Chapter 95

Chapter 96

Harborview Medical Center, ICU Wing

The harsh white lights of the corridor bleached the terrazzo floor. Nicholas leaned against the wall, his left hand still bleeding through the gauze—each drop hitting the floor with a dull splat.

"Did you find the heart?" He stared unblinking at the red light above the emergency room door.

Terry stood two steps away, bracing himself as he lowered his head.

Where the hell were they supposed to find a matching heart? With those specific genetic parameters, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. You didn't just snap your fingers and make one appear.

But with the terrifying pressure radiating from Nicholas, all he could do was keep his voice low. "We've activated every overseas channel. We're still looking, but the fastest we can manage is... three days."

And even three days was optimistic. Terry sighed inwardly.

Fortunately, though Nicholas was clearly furious, the surgery currently underway demanded his attention more. For now, he held back.

Time crawled forward.

Two hours later, the red light flickered twice and went dark.

The airlock door slid open.

The attending physician emerged, drenched in sweat. When he met the man's eyes radiating violence in the corridor, his hand trembled as he pulled down his mask.

"Mr. Kennedy... I'm sorry."

"The patient's body was already extremely weak. Ventricular fibrillation triggered multiple organ failure. We used the defibrillator three times... I'm calling it. Time of death—"

A muscle in Nicholas's jaw twitched.

"Say that again?" He lunged forward, grabbing the doctor by the scrubs and hauling him up.

"Mr. Kennedy! She's beyond saving!" The doctor's voice cracked with fear.

Nicholas shoved him aside.

He was breathing hard now, turning to stare through the glass at the body on the operating table, covered by a white sheet.

Now that Gemma's dead, Diana has nothing left anchoring her to this life.

By his old logic, if her mother really had killed his, then one life for another should settle the score. He should feel satisfied.

But right now, he felt no satisfaction—only a vast, suffocating panic and emptiness.

His mind flooded with all the cruel things he'd said to Diana.

To force her compliance, he'd paraded other women in front of her, used Lindsey to humiliate her, hurt her over and over again...

He'd thought he'd always have the upper hand.

But now, every card he'd held over her had turned into a corpse.

The corridor began to spin. Physical exhaustion mixed with the bone-deep chill of seawater finally broke him.

His knees buckled. He collapsed hard onto the floor.

"It's not over..." he muttered obsessively. "Diana owes me... This can't be it..."

The elevator doors burst open. David strode out, his expression thunderous.

He took one look at Nicholas kneeling on the floor in a daze, then turned to the physician with cold command. "Follow hospital protocol. Handle it the way you're supposed to."

"No!" Nicholas's head snapped up, his eyes burning with an unhinged obsession. "Nobody touches her! Have the hospital preserve the body!"

"Are you out of your damn mind?!"

Without another word, David grabbed Nicholas by the collar and drove his fist into the side of his face.

Nicholas staggered backward, crashing into a medical cart. Stainless steel instruments clattered across the floor.

David stepped forward, his boot landing on a fallen scalpel.

"Get a grip! Diana's not coming back! Her mother's dead!" David jabbed a finger at him, voice raw with fury.

"Bodies rot, Nicholas. You can't hold onto anything! If you really think Diana's mother was innocent, then the only thing you can do now is find whoever was pulling the strings. Find out who really killed your mother. Not sit here losing your mind over a corpse!"

David's words were brutal—but effective.

The madness in Nicholas's eyes slowly receded, replaced by a chilling, deathly stillness.

After a long moment, he pressed his hand against the wall and slowly stood.

"Make the arrangements. Give Gemma a funeral."

Several miles away, in a coastal town in the neighboring country's south.

Diana sat by the window in an oversized knit sweater, listening to unfamiliar foreign accents drifting up from the street below. To avoid the storm brewing back home, she'd made her way here in stages, finally settling into this safe house.

The encrypted phone on the table lit up green.

"How's the cleanup going back home?" Diana answered.

"Nicholas has practically torn Sunrise City apart looking for you, but I've wiped everything clean." Liam's steady voice came through the scrambler. "I still need to stay in-country for a few more days to tie up loose ends. Can't leave just yet."

Diana was quiet for a moment, then spoke with quiet urgency. "Liam, do me a favor—check on Joanna. Just see how she's doing from a distance. Don't let her know."

Joanna was her only real friend, and she'd already been affected for helping Diana in secret.

For Joanna's safety, Diana wouldn't tell her anything. Until she was completely free of Nicholas, silence was the best protection.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Liam agreed without hesitation.

Night fell.

The screech of tires sounded outside the safe house. The door lock clicked open.

Diana shot to her feet, hand reaching for her knife—but froze when she saw Liam, who was supposed to be back home, striding in wearing a trench coat and covered in night dew.

"Why are you back so soon?" Diana stared.

Liam shut the door behind him and tossed his tactical gloves onto the table. For once, his usually stoic face held a trace of a smile he couldn't quite suppress.

"I brought you someone." He looked at her steadily, then dropped the bombshell. "Your mother's been safely transferred to an underground sterile medical pod."

The living room went silent for half a second.

Diana's water glass slipped from her hand and hit the carpet. She stood frozen. "You got my mom... out of Sunrise City?"

"Not only did I get her out safely—there's even better news." Liam stepped forward, steadying her trembling shoulders with both hands. His eyes burned brighter than she'd ever seen them.

"The heart transplant surgery is already being arranged. Someone abroad recently signed an organ donation agreement. And by pure chance, there's a heart that's a perfect match for your mother's parameters!"

Gemma had not only escaped The Kennedy Family's control—she might actually survive.

Diana's breath stopped.

The overwhelming joy hit her all at once, flooding the heart she'd held tense for countless sleepless nights.

Her legs gave out. She collapsed to the floor as tears poured down her face.