Chapter 65 Chapter 65

Chapter 65 Chapter 65
Lisette lay paralyzed by more than just her physical injuries. She couldn’t look to the side, nor could she shift her weight to find comfort; she was a prisoner of her own design, forced to stare at the unrelenting, sterile white of the hospital ceiling. Behind her eyes, a jagged loop of film played on repeat—the exact moment she had shattered Reno’s heart, watching the light go out of his gaze as her lies flayed him alive.

The only thing anchoring her to the room was the sound of AJ. His shuffling feet were an intrusion, a rhythmic reminder of his presence that broke through her grief every few seconds. She could hear the heavy, labored quality of his steps, the frustrated sighs that escaped him, and the low, angry grunts he didn't bother to hide. She knew him well enough to feel the blistering rant vibrating in his mind, and only the physical cage of her bed saved her from the full force of his tongue.

“Just ask me,” she finally muttered, her voice a dry rasp against the silence.

“Why would you do that to him?” AJ’s warmth moved closer until he was looming over her bedside, but Lisette refused to break her gaze from the ceiling. She was looking heavenward, perhaps seeking a penance she didn't deserve. “He never left your side, Lisette. Not for a second. The man loves you with a ferocity I’ve never seen. And you just... you lie to him like that?

He was ready to stay. He was ready to let you navigate this—the immobility, the fear—in whatever way you needed. Reno understood you. He understood exactly what you wanted. But you chose to stab him in the heart and twist the blade until there was nothing left.”

Lisette’s eyes flickered toward her brother, a brief, pained spark of life. Of course Reno understood her—that was the problem. She couldn't bear the thought of him witnessing her at her most broken, or seeing the pity that might eventually replace his passion. She didn't want him to anchor his vibrant life to a girl who might never walk again. In her desperation to protect him from her own weakness, she had exposed a cowardice she hadn't known she possessed. She might have used the ice pick of her tongue to drive him away, but the blade had passed through her own soul before it ever reached his. Deciding between saving Reno’s future and protecting Catalella from Michael’s reach hadn't been a choice; it had been an execution.

“He’ll understand, eventually,” she whispered. She fought to swallow the massive, emotional cotton ball lodged in her throat, struggling to blink back the hot cloud of tears that threatened to spill.

“He won’t,” AJ warned, his voice devoid of its usual playfulness. “He’s endured a lot for you, Lisette. But you know his history. You know how Reno feels about betrayal. You didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth—hell, I don’t even know what the 'truth' is anymore. You need to start facing the reality of a future without him. If I were you, I’d start mourning that loss right now.”

Lisette’s gaze drifted back to the whitewash above. She lay perfectly still, balancing her shallow breaths as if her ribcage were made of glass. When the door finally clicked shut and the sound of AJ’s footsteps faded into the distance of the hallway, she finally allowed the scream trapped in her chest to escape as a broken whimper.

“He’ll understand. He loves me. He has to.”

Six months later…

“When can I get out of here?” Lisette’s fingers curled into the bed linens, her knuckles white with the effort.

The progress was a slow, agonizing miracle. She was finally sitting up, the heavy iron cast was a memory, and she could—at long last—move her legs. But the cost was a localized inferno; every twitch of muscle resulted in an almost unbearable, white-hot pain. For the past four weeks, she had been methodically weaning herself off the heavy narcotics. She refused to become another casualty of the pharmacy, a pill junkie hiding from life. Her own stubbornness and a jagged streak of hardheadedness were the only medications she was willing to trust.

“Soon,” AJ said, though his tone was absentminded as he worked, pushing her knee toward her chest in a slow, therapeutic arc.

He was scanning her face for a flinch, a grimace, any crack in her armor, but Lisette was a fortress. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Besides, nine out of ten times the agony she felt had nothing to do with her shattered bones and everything to do with her shattered life. Reno hadn't come back. Not for her birthday. Not for the grueling day she had donated her bone marrow to save their sister. Not even when the oncologist had officially declared Catalella in recovery.

The silence from the Kent family was a deafening roar. Lisette had been forced to play the silent martyr, watching Michael play the role of the "reformed husband" while enduring AJ’s relentless ‘I told you so’ stares. Her mother had stopped asking about Reno weeks ago, and her father merely grunted in disapproval whenever the name was even breathed.

“Has anybody heard from the Kent family lately?” she asked, trying to keep her voice light, as if she were asking about the weather.

“The whole clan, or just Reno in particular?” AJ asked, a mocking, razor-sharp smile curving his lips.

“I haven’t heard from Uncle Dennis in a while,” Lisette countered, ignoring the bait. She looked past AJ, directing her question at her father.

“Hawaii,” Adrian Senior said shortly.

Lisette waited, her heart skipping a beat, but the expansion never came. “Okay... did they finally locate Rhyne?”

Silence met her. She looked around the room, the tension thickening like a physical weight. Her mother was busying herself by picking nonexistent lint off her father’s sweater, and her father was letting her, both refusing to meet Lisette’s eyes. AJ just sat there, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

“Really, guys? No one is going to tell me anything?”

“What no one wants to say,” AJ began, leaning in with a look that was part pity and part vindication, “is that Reno took his new girlfriend to Hawaii. The whole family went. Even DJ flew in from Paris for the occasion. It’s a full Kent family vacation.”

The words felt like a physical blow to the stomach. Lisette’s insides lurched, her heart slamming against her ribs with such violence she was sure they would break all over again. Replaced.

Just like that. As if the years of history, the soul-deep connection, and the "love of his life" talk had been nothing but smoke.

“What was the occasion?” she managed to ask, though her voice sounded like it belonged to someone else.

“What you’re really asking is: who is she?” AJ tilted his head, his gaze skimming over her with clinical detachedness. “I’ll tell you, sister, because I warned you what your lies would cost. Her name is Veronica, or something similar. The Kents are celebrating Rhyne’s birthday.”

“Rhyne’s birthday. That’s... that's sweet.” The words felt rancid in her mouth. She knew the name AJ was fumbling for. Victoria. The name of the most predatory, bleached-blonde socialite in New York. A woman who was currently an interloper in a spot that belonged to Lisette.

“You gave him up,” AJ reminded her, his voice softening just a fraction. “Remember that before you decide to tear the state of New York apart looking for her.”

“Her name is Victoria. And I won't have to look far,” Lisette ground out through clenched teeth. “Her hair is probably permanently glued to his shoulder.”

“Careful, sweetheart, your claws are showing,” AJ laughed, a booming roar that echoed off the walls.

“I want a new doctor. Now.”

“Too bad. I’m the only one in this city you can’t bully into quitting with your 'sunny' disposition.”

“When. Am. I. Leaving?”

“Reno won’t even be back for a week, Lisette. He won't want to see you,” her father added, stepping in with a protective shield already in place. “He’ll be buried in his finals and learning the executive ropes at Kent-Corp.”

They all seemed to think she was a discarded toy, someone Reno would reject without a second glance. Deep down, Lisette feared they were right. But she also knew that if she could just get him alone—if she could make him look into her eyes—he would find the truth.

However, her urgency to leave wasn't just about Reno. She needed to escape the sterile walls that held her nightmares. She was tired of the panic attacks that came every time she closed her eyes, and the terrifying, cold-sweat dread she felt at the mere thought of a car. She was a prisoner here. She needed to feel the sun on her skin and the strength in her own home.

“You’re going to be in a wheelchair, and then crutches, for a long time, Lisette,” AJ said, his tone turning serious as he scribbled on her chart. “Don’t push. Let your body heal properly.”

“Is that medical advice, or are you just trying to make sure I don’t bolt the second your back is turned?”