บททั้งหมดของ HE LEFT ME FOR MY STEPSISTER, I MOVED ON TO THE NEXT: บทที่ 161 - บทที่ 170

Chapter 161 The room was chaos frozen in time. Every sound seemed to echo, the frantic pounding of my heart, the whirring hum of medical machines, the faint crackle of the fluorescent light above. “Drop the weapon!” the police officer barked again, stepping forward. “Put it down now!” Jasper stood in the middle of the room, his shoulders heaving, his eyes wild and bloodshot. The gun shook slightly in his grip, but there was nothing uncertain about his madness. He looked… cornered. Like an animal ready to lash out. “Don’t you get it?” he shouted, his voice cracking. “You can’t stop me! You don’t understand!” “Sir, lower the gun!” another officer warned, aiming carefully. “Do not make this harder than it already is!” Lucian’s wheelchair creaked beside me. I felt him tense, his breath shallow. “E.... Elena,” he whispered, fear trembling in his voice. I turned to him, shaking my head. “Don’t move,” I whispered back. My eyes never left Jasper. “Just stay calm.” Jasper’s

Chapter 163His eyes glistened with tears. “We made it through. That’s all that matters.”He nodded faintly, but his expression remained haunted, the adrenaline hadn’t left his system yet. His gaze darted to the door where Jasper had disappeared.“He’ll come back,” Lucian murmured, his voice trembling. “I saw it in his eyes. He won’t stop.”I placed a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at me. “We’ll handle it if he does. You’re not alone, Lucian. Not ever again.”His lip quivered, a small, broken smile fighting through the exhaustion. “You saved me,” he whispered.I shook my head gently. “We saved each other.”For a long second, we just sat there in silence, his head bowed, my hands still holding him. The sirens faded in the distance, and the faint beeping of the monitors reminded me where we were.Then he blinked, as if remembering something important. “My father,” he whispered suddenly, his tone urgent. “Where’s my father? Is he....”I squeezed his hand, smiling through the tear

Chapter 165The weeks that followed were a blur of sunlight, medicine, and soft laughter, the kind of peace that comes only after surviving a storm.Every day began with the gentle chime of morning light through the wide hospital windows, falling in slanted ribbons across white sheets and polished floors. The scent of disinfectant still lingered faintly in the air, but somehow, it no longer smelled sterile, it smelled like safety.Matthew had improved beyond what anyone expected. His face regained its colour, the shadows under his eyes had faded, and his laugher, deep and full, filled the room like a hymn.Lucian’s condition, too, had begun to change. The wheelchair was no longer his world. Each day, he stood a little longer. Each day, he took one more step, guided by my hands, steadied by my voice.It was a slow, fragile process, but every small victory felt monumental.That morning, the hospital garden was washed in gold. The air carried the light fragrance of jasmine, and the faint

Chapter 167I hesitated, my throat tightening. They were right, my house wasn’t home. It was a place filled with memories of struggle, of late-night tears and memories of Mr. Rivers, but moving in with them? That felt… too much. Too intimate. Too dangerous for my heart.“Lucian…” I began softly. “I can’t impose.”“You wouldn’t be,” he said firmly. “You’d be family.”Matthew nodded in agreement. “Exactly. My wife’s gone, and the house has been too quiet for years. Having you there would make it feel alive again.”Their kindness overwhelmed me. I bit my lip, torn between gratitude and hesitation. “I’ll think about it,” I whispered.Lucian’s expression softened. “That’s all we ask.”The next day, the sun was blazing bright, the sky impossibly clear, as if the universe itself wanted to bless their return home.I stood with them at the hospital entrance, helping the nurse load Matthew and Lucian’s belongings into the car.Matthew took a deep breath of fresh air. “Ah, freedom,” he said, str

Chapter 169The days slipped by like golden dust, the kind you try to hold in your hands but can’t quite keep.It had been several weeks since the chaos, since the blood, since the fear that had once gripped our lives. Matthew was now fully recovered, his strength fully recovered, and the doctors had finally declared him fit. The mansion felt alive again, laughter in the halls, the aroma of Matthew’s favourite black coffee every morning, and Lucian’s occasional piano melodies that drifted through the house like sunlight through curtains.For once, peace didn’t feel borrowed. It felt earned.Lucian was doing well too. The first time he stood on his own two feet, we both cried. His legs trembled, his hands clutched mine for support, and though it was just a few steps, it felt like a victory that belonged to all of us. I could still remember that moment clearly, the way his father had clapped his hands together and shouted, “That’s my boy!”We had laughed until we cried.It was strange h