All Chapters of DARLA FIN:THE HEIRESS'S WICKED REBIRTH: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

Darla’s POVWhen we arrived at the hospital the air outside seemed dense, antiseptic and taut humming with the almost inaudible voice of people shuttling in and, out of the emergency wing. Xàvier slipped the car into a spot, near the entrance released his seatbelt and angled his body enough toward me and Melanie.“Darla," he said, his voice calm yet firm, the tone he habitually used when he didn’t want a quarrel "you and Melanie should stay here a while. I’m heading up with Richard first checking on Doris then I’ll come back to get you both.”I nodded on the spot, no hesitation. "That’s fine " I murmured softly "we’ll wait.”Beside me Melanie folded her arms her voice snapping sharp as a tack. ". Why on earth should we linger here? What are you two hashing out that we can’t hear?”Xàvier let out a sigh his face already showing the strain. "Melanie this isn’t a game. The doctors might still be keeping visitors out. Just give us a minutes.”She scoffed. "Spare me. A few minutes, for w

Darla’s POVThe silence hung around us, weighty and unyielding trailing our steps, like a phantom. Not a single word was uttered, not even a sigh slipped out. The tires’ steady hum, against the road seeped into the cabin. Somehow that low thrum felt too loud, against the tense breathing hush that filled the car.Melanie sat stiffly, in the passenger seat her head angled enough to look away, from Richard. She crossed her arms like a barricade and her lips were pressed hard they had turned a ghostly pallor. Richard settled beside her his gaze fixed on the window as the passing streetlights poured a wash of light that brushed his reflected face. I sat next, to Xavier frozen in place the invisible heft of every thing bearing down on my ribs.When Xàvier at last slipped into that long curling driveway winding toward Richard’s apartment building, a muted tide of relief surged through me. The drive stretched on each mile feeling like a breath held in suspense. I was grateful, for the ins

Melanie’s POVI teetered on the cusp of a yes almost.. The mental snapshot of him snapping at me, alongside Darla’s hushed grin kept looping in my mind.“Not tonight," I said softly letting the words linger in the hush.He lifted his head once a nod, then moved toward the door.Just as his fingers latched onto the handle I hollered after him "You’re really going to sleep.”He lingered a moment then murmured, "Maybe I should just do it.”Then as if in a blink he vanished.The door clicked shut behind him. I lingered motionless eyes locked on the space where he’d been sitting minutes earlier. The towel began its slip. I held my position without moving.An oppressive ache of betrayal pressed into my chest throbbing with the rhythm of a wound that would not seal.He kept insisting we needed peace. What I was, after though was clarity, something I now realize may forever stay out of reach.When Richard left the room fell into an stillness. The quiet seemed to expand a blanket pressing aga

Melanie’s POV“I’m asking you one time," he said. "What’s it that you’re after?”A knot tightened in my throat. I opened my mouth. No sound emerged. My mind scrambled for an excuse. Finally I managed, "I was just… looking for a book.”He gave his head a tilt. "A book," he repeated, his voice dead flat. "At midnight.”I gave a half‑hearted nod. "Yes. I couldn’t sleep.”The silence that followed stretched brittle like a thread. He kept staring at me as though he could see right through every word.Then without warning he sprang to his feet. The abrupt motion caused me to flinch.“Which book?" he whispered, his voice barely rising above a hush.“What?!”“So which book were you after?”I hesitated again. "You probably wouldn’t know it. It’s another psychology book—”He edged forward his face a mask. "Funny. I don’t keep any psychology books in my study.”My pulse thrummed in my ears like a drumbeat. He was calling my bluff aware of it.I glanced away unable to lock eyes with him. "You’re

Melanie's POVTime crawled. I looked at the clock again at 3:41am.I felt Richard shift behind me. Not closer of course not, but the sheets moved as he turned to face the ceiling.“Melanie,” he said suddenly.My heart jerked. "What?"“We’ll talk in the morning. After therapy.” His voice was steady, but there was a tiredness under it I hadn’t heard before.Talk.The word rattled through me like a warning bell.“Fine,” I said quietly.There was silence again, deeper this time, though no kinder. I wrapped myself tighter, resisting the impulse to glance at my phone again.To text Sam. To ask for the comfort I knew he'd give-the comfort Richard hadn't given in a long time.But I didn't.Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was guilt.Maybe that was because if Richard was suspicious, I had to be very, very careful.So I let the hours crawl.I gave up on sleep by 6:00am entirely.I sat up and rubbed my eyes, forcing my breathing to steady.Richard was already awake and sitting at the edge of the bed,