5. LOSSES, A DEAL

CLARA

It was evening already, but my mother was yet to return. I stared at my phone, gripping it so tightly my fingers ached. She wasn’t supposed to be gone long, even if she wanted to go confront Ella or Lucas. Right?

I dialed her number again. Straight to voicemail.

Panic tightened around my chest. Something wasn’t right.

I threw off the hospital blanket and sat up, ignoring the dull ache in my chest. Called her again. Nothing.

She wouldn’t just disappear. She wouldn’t leave me when she knew that she was the most important person in the world to me. Growing up without a father meant she was all I had.

Just as I was about to drop it for the tenth time, the phone rang. I fumbled to answer,

“Hello?” I spoke with a sense of urgency. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was my mum calling me from another number.

“Is this Clara Walsh?” a firm voice asked on the other end.

“Yes.”

“This is St. Anthony’s Emergency Services. Your mother, Susan Walsh, was in a car accident. She’s in critical condition—”

The world around came to an abrupt halt. Then, it began to spin faster than I could control.

A choked sound escaped my lips.

“I—I’m coming. I’m coming please,” I stammered before hanging up.

I barely registered the nurse calling after me as I ran through the hall, past staff, past rules. None of it mattered. I had to get to her.

By the time I got to the hospital, my chest was beating so fast and so loudly, I was sure everyone in the hallway could hear, but I didn’t care. Not at the mom.

I gasped, “Susan Walsh. Where is she?”

The nurse’s expression twisted with sympathy as she seemed to take in the resemblance. “ICU. Follow me.”

Every step toward that room felt like walking through quicksand.

The doctor met me at the door. “We tried everything… She was brought in too late.”

No, no, no…

The word echoed in my head as I stepped inside.

She looked so small. So fragile. The woman who once tore the world apart to protect me now lay motionless, tubes and bruises covering her.

“Clara…” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Tears blurred my vision as I grabbed her trembling hand. “I’m here, Mom. I’m right here.”

Her fingers weakly curled around mine. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” I choked. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You just have to get better, okay? The doctors will fix everything. We’ll go home.”

She only smiled—a knowing, heartbreaking smile.

“I need you to listen,” she murmured. “Your father…”

My body stiffened. My father? I shook my head, that didn’t matter right now. I tried to say it to her, but she pressed a silver chain into my palm. “If you ever need help, show him this. He’ll know who you are.”

I barely heard her. I just wanted her to stay. “Mom, tell me what happened to you.”

Her lips trembled. “Ella.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“She pushed me… I fell into the street.”

Ice filled my veins as I thought about it deeper. Ella… Of course.

A sob tore from my throat, but Mom’s breath hitched. I gripped her hand tighter. “No. No, stay with me.”

Her touch was weak but warm as she cupped my cheek.

“You were always my greatest joy, Clara. My brave girl.”

“Stop talking like this,” I pleaded, pressing her hand further into the skin of my cheeks. I needed to be as close to her as possible.

My tears dripped onto her hospital gown. “You’re not leaving me. You can’t.”

Her hand slipped away from mine and fell to her side. I opened my eyes to look at her. Big brown eyes fluttered shut for a moment before she forced them open again.

“I love y…you,” she breathed.

Then, her body went still.

The beeping of the monitor stretched into one long, flat note.

It was…over.

“No,” I whispered, feeling my heart rip into shreds in my chest as I tried to shake her. If I shook hard enough, she would wake up, right?

“No, no, no. Mom!”

She was gone.

The person who had loved me more than anyone in this world was gone.

The pain struck deep, deeper than anything I had ever felt before, and suddenly, my vision blurred. My heart clenched so tightly I couldn’t breathe. A piercing, unbearable ache tore through my chest, and the room spun violently.

Somewhere in the background, a voice shouted, “She’s going into shock!”

A rush of footsteps followed, but I couldn’t focus. My limbs felt heavy, my body cold. I stood up and swayed at once, my strength draining faster than I could hold on.

“Clara, you need to stay calm!” someone urged, but it was too late.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

The next few days passed in a haze. The police came around occasionally. I barely heard them as they told me they were investigating, that witnesses had seen the argument before the accident.

All that echoed in my ears was her recount of the event. Ella pushed her.

And now, my mother was dead.

I wiped my tears and turned to the officers on a hot afternoon in my apartment.

“I want to sue her. I want to make her pay for what she did.”

I didn’t care what it took. I was going to destroy her.

The next day, I got in contact with a lawyer and filed a lawsuit.

Lucas tried to call me several times, but I ignored. Later that evening, a knock came on my door.

I opened it, and in walked a man I recognized instantly—Lucas’s butler.

I scoffed. He didn’t even have the decency to come by himself.

Raymond, Lucas’ butler, he walked in with a briefcase.

I said nothing. Something in me already told me why he was here.

With a calm, practiced voice, he said, “Miss Clara, I was sent here on behalf of Mr. Lucas. He’s offering you five million dollars in exchange for dropping the case.”