Skylar
“Oh, these look wonderful. Thank you so much, ma'am.” Nurse Carla’s eyes lit up as she held a white paper box.“You deserve it, nurse,” Ingrid replied warmly. “You can share them with your colleagues. They’re my signature cookies.”Nurse Carla laughed, shaking her head. “You spoil us. Thank you, truly.” Then her gaze shifted to me. “Thank you also, Mrs. Buckman, and take good care of yourself.”I smiled faintly and nodded. “Thank you, Nurse Carla. For everything.”She patted my arm lightly before leaving the room.I leaned back against the pillows, letting my eyes wander across the room. I was finally being discharged. Although I felt relieved, I still couldn't help but think about my mother's state. I really hoped she would recover soon and wake up… I really hoped so.Just then, the door creaked, and Jason walked in with a wide grin plastered across his face. He held a bouquet of fresh flowers… yellow and white lSkylarThe car came to a slow stop, and I stepped out carefully. The first thing I saw was the old building before me… it looked abandoned.The walls were stained and cracked, and the wooden boards nailed across some of the windows were half-rotting. The roof looked almost ready to collapse, and weeds had grown wildly at its base. A chill ran through me as I stood there, staring.I glanced down at my phone and checked the address again… it was the exact address that Uncle Austin had sent me.I had come to the right place.But the longer I looked at the building and its surroundings, the more uneasy I felt. Something about it felt wrong. My stomach twisted, and without even realizing it, I rubbed my arms with my hands, trying to chase away the goosebumps that had risen on my skin.“Ma’am, I don’t think this place is safe.”I turned to Troy, the head guard Cole had assigned to me after the car accident. He frowned, his han
Skylar“Oh, these look wonderful. Thank you so much, ma'am.” Nurse Carla’s eyes lit up as she held a white paper box.“You deserve it, nurse,” Ingrid replied warmly. “You can share them with your colleagues. They’re my signature cookies.”Nurse Carla laughed, shaking her head. “You spoil us. Thank you, truly.” Then her gaze shifted to me. “Thank you also, Mrs. Buckman, and take good care of yourself.”I smiled faintly and nodded. “Thank you, Nurse Carla. For everything.”She patted my arm lightly before leaving the room.I leaned back against the pillows, letting my eyes wander across the room. I was finally being discharged. Although I felt relieved, I still couldn't help but think about my mother's state. I really hoped she would recover soon and wake up… I really hoped so.Just then, the door creaked, and Jason walked in with a wide grin plastered across his face. He held a bouquet of fresh flowers… yellow and white l
Skylar Jason sat beside my hospital bed, carefully peeling a hard-boiled egg for me. “Things aren’t looking good for Cole,” he said. He placed the egg on a small plate and began peeling the second one. “I heard that the directors of his company are antagonizing him. It’s escalating fast.” Hearing this instantly made me feel guilty because I knew Cole was in this position because of me. He had chosen to stand by me and had gone against Minister Adams… now he was paying the price for it. I lowered my gaze to my hands resting on my lap. I wished there was something I could do. Anything. A way to help him carry the weight, a way to shoulder part of his burden so he wouldn’t be fighting alone. But here I was, stuck in a hospital room, my body still healing and my mother lying unconscious in another ward. I couldn’t even take care of myself properly… how could I possibly help Cole? Jason’s voice broke into my thoug
ColeOne week later…“Mr. Al Mansoor, I assure you that everything is under control. The rumors flying around are nothing but baseless lies. I can promise you that.”On my screen, Mr. Rashid Al Mansoor’s face didn’t look as convinced as I hoped. He was one of the company's biggest foreign investors, known across countries for being wise, careful, and never one to act on impulse. His sharp dark eyes studied me like he was searching for cracks in my voice.“Cole,” he finally said, “the rumor is already everywhere. They say your company is losing its footing. That you mismanaged the partnership funds and that the collapse is only a matter of time. If such words reach my ears all the way in Dubai, you can imagine what the other investors are already thinking.”I kept my voice even though my chest tightened. “I can assure you, none of that is true. Not a single cent has been mismanaged. The reports flying around have no evidence because they a
ColeThree days later…“… and as you can see here,” Brian, the head of strategic operations, said while pointing at the chart on the projector, “if we continue at this growth pace, we’ll hit a thirty-percent increase in quarterly revenue. But…”The door to the briefing room suddenly burst open with a loud bang.Brian’s words died in his throat, and every head in the room instantly turned towards the door.Uncle Adams angrily stormed in, his face filled with rage. He didn’t even bother to glance at anyone in the room and marched straight to me, angrily slamming a thick stack of documents on the table.“What,” he roared in rage, “is the meaning of this?!”Everyone sat frozen in shock. Nobody even dared to breathe too loudly.I didn’t need to glance at the documents. I already knew what they were. In fact, I had expected this moment… just not this soon.I cleared my throat and kept my voice steady. “Everyo
ColeI stared at Skylar in shock.Uncle Adams?Before I could say anything, Skylar quickly shook her head, almost like she regretted saying it.“M-maybe I’m wrong,” she stammered, her eyes wide and nervous. “Maybe it was a coincidence or something. I mean… I’m not trying to assume anything that…”“Skylar.” My voice came out sharper than I intended, and she flinched. I forced myself to take a deep breath and lowered my tone. “Are you really certain you saw the diamond-shaped number on the man who almost shot you?”Her lips trembled. She hesitated a little before she finally nodded. “Yes. When I saw the guard’s tattoo, the memory just… came back to me. I remember vividly… I even thought it represented the number of people the man had killed, and I was so scared that I was going to be his next victim.”I froze, staring at her again because I knew about those tattoos quite well.Those numbers weren’t random. I knew