~ Sebastian’s POV ~“You shouldn’t be too engrossed with her,” my mom said, sitting gently on the edge of my bed.Her voice was calm, but her words were heavy. They sank slowly into the silence between us, threatening the peace I was trying to find.I glanced at her from where I lay, eyes half-lidded with fatigue. Her presence was warm……motherly, but her words struck cold.Why? Why would she say that?“I understand that you care for her,” she continued, smoothing the fabric of the duvet between her fingers, “but your care will be mistaken by her. Don’t go making her fall for you… even if she does, she’ll have to shove it out.”She said it so effortlessly. So firmly. As if she had thought about it for a while and concluded that this was the only way to protect me….or maybe to protect her.But I didn’t need protecting. Not from Helen. Not from my own feelings.Because what my mom didn’t know, or maybe she knew and didn’t want to admit is that I wanted her to fall for me.Desperately.Th
~ Sebastian's POV ~Her smile melts my heart.Even in her fragile state….wrapped in white sheets, arms connected from countless IV lines, eyes rimmed red from fatigue….she smiles. And that smile… it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.But it breaks me too.Because I can’t take her home with me. Not yet.And that fact alone gnaws at me from the inside out.She's awake now, thank goodness for that. but she'll still be here for a while. At least a couple of nights, maybe more. The doctor insisted she needs time. Time to heal. Time for her body to stabilize. Time to recover properly.But time feels cruel when she’s lying there, looking at me like I’m her whole anchor. Like if I step too far away, she might sink.“A nurse will be here with her all through the night… so no worries,” the doctor assured, trying to soften the ache in my chest.“That will do,” I said, my voice low, hiding the storm I was fighting back.I hate the idea of leaving her in that sterile hospital room, surroun
~ Helen’s POV ~The door swung open with a soft creak, breaking the stillness of the hospital room. I turned my head slowly, startled by the sudden movement. Then, her warm, familiar face appeared.Mrs. Hartley.She walked in gracefully, her heels clicking gently on the white tiles, and the smile on her face….so wide, so full of light, wrapped itself around my weary heart. For a moment, everything faded: the wires, the machines, the pain. Just her smile… it reached right into me.Behind her, Mr. Hartley entered the room, tall and composed as always, his presence quiet but comforting. And then… Sebastian. His eyes met mine the instant he stepped in, and my chest tightened, not from pain but from something deeper, something I couldn’t name fully.But of course, love.“Good evening ma and sir,” I said softly, trying to muster a little strength, a little politeness despite how broken I felt.Mrs. Hartley walked over, her eyes studying me with motherly concern. “How are you feeling?” she a
~ Helen's POV ~A soft knock echoed in the room before the nurse stepped in, her presence bringing with it the faint scent of antiseptic and something floral….lavender maybe. Her gentle smile, although simple, wrapped around my aching heart like a thin blanket on a cold night. It didn’t fix everything, but for a second… It helped me breathe.“Hello miss,” she greeted, her voice soothing and soft, like a lullaby meant to quiet fear. “How are you feeling now?”She carried a silver tray carefully, balancing several injection bottles. She set it gently on the side table beside my bed, careful not to rattle the contents too loudly.Honestly I don't feel good.I don't feel good enough to be myself.Right now, even my memory fails me.My limbs? It doesn't respond to me.“Still the same,” I replied, barely able to push the words past the dryness in my throat. My voice scratched against the air, hoarse and brittle. “You’ll be fine,” she reassured, brushing her hand across my forehead in a mot
~ Helen's POV ~Hours have passed.And still… Sebastian hasn’t returned.The room is quiet, too quiet. The walls feel like they’re closing in on me, and the silence? It’s not peaceful. It’s heavy. Suffocating.All I hear is the unending beeping of these machines. It’s a constant rhythm, like a slow ticking clock dragging time itself. I’ve memorized the pattern already. Beep… beep… beep. It’s all I’ve had for company. Just wires and noise.The IV drips steadily beside me. And the tubes against my skin feel like chains…binding, and unnatural. I haven’t even stepped out of this bed. My body won’t let me. I try to move, but it’s like dragging weight through water. I feel paralyzed. Useless. Helpless.A vegetable.That’s what I’ve become.Still breathing, still here, but not fully alive.And for what? I’ve lived my life quietly. I’ve worked hard. I’ve kept my head down. I never tried to take more than I was given. I was careful….so careful to stay in my place. To never cross lines. To resp
~ Mena's POV ~She dared to regain consciousness.She dared to open those filthy, pathetic eyes of hers again…..as if the world missed her, as if anyone was begging for her to return. Just when I finally start to breathe, finally feel like maybe I’ve won my family back, that thing decides to rise from the dead.The joy I felt earlier now feels poisoned.She has the audacity to come back. How dare she? How could she?Just when the world starts aligning in my favor, just when I was starting to believe that maybe….just maybe fate had sided with me once again, her presence slices through my happiness like a dull, rusty knife. Everything about her existence irritates me. The very mention of her name makes my blood boil. And Sebastian? He’s the match to my fury."She’s regained consciousness," he said, like it was the best news in the world.Like it's a miracle.A miracle?She's a curse. One that should have been silenced the moment it arrived in our lives.Arrived?Of course not, i had the