Lahat ng Kabanata ng After I Died, He Truly Panicked: Kabanata 241 - Kabanata 250

Maxwell’s POVWhen I finally got Regina to drink some water, her lips barely parted, her throat moving with effort, I realized how fragile she truly was.It had been years since I’d held her like this, years since I’d been the one to steady her trembling hands. The glass felt heavier in her grasp than it should have. I covered her fingers with mine, guiding her until the water was gone.“Good,” I whispered, brushing away the dampness from her mouth with the corner of a towel. “You did well.”She looked so small sitting there on the edge of the bed, eyes glazed, shoulders sagging under a weight I couldn’t see but knew was crushing. I couldn’t leave her like this. Not even for a moment.“I’ll run you a bath,” I murmured, rising before she could protest. The bathroom tiles were cold under my feet as I twisted the faucet, steam curling up slowly until the room smelled faintly of lavender from the oil I poured into the water. I checked the temperature three times before I returned to her.

Regina’s POVI felt awful. No other word could describe it.My head pounded like a drum, my limbs shook as though I had been left out in the snow, and my stomach rolled with every shallow breath I took. The light from the curtains stung my eyes, forcing me to turn my face into the pillow, wishing I could shut it all out.But there was no shutting this out. The effects of whatever had been slipped into my drink were still crawling through me, the poison making itself known even as it faded.Bits and pieces of the night before flickered in my mind like film reels, jagged and disjointed. The girl bumping into me at the table. My irritation at first, then the slow, creeping horror as realization dawned. Something was wrong. My drink. I had been drugged.The fear slammed into me all over again. My only thought had been Maxwell. I needed to call him.Even now, just remembering it, my hand twitched as though reaching for my phone all over again. I remembered my voice on the line, slurred, fr

Regina’s POVI stared at the stitched gash on Alexander’s arm, the moonlight catching on the dark threads that held his skin together. It looked painful, angry red around the edges, though the wound was already beginning to heal.“What happened there?” I asked, my voice softer than I intended.Alexander shifted slightly, tucking his arm closer to his side. “It’s nothing.”“Nothing?” I repeated, taking a step toward him. “That doesn’t look like nothing. Where did you get it?”His jaw tightened, the muscles working as though he were grinding down his frustration. He met my eyes, but instead of answering, he deflected smoothly, almost too smoothly. “When did you decide Mia should go back to school? I thought you wanted her homeschooled.”I blinked, taken off guard. “Alex… don’t change the subject.”But he only raised his eyebrows, waiting. His silence pressed on me until I sighed and gave in. “I decided this morning. Watching Ivan and Mia together, I realized they need more than what I c

Regina’s POVAlexander’s eyes widened, genuine shock flashing across his face. For a moment, he looked like I’d slapped him.“What did you just say?” His voice was sharp, incredulous.“You heard me,” I said, standing tall in front of his desk. “Did you break into the Chamberlain estate?”The silence that followed was taut, suffocating. His hand tightened around the arm of his chair, knuckles whitening.“Regina, that’s absurd. Why would I—”“Don’t,” I cut him off, my voice firmer than I felt. My heart was hammering in my chest, but I wouldn’t let him change the subject this time. “Don’t you dare dismiss me like I’m some clueless child. Answer me. Did you or did you not?”His mouth opened, then closed. He leaned back, exhaling slowly, as if weighing whether or not to keep lying.Finally, his shoulders slumped. “Yes.”The word hit me like a blow. I blinked, my breath catching. “You… you actually did it?”Alexander dragged a hand through his hair, his usual calm unraveling at the edges. “

Regina’s POVI knew before I opened my mouth that Frederick wasn’t going to give me what I wanted tonight.He had built his walls carefully, each word measured, each silence even sharper.I knew I shouldn’t push more because if I did, I would widen the chasm between us even more. I needed him to know he could trust me and pressing him further wasn’t the way to go.So, for now, I’ll hold my tongue.But if there was one thing I could still do, it was to keep him from hurting me, from hurting all of us, again.The fact that he had known Morgana six years ago was something we could get to later, the most important thing for me was to make sure he didn’t help her now.Not with the psyche evaluation and not with anything else.As long as it was in my hands, I'll do my best to make sure Morgana doesn’t spend a single moment out of the jail cell, at least for the next few years.So I leaned forward, letting my voice soften. “Frederick, if you won’t tell me the truth right now, fine. But promi