Lahat ng Kabanata ng After I Died, He Truly Panicked: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Regina’s POVPregnant?I blinked. The word didn’t land right away. It hovered in the air between me and the doctor, strange and unreal, like it belonged to someone else. My heart skittered in my chest. A prickling heat crept up the back of my neck.It was my twenty-seventh birthday. I’d come in bracing for heartbreak. I’d practiced disappointment: the brave smile, the nod, the half-hearted “maybe next time.” I hadn’t prepared for this.“You’re pregnant,” the doctor repeated, gentler now. “Early, but viable.”My hands shook. I pressed them against my thighs. After the hell I went through, after six months off my medication, after white-knuckling through insomnia, after crying myself hollow... I was finally going to be a mother.I had to bite down hard on my lip to contain the sob.“The fetus looks healthy,” the doctor said gently, flipping through my chart. Then came the pause. His brows tightened. “But Regina... you stopped your medication six months ago?”I nodded. “I needed to.” My

Regina’s POVMy lips went numb. A wave of nausea surged so hard I bent at the waist, clutching the edge of the dresser just to stay upright. My vision swam, sweat broke along my spine, and I could feel the blood draining from my face.“Regina?” Maxwell’s voice snapped like a whip. But he didn’t move. Didn’t come closer.I tried to speak, to explain. I’m pregnant, I need help. But all that came out was a shallow gasp.He folded his arms, jaw tight enough to crack. “Don’t,” Maxwell said, voice filled with disdain . “Whatever this is, this performance, it won’t work on me.”My knees buckled, and I clung to the dresser like it was the only thing anchoring me. “I’m not acting,” I whispered, voice rasping at the end.He looked at me like I was something broken beyond repair. “You’ve always been strong. Fit. The kind of woman who ran five miles before breakfast. And now what? You suddenly faint at the sight of a mirror?” He scoffed, disgusted. “You think pretending to collapse is going to m

Maxwell’s POVIt had been almost eight months since I sent Regina to that damn rehab center, and every time I thought of her, a storm built in my chest. Rage. Confusion. Betrayal. I still couldn’t wrap my head around what she’d done.Looking back, the signs were there, and they only became more obvious in the past six months. The wild mood swings. Some days she was bursting with ideas, pushing everyone past their limits with 3 a.m. emails and back-to-back strategy meetings. Other days she barely got out of bed, staring out the window like the world had collapsed around her. She stopped laughing at the things that used to crack her up. Would forget basic tasks, then overcorrect with a frenzy of obsessive micromanaging. I asked her before, “Are you okay?”“I’m just tired,” she’d said. “Nothing I can’t handle.”Lies. All of it.I didn’t want to believe it at first, not until Morgana came to me with the truth. “You need to know what she’s been hiding,” she said, her voice low and almost

Maxwell’s POVMy assistant burst through my office door without knocking. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.“Mr. Chamberlain!” he gasped, gulping air. “The hospital—where your wife—there’s been a fire!”The words stopped me dead. I shot up from my chair so fast it toppled backward.“What did you say?”“Serenity Wellness Center,” he panted. “It’s on fire. The whole building.”I didn’t wait for him to finish. I shoved past him and ran. Down the hallway, past confused employees, into the elevator that took forever to reach the ground floor. My hands shook as I jabbed the parking garage button.Cars honked as I cut them off during my drive there, but I didn’t slow down. I ran every red light, took corners so sharp my tires screeched against the road. My heart was the only thing racing faster than my car.Regina.When I arrived, towering flames reached toward the black sky, engulfing the entire building. Fire trucks surrounded the scene, their sirens wailing so loud I could barely think st

Regina’s POVThe door burst open, and a little girl in a puffy pink dress skipped inside. Her golden pigtails bounced as she moved, tiny ribbons dancing with each step. She didn’t hesitate—she ran straight into my arms, her small body colliding against mine.“Mommy!” she squealed, wrapping her arms around my waist.I knelt down to her level, smoothing down her dress. The fabric was soft under my fingers, expensive silk that my parents insisted on buying for her. Everything for Mia was the best money could buy now.“Hello, my sunshine,” I whispered, kissing the top of her head. She smelled sweet and clean, with that particular scent kids get after bath time, with a hint of the tablets she had to swallow every day.Mia pulled back, her grey eyes sparkling as she looked at my dress. “You look pretty, Mommy!”“Thank you, baby.” I tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “Did you take your medicine today?”Her face immediately scrunched up, bottom lip jutting out in the most drama