Chapter 152
Richard's POV
My classmates who had also been injured gathered around my bed with concerned expressions. Compared to me, their injuries were lighter - clearly I had been the target.
"You've been under a lot of stress," David said. "The divorce and all..."
"What divorce?" I snapped, then immediately regretted it as pain shot through my skull.
Sarah and the others exchanged glances. "Richard, we all know... the situation. About Grace and Laura."
My blood ran cold. "What situation?"
"Look," another classmate said, "we're not judging you. Successful men make mistakes. But maybe this attack is connected to your... personal complications."
The room fell silent. Despite their supportive words, I could see the judgment in their eyes.
Then David spoke up, his voice cutting through the tension like a knife.
"If you ask me, Laura is the real problem here. She's the one who seduced you, who destroyed your family. This is all her fault."
I wanted this conversation to end. The weight of their judgment, the constant questions about my personal life – it was suffocating. I shifted uncomfortably in the hospital bed, pain making me wince.
"Look, I appreciate you all coming," I said, forcing my voice to sound steady. "But I need to rest."
I started to push myself up, ready to end this interrogation disguised as concern. But Sarah's voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Men make mistakes, and women are always the ones who have to deal with the consequences," she muttered under her breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
David immediately bristled. "That's not fair, Sarah. If someone deliberately sets you up, no one can defend against that kind of manipulation."
The word 'manipulation' hit me like a physical blow. I froze, my hand gripping the bed rail. "What do you mean by 'sets you up'?"
David shifted uncomfortably, glancing around the room. "Richard, maybe this isn't the time—"
"What do you mean?" I demanded, my voice rising despite the pain it caused in my skull.
Sarah crossed her arms. "We heard about it at the alumni reunion last month. From someone who was actually there at summer camp."
My blood turned to ice. "There at what?"
"The drowning incident," David said quietly. "When you nearly drowned and Grace saved you."
I stared at them, confusion mingling with a growing sense of dread. "It was Laura who saved me."
"That's not the truth," Sarah said.
"What truth?" The words came out barely above a whisper.
David leaned forward, his expression grave. "It was Grace who pulled you out of the water, Richard."
The room spun around me. I felt like I was drowning all over again, but this time in a sea of lies and deception.
"That's impossible," I breathed.
"The camp classmate who was there that day – he told us everything," Sarah said. "Grace pulled you out of the water, but when she got you to shore, Laura took over. She's the one who gave you mouth-to-mouth."
My mind reeled. Ten years. Ten fucking years I'd been searching for the wrong person. I thought the girl I saw when I opened my eyes was my savior, the one I was meant to protect for life.
"We all thought it was fate when you married Grace," David added. "The girl who saved your life becoming your wife. But now, knowing you were actually married to Laura all along..." He shook his head. "It's like some twisted joke."
I felt my body sway, and everything was becoming a blur.
I grabbed David's shirt with shaking hands. "Are you absolutely certain? About what happened at camp?"
"They had no reason to lie," David said gently. "He remembered because it was such a dramatic rescue. Two girls working together to save you."
But I wasn't listening anymore. My mind was racing through every conversation I'd ever had with Laura about that incident. When I brought up summer camp, she'd always changed the subject. She'd never had the red mark on her arm that I remembered my rescuer having – the distinctive feature I was sure the girl who jumped in to save me had.
And Laura... Laura had always known. She'd let me search for so long, let me marry the wrong woman, let me build my entire relationship with Grace on a foundation of lies.
I started laughing. The sound was harsh and broken, echoing off the hospital walls. Tears streamed down my face as the laughter turned hysterical.
"I got it all wrong," I gasped between laughs. "Everything. All of it."
The others began making excuses, gathering their things with uncomfortable expressions. Within minutes, the room was empty except for me.
But I couldn't stop laughing. Ten years of my life based on a lie.
---
The ride home passed in a blur of numbness. I sat slumped in the wheelchair, staring at nothing as my mother wheeled me through the hospital corridors and into the car. The familiar streets of Starport looked foreign, like I was seeing them through someone else's eyes.
Back at my villa, Margaret helped me onto the living room sofa. The massive space felt hollow, echoing with the weight of everything I'd just learned.
"Should I make you something to eat?" she asked, hovering uncertainly.
I shook my head. "I need to be alone."
"Richard—"
"Please."
After my mother left, I sat in the growing darkness. I didn't bother turning on the lights. The shadows seemed appropriate for the revelation that had just shattered everything I thought I knew about my life.