their eyes, everything he had worked so insanely hard to protect was now slipping through his fingers like sand in a hurricane.
“No,” he cried out desperately, lunging toward Love with wild eyes. “Someone’s trying to ruin me. They’re framing me!” His voice carried way more raw panic than any fake confidence now. His eyes pleaded with her in total desperation. “Love, I’m a man of my word. I’ll marry you. I promise I will.”
Love looked at him as if she were staring at a complete and total stranger she had never known.
There wasn’t even a single trace left of that foolish woman who had once chased him all across the country like some lovesick puppy. A faint smile appeared on her face, but it wasn’t happy at all. It was overflowing with deep, crushing disappointment and regret.
“I’m not that foolish woman anymore,” she said, her voice staying calm on the surface but laced with steel. “I traveled across the entire country because I believed every single word you showed the world. My parents warned me over and over. My brother warned me too. They were all right the whole time.”
Tears slowly gathered in her eyes, threatening to spill over. She turned toward Asher, and the heavy sadness in her expression softened into overwhelming guilt that hit her like a tidal wave.
“The only man who has ever truly loved me with everything he has…” Her voice cracked emotionally. “Is the one standing right here in front of me.”
Fresh tears rolled freely down her cheeks in hot streams. “And all this time, I refused to see it, even when it was staring me in the face.” She laughed weakly through her tears, the sound full of heartbreak.
Her eyes remained fixed on Asher, every single emotion she had buried deep for so long finally pouring out in a massive rush. “Asher…” Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper, trembling with vulnerability. “Can you forgive me for being so blind?”
Asher’s chest tightened painfully, squeezing with a deep ache that felt like it might never let go. He couldn’t even bring himself to look directly at her right away.
All those long years of waiting in silence, years of loving her so fiercely, none of that built-up pain just disappeared in a single moment.
He slowly looked away, trying with everything he had to steady the raging storm that was tearing him up inside.
Before anyone could speak again, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the ward, growing louder and more urgent with every passing second. Danny’s heart pounded wildly in his chest like a drum.
This was his chance, his only shot at getting out of this nightmare. While everyone else was distracted by the noise, he quietly started backing toward the door, inching away as fast as he dared.
He had barely taken another step before one of Asher’s bodyguards stepped smoothly into his path, blocking him completely.
Another guard positioned himself right behind him, cutting off any retreat. There was nowhere left for him to run, and the walls felt like they were closing in tighter than ever.
The guard folded his arms with a cold, knowing smile that sent chills down the spine. “Going somewhere, Danny West?”
Cold sweat broke out across Danny’s forehead in heavy beads. His breathing grew even more uneven as full-blown panic completely took over his body.
He struggled desperately to push past them, his voice shaking with fear. “Look, you’ve got the wrong person here. Just let me go, please.”
Nobody moved an inch. Then his eyes landed on the important people entering through the doorway.
The first man stood tall and imposing, carrying that natural kind of authority that made everyone around him instinctively straighten their backs and pay attention.
His calm expression alone was powerful enough to silence an entire room in seconds. It was Leonard Roberts, a man so influential he could shift entire industries with just one decisive move.
Walking right beside him was his wife, Lucinda Roberts. She carried herself with incredible elegance and unshakable confidence, her sharp intelligence and quiet influence matching her husband’s in every single way.
Following closely behind them came their son, Lord Robert. The entire powerful Roberts family had arrived together.
The moment Leonard spotted Asher, visible relief spread across his face like a wave. “Asher,” he said, his voice carrying genuine gratitude and warmth. “Thank you for getting here so quickly when we needed you most.”
Lucinda didn’t stop to greet anyone else. The instant she saw her daughter Love sitting there on the hospital bed looking so fragile, she hurried straight over and wrapped both arms tightly around her in a fierce, protective embrace.
“My baby girl,” her voice trembled with deep, overflowing emotion. “Are you okay? Tell me you’re really okay.”
The comforting warmth of her mother’s tight embrace finally broke through the last fragile bit of strength Love had been clinging to so desperately. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks in uncontrollable waves.
She had missed her family more than any words could ever possibly describe, the ache of it hitting her all at once.
She hugged Lucinda back just as tightly, burying her face in her shoulder. “I’m okay now, Mom,” her voice came out small and incredibly emotional. “I just… I want to go home with all of you.”
Standing off to the side, Danny watched the heartfelt family reunion unfold in complete and stunned disbelief. Regret slowly crept deep into his heart, twisting like a knife.
If he hadn’t surrounded himself with countless women and empty flings, if his blinding greed hadn’t consumed him so completely, if he hadn’t built all his wealth and fame through dirty, crooked money, he might have actually given Love the real attention and love she had desperately wanted all along.
He could have married the twin heiress of the massive Roberts Empire. He could have had everything a man could dream of and more.
But now, it was already way too late, and the realization crushed him.
Leonard’s face slowly darkened with growing intensity as he looked around the room, taking everything in.
His sharp eyes first settled on Love with concern before moving deliberately toward everyone else standing nearby. His deep, commanding voice echoed powerfully through the hallway, making several passing doctors instinctively back away in respect and caution.
“So, what happened here? Tell me everything. Who was planning to harvest your organs?”