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Chapter 6

Author: Belen
I barely slept in the three days it took to arrange my father's funeral.

I reached out to his former colleagues and placed his favorite old carpenter's square and a photograph of my mother in his casket. The funeral was modest. No grand wreaths, just a handful of students he had once taught. They told me he used to brag in class about the hospital furniture his daughter designed, saying those pieces could ease a patient's suffering just a little.

Standing in the chapel, I truly understood for th
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  • I Stopped Waiting For Him Anymore   Chapter 10

    Daniel's right leg sustained multiple comminuted fractures. He survived, but the permanent nerve damage meant he would need a cane for the rest of his life.I paid the emergency costs not covered by insurance and had my lawyer establish a rehabilitation care fund with a single lump-sum payment. It wasn't love, and it wasn't reconciliation. I simply refused to let anyone who had saved my life be left without care. Responsibility can be fulfilled; feelings cannot be forced back to life by obligation.After that, I never went to the hospital again.Two months later, Claire's verdict came down.The court found that she had knowingly subjected a patient with a serious cardiac condition to extreme psychological distress, deliberately disabled the call device, and delayed emergency response, constituting involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of emergency medical care. She was sentenced to a lengthy prison term and ordered to pay substantial civil damages.The Winston Group also came under

  • I Stopped Waiting For Him Anymore   Chapter 9

    Daniel didn't leave town.He obeyed my demand that he stay away from me, but he chose a different, more suffocating way to torment himself.During the day he hauled cargo at the harbor warehouse. At night he sat on the bench across from my studio, watching the light in the window through the rain. Maine's winter rain often turned to sleet, and he sat without an umbrella, letting his jacket soak through.He was trying to prove, through physical suffering, that his remorse ran deep enough.People in town gradually recognized him as the founder of that bankrupt company from the news. Some urged me to file a restraining order. I had my lawyer document everything and gave Daniel a clear warning not to enter my studio or my home. He never crossed the line. He simply positioned himself where I would see him every day, like a letter of apology that refused to be returned.But a real apology is never about displaying your wounds to the person you hurt, then asking them to take responsibility fo

  • I Stopped Waiting For Him Anymore   Chapter 8

    I settled in a small seaside town in Maine.The winters here were long, and in summer there were white lighthouses and fields of wildflowers. No one had heard of Shoreline Design Lab, and no one knew about the scandal at the launch.I used what savings I had left to rent a street-front shop and opened an independent design studio, specializing in furniture for rehab centers, small clinics, and elderly people with limited mobility. My first order came from the town's nursing home. They needed an armchair that would let a resident with arthritis stand up on her own. I adjusted the angles seven times in the prototype workshop. On delivery day, an elderly woman gripped the armrest, rose to her feet, and told me it was the first time in six months she hadn't needed help from an aide.In that moment, I rediscovered what design was supposed to mean. Not valuations, not applause from investors, but making one real person a little less helpless.Life wasn't luxurious, but it was quiet.I could

  • I Stopped Waiting For Him Anymore   Chapter 7

    Daniel refused to sign the settlement. My lawyer formally filed the divorce petition with the court and simultaneously initiated lawsuits for intellectual property infringement and defamation.Over the next two weeks, Shoreline Design Lab imploded.Police investigated Claire for involuntary manslaughter, unlawful tampering with medical equipment, and obstruction of emergency care. To protect their heiress, the Winston Group dispatched a team of lawyers to negotiate with Daniel: if he publicly stated that Claire had acted without malicious intent and shifted blame to the hospital's security lapses, the Group would still complete the acquisition and even inject additional capital.Daniel refused.He handed over to the police, the court, and the Professional Design Association everything: Claire's emails showing she had stolen the design files, the Winston Group's recorded demand that the credit be changed, and his own records of falsifying timestamps and manufacturing the kickback eviden

  • I Stopped Waiting For Him Anymore   Chapter 6

    I barely slept in the three days it took to arrange my father's funeral.I reached out to his former colleagues and placed his favorite old carpenter's square and a photograph of my mother in his casket. The funeral was modest. No grand wreaths, just a handful of students he had once taught. They told me he used to brag in class about the hospital furniture his daughter designed, saying those pieces could ease a patient's suffering just a little.Standing in the chapel, I truly understood for the first time that what Daniel and Claire had stolen was more than a product credit. They had tried to make me believe that the entire life my father had been proud of was a lie.Daniel waited outside the funeral home every day. He hadn't changed his clothes. The expensive, tailored suit was hopelessly wrinkled, stubble covered his jaw, and his eyes were so swollen he could barely open them.When I walked out carrying my father's urn, he sprang to his feet but didn't dare come closer, stopping a

  • I Stopped Waiting For Him Anymore   Chapter 5

    The detective didn't argue with Daniel. He had the hospital staff pull up the footage.On screen, Claire used the temporary visitor pass Daniel had obtained as my spouse and emergency contact to enter my father's observation area. She stood at his bedside and leaned in to speak.Another patient's family member had been recording a visitation video and inadvertently captured her voice."Mr. Hart, I bet you don't know this yet. Your daughter just lost her baby today, and her husband is about to divorce her."She stole my work at the company and took kickbacks from suppliers. She's already been fired publicly. The money paying for your hospital stay? She got it by kneeling in the hallway and apologizing to me."Every day you keep living is another day she has to humiliate herself for you. You've already dragged her life into the ground."My father's breathing turned ragged. The heart monitor began to alarm.Claire didn't press the call button. Instead, she reached over and switched the be

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