Lahat ng Kabanata ng After I Died, He Truly Panicked: Kabanata 121 - Kabanata 130

Regina’s POVI found Mia curled in her bed like a wounded animal, small hands pressed against her temples while tears leaked from her squeezed-shut eyes.“My head hurts again, Mommy,” she whimpered without opening them. “It hurts so bad.”This was the third morning in a row. Three mornings of finding my five-year-old daughter in pain, her face pale and drawn in ways that made my chest ache.“Where does it hurt, sunshine?” I sat on the edge of her bed, gently smoothing her golden hair.“Right here.” She pressed harder against her temples. “And my tummy feels sick.”“The same kind of sick as yesterday?”Mia nodded, then immediately winced at the movement. “Everything hurts. And I keep thinking about Ivan being mad at me.”I’d already called the homeschooling tutor twice this week, canceling lessons because Mia couldn’t concentrate through the pain. Mrs. Whitman had been understanding, but I could hear the concern in her voice when she asked if Mia needed medical attention.“Sunshine, ca

Regina’s POVThe pediatric wing of the hospital felt like enemy territory as I watched Frederick examine Mia from the corner of the room.I hadn’t spoken to him except to answer direct medical questions since his betrayal in my parents’ garden, and the cold silence between us was obvious to everyone.“Blood pressure is elevated for her age,” Frederick murmured to the nurse, not looking at me. “And her weight is down another two pounds since last week.”“Is that bad?” Mia asked from the examination table, her voice small and worried.“It’s something we need to keep an eye on, princess,” Lindsay said. “That’s why we’re having you stay overnight—so the doctors can make sure you’re okay.”Frederick finished his examination and made notes on Mia’s chart. “The kidney function tests will take several hours to process. We’ll need continuous monitoring overnight.”“Monitoring for what?” I asked coldly.“Children experiencing chronic anxiety can develop complications that—”“I know what chronic

Morgana’s POVI was pouring Ivan’s orange juice when my phone rang. Tony’s number flashed on the screen—my maintenance contact at the hospital who’d been feeding me information for months in exchange for help with his gambling debts.“Morning, Mrs. Faye,” Tony said quietly. “Got that update you wanted about the kid.”“Go ahead.”“She was admitted yesterday afternoon. Stress-related health issues, from what the nurses were saying. Kid looked pretty rough when they brought her in through emergency.”Ivan sat at the breakfast table, stirring his cereal without eating. He’d been like this for days—listless, picking at food, drawing sad pictures of separated dragons.“What kind of stress issues?” I asked, walking toward the kitchen window so Ivan couldn’t hear.“Headaches. Heard one of the doctors mention possible kidney complications from the stress. She’s in pediatric, room 304, if that matters.”Perfect. The timing couldn’t have been better.“Thanks, Tony. Your usual payment will be tra

Regina’s POVLindsay’s text came through as I was reviewing Mia’s discharge papers with Frederick: Maxwell, Morgana, and Ivan are in the lobby asking about Mia’s room number. What do I do?My hands went cold. “Frederick, I need to leave. Now.”“What’s wrong?”“Maxwell’s here. With Ivan.” I gathered my purse. “I have to get out of this wing before he sees me.”“Regina, calm down—”“You don’t understand. If Maxwell finds me here with Mia, he’ll start asking questions I can’t answer.”I headed toward the door, but Frederick caught my arm. “Regina, what if this is an opportunity? What if Maxwell seeing you here naturally leads to—”“No.” I pulled away from him. “I’m not ready for that conversation.”I slipped out of Mia’s room and started toward the stairwell at the far end of the corridor. If I could reach the stairs before Maxwell made it up from the lobby, I could disappear until they left.But as I rounded the corner, I came face to face with Maxwell himself.He stopped dead when he s

Regina’s POVI sat in the small room down the hall from Mia’s room, my hands shaking as I faced my family. Mother and Father flanked me on one side of the conference table, while Alexander sat across from us. Frederick had joined us after escorting Maxwell and Ivan out of the hospital.“Regina,” Mother said gently, “you said you were ready to tell us everything about Morgana’s threats. We’re here to listen.”Lindsay was still in Mia’s room, maintaining her role as concerned mother in case any hospital staff had questions, but here, in this private space, I could finally stop pretending everything was under control.“Morgana discovered our secret months ago,” I began, my voice barely above a whisper. “She followed me from a café, saw me with Lindsay and Mia, and guessed Mia was my daughter.”“What did she see?” Alexander asked grimly.“Me with Mia, kissing her forehead, acting like her mother in public.” I closed my eyes, remembering that terrible moment when Morgana had shown me the i