MasukChapter 70 Ring the BellSix months later, the hospital corridor was filled with a sound that meant life.Hope.Mary stood at the center of it all, her fingers wrapped tightly around the golden rope attached to the bell. Her body was thinner than before, her head wrapped in a soft scarf, but her eyes—her eyes were alive. Strong. Victorious.“Go on,” one of the nurses said gently, smiling through teary eyes. “Ring it.”Mary looked around her.Sarah stood closest to her, holding her hand, trembling with emotion. Beside Sarah was James, his arm protectively around her shoulders. Their son stood proudly in front, grinning widely. Mary’s husband stood tall, his chest filled with gratitude. Her stepchildren, Mr. Salvador, relatives, friends—everyone who had prayed, cried, waited, and hoped—were all there.Mary inhaled deeply.Then she rang the bell.The sound echoed down the hallway—clear, loud, victorious.Cheers erupted instantly.Clapping. Whistles. Laughter mixed with tears. Nurses hugg
Chapter 69 The Question That Changed EverythingThe question came quietly, but it shattered the room.Sarah had been listening to her mother’s story in silence, her chest tight, her heart bruised from everything she had already heard. Her mind was struggling to keep up—with abandonment, with suffering, with loss that stretched back before she was even born.She swallowed hard.“Mom…” Sarah said, her voice barely steady.“Then who is my father?”The room froze.Mary stiffened, her hands trembling in her lap. She lowered her head, staring at the white hospital sheets as though they could somehow hide the truth she had carried for decades.No one spoke.Sarah’s heart began to pound. “Mom?” she pressed gently.Mary inhaled sharply, as if pulling air into a chest that had been empty for years. When she finally spoke, her voice was broken, stripped of all strength.“Your father…” she whispered. “Your father is my father.”Sarah blinked.“What?” she asked.Mary lifted her tear-filled eyes to
CHAPTER 68 — If I Can’t Have YouJanice knew it was over.The news had been on every channel.The assassin had been arrested.Her name was already circling—slowly, dangerously—through police reports and whispered investigations.There was no escaping anymore.She stood alone in her bedroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were wild, bloodshot, hollow. The woman staring back at her was no longer the polished, admired Janice the world once knew.She was desperate.And desperation stripped her of reason.“If I can’t have you,” she whispered shakily, “then no one will.”Her lips trembled into a broken smile.James.If James was gone, then Sarah would lose everything too.That thought hardened her resolve.Within minutes, Janice changed her appearance—plain nurse’s uniform, hair tucked neatly under a cap, face masked just enough to avoid recognition. She moved with purpose, her heart pounding violently against her chest.She didn’t think about prison.She didn’t think abo
CHAPTER 67 — When the Net Closed InJames lay quietly in his hospital bed, staring at the ceiling.The room was silent except for the faint rhythm of the heart monitor beside him. Sarah had stepped out briefly to speak with a nurse, leaving James alone with his thoughts. His body ached, but it was nothing compared to the storm raging in his mind.The assassin had been exposed.The face caught on CCTV.The footage circulating.The police search tightening.James swallowed hard.He had lived long enough to know one thing—when criminals are cornered, they become dangerous.His phone buzzed suddenly.James flinched.Unknown number.A chill crawled up his spine.He hesitated, then answered.“Hello?”A distorted voice came through the line, low and tense.“You ruined everything.”James’s heart skipped.It was him.“The police are after me,” the man hissed. “My face is everywhere. I need money—now.”James’s fingers tightened around the phone.“I didn’t hire you,” James said coldly. “You’re c
CHAPTER 66 — Footsteps of JusticeThe hospital room had finally settled into a fragile calm.James lay back against the pillows, exhaustion still written across his face, while Sarah remained seated beside him, her fingers laced gently through his. The fear of losing him had not fully left her chest yet, but for the first time since the shooting, her breathing felt steadier.They were speaking quietly when the door suddenly opened.“Sarah.”Both Sarah and James looked up.Clara stood at the doorway, her expression serious, her phone still in her hand. The lightheartedness she had walked in with earlier was gone. Something was wrong.“Clara?” Sarah asked immediately. “What is it?”Clara stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind her.“The police just called,” she said. “From my apartment.”Sarah stiffened.“What happened?”“They said I need to come home immediately,” Clara explained. “They’re beginning the investigation into the shooting. They want to review the CCTV footag
CHAPTER 65 — Truths, Wounds, and the Choice to ForgiveThe hospital room was quiet in a way that felt heavy, almost sacred.Machines hummed softly, their steady rhythm a reminder that life was fragile and never guaranteed. James lay propped up against the pillows, his complexion pale, his body weak from surgery, yet his eyes were alive—alive with love, regret, and fear.Sarah sat beside him.She held a small bowl of soup in one hand and a spoon in the other, feeding him slowly, carefully, as though he were made of glass. Her movements were gentle, but her heart was anything but calm. Every time she looked at him, memories clashed violently inside her—painful memories of the past and beautiful moments of the present, all tangled together.James watched her silently for a long moment.The way her brows furrowed slightly when she concentrated.The way her lips pressed together whenever she tried to stay strong.The woman he loved.The woman he had once broken without knowing the depth of







