Chapter 172

Chapter 172

He didn't have Adrian's obsession. None of that suffocating pressure.

What he gave her was always respect and support.

Elodie didn't pull her hand away.

She turned her hand over and held Lucas's broad palm.

"Lucas." Elodie's voice was soft but clear. "If I make it off the operating table this time, let's make it official."

Lucas's eyes went red instantly.

He lowered his head and pressed a reverent, tender kiss to the back of Elodie's hand.

"It's a deal."

At the end of the hallway.

The assistant stood there, clutching Adrian's critical condition notice.

He'd tracked down Elodie's room and made his way over. Through the glass panel on the door, he'd just caught the moment Lucas kissed the back of Elodie's hand.

The assistant clenched his jaw and pushed open the door.

"Ms. Turner." His voice came out rough.

Lucas stood up and stepped in front of Elodie's bed, his eyes going cold in an instant.

"Get out."

The assistant ignored Lucas. He looked at Elodie lying in the bed, then suddenly buckled at the knees and dropped to the floor.

"Ms. Turner, please, just go see Mr. Stewart once!" The assistant's eyes were red. He held up the critical condition notice. "He's not going to make it. The doctors say he has no will to live and could go brain-dead any moment. If you just say a few words to him, even if you yell at him, he could pull through!"

Emotional blackmail.

Lucas let out a cold laugh. "What does it matter to my girlfriend whether Adrian lives or dies?"

The assistant snapped his head up and stared at Elodie. "Ms. Turner! Mr. Stewart is in this condition because he saved you! No matter how much you hate him, you can't just watch him die! Are you really that heartless?"

Elodie leaned against the headboard and looked at the assistant kneeling on the floor.

She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.

"Listen," Elodie said, her voice calm. "He jumped in front of a car for me. I gave him ten million dollars. That's more than enough to buy the finest burial plot in this city."

The assistant froze.

"If he doesn't want to live, that's his business." Elodie pushed back the covers and looked at him coldly. "I'm about to go into surgery. My life is the result of someone else's selfless donation. I need to live well. I don't have time to worry about whether my ex-husband lives or dies."

"Ms. Turner!" The assistant's voice cracked. "Are you really going to be this cold? That's a human life!"

Elodie reached under her pillow, pulled out her phone, opened an audio recording, and tossed it in front of him.

The screen lit up.

Adrian's cold, detached voice came through.

"Better off dead. It'd free up space for Chloe."

The recording ended.

Silence filled the room.

The assistant's face went white. He couldn't get a single word out.

"Give me back my phone. Then get out." Elodie closed her eyes. "Don't dirty my room."

The assistant was still on his knees. He reached out to grab the edge of Elodie's blanket.

Elodie pulled her hand back without a flicker of emotion in her eyes.

"Whether he lives or dies is his problem, not mine." Elodie looked at the assistant. "Don't use someone who doesn't want to live to guilt-trip someone who's fighting to stay alive."

The words from the recording — better off dead — were still echoing in the assistant's ears.

He opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

Elodie's life had come as a gift from someone else. Adrian's life was something he'd thrown away himself.

The assistant felt like he'd been dropped into ice water. He finally understood — Adrian had lost this woman for good.

He picked up the critical condition notice from the floor and walked out of the room in despair.

The snow over Eldoria hadn't let up, but Harbor City's business district was already rocked by a bombshell.

Ten o'clock in the morning. Eldoria police, Interpol, and Harbor City police issued a joint statement.

Chloe is suspected of cross-border murder-for-hire, large-scale money laundering, and illegal entry. She has been arrested by Eldoria authorities, and legal proceedings have been initiated.

The story shot to the top of every major social platform within minutes, crashing servers along the way.

The Stewart Manor.

A fine coffee pot hit the floor and shattered. Scalding coffee splashed everywhere.

Benjamin gripped his cane, his chest heaving.

"Idiots! Absolute idiots!" he roared.

The butler handed him his blood pressure medication. "Mr. Benjamin Stewart, please watch your health. As for Mr. Adrian Stewart—"

"Don't mention that fool!" Benjamin swallowed the pill, his eyes sharp. "Chloe had the nerve to go after Elodie — who gave her that confidence? The Turner family is mixed up in this, I'd bet my life on it!"

He picked up the intercom.

"Get me the finance department. Pull every investment we have in the Turner Group. Shut down all joint projects. And start collection proceedings on the three hundred million we lent Jack — I want it back."

He hung up.

Half an hour later, at the Turner Group.

Jack stared at the bank freeze notice on his screen. His legs gave out and he collapsed into his chair.

Nina came clicking in on her heels, her face pale with panic. "Dad! Ryan is calling off the engagement! He said we've crossed Benjamin and the Brown family isn't going down with us!"

"It's over..." Jack murmured, his face hollow. "It's all over."

They'd fawned over Chloe and treated Elodie like dirt, thinking they'd backed a winning horse.

Turns out their powerful ally was a murderer.

The Turner family's downfall had truly arrived.

St. Gallen Cancer Research Center. Outside the operating room.

The red light was on.

Elodie had been in surgery for five hours.

Lucas stood in the hallway. His suit jacket was draped over a chair. His collar was undone.

He stared at the closed door.

A nurse rushed out holding a blood request form. "The patient's hemorrhaging! We don't have enough blood in the bank — we need more now!"

Lucas grabbed her arm. "Take mine. I'm type O!"

"Sir, please stay calm, we're already working on it!" The nurse pulled free and ran toward the elevator.

Lucas sank against the wall, all the strength gone from his body.

He slid down slowly until both knees hit the cold tile floor.

He pressed his clasped hands against his forehead.

But in this moment, he would give everything he had to let Elodie live.

Inside the operating room.

The surgical lights blazed white.

The monitor let out a sharp, unbroken tone. The heart rate line went flat.

"Cardiac arrest!"

"Get the defibrillator! Two hundred joules!"

"Charged — clear!"

A vision.

Elodie stood in complete darkness.

Cold. Bone-deep cold.

Seawater flooding her lungs, suffocation closing in from all sides.

That was what it had felt like when she fell into the ocean.

"Elodie."

A hoarse voice came from behind her.

Elodie turned around.

Adrian stood there. His hospital gown was soaked red. His chest was caved in.

He stumbled toward her and grabbed her wrist with both hands, holding on for dear life.

Tears mixed with blood fell onto the back of her hand.

"Don't go." He was crying like a child who had lost everything. "Please. Don't leave me. I was wrong, I know I was wrong. Come back with me, okay?"

Elodie looked at him.

No heartache. No hesitation.

She lifted her head and looked ahead.

At the far end of the darkness, there was a light.

In the glow, Lucas stood in a white shirt, holding a warm cup of coffee. He smiled and reached out his hand.

"Elodie, the cheese fondue's ready."

Elodie looked away from the light and turned back to Adrian.