Semua Bab After I Died, He Truly Panicked: Bab 421 - Bab 430

Alexander’s POVThe night smelled like cold metal and gasoline. I crouched behind one of the delivery trucks at the back of Serenity Wellness, my pulse steady but loud in my ears.The air was too still, the kind of stillness that comes before something breaks. Through the earpiece, Charles’s voice buzzed, calm and clipped.“Maxwell’s inside. East stairwell clear. Two guards coming your way from the west entrance.”“Got it,” I whispered, tightening my grip on the baton I’d taken off one of the unconscious guards. “Keep the feed open.”The moonlight caught on the black glass walls of Serenity, warping the reflections of the cars, the gates, the trees, like the whole building was breathing.Somewhere inside those walls, my sister was fighting for her life. I had to trust that Maxwell would find her. My job was to make sure no one got in his way.The first guard came around the corner fast, radio in hand. I moved before he could speak, slamming the baton into his arm and then his ribs.He

Regina’s POVWhen the car rolled past the black iron gates of the Chamberlain estate, I felt something in my chest unclench.The house stood there, familiar and strange all at once, its tall windows catching the pale morning light. It was quiet, the kind of quiet that follows chaos.The front door opened before I could even step out. Two small figures burst through it, Mia and Ivan, running full tilt down the steps.“Mommy!” Mia’s voice cracked with excitement as she threw herself into my arms. Ivan followed, clinging to my leg with the kind of fierce grip that made my heart ache.I dropped to my knees, holding both of them, breathing them in, the warmth of their hair, the faint scent of crayons and something sweet on their clothes. I’d missed that smell. I’d missed them.“I’m here,” I whispered against Mia’s hair. “I’m right here.”Ivan pulled back just far enough to look at me, his lower lip trembling. “You weren’t home,” he said, his voice small.“I know, sweetheart.” My throat tig

Regina’s POVThe courthouse smelled of dust, disinfectant, and something else, something heavier, like the air before a storm.I’d been here before, but this time, it was different. This time, the man on the other side of the courtroom was my father.Frank Veyron.I sat beside Maxwell in the gallery, hands clasped tight in my lap. My palms were cold. My throat, dry. He leaned toward me slightly, voice low and steady. “You don’t have to stay the whole time, Regina.”“I do,” I said quietly. “If I leave, it’ll feel like I’m running again. And I’m done running.”He didn’t argue. He just reached over, his fingers brushing mine, a small anchor in the rising tide of dread.The court officer’s voice rang out, sharp and impersonal. “All rise.”We stood as my father was brought in. His hair had grayed since the last time I’d seen him, and there were deep lines around his mouth that hadn’t been there before.But his eyes, those same eyes that used to look at me across the breakfast table, still

Lindsay’s POVThe night air was crisp when I stepped onto the rooftop. The city stretched below like a galaxy of lights, endless, glittering, cold. I wasn’t sure what I was doing there.When I’d gotten Frederick’s message, I’d read it three times just to make sure it wasn’t some sort of mistake.“Meet me tonight. Rooftop. Please.”No explanation. No warning. Just that single, clipped message.I almost didn’t come.But curiosity, and something far more dangerous, had pulled me here anyway.Frederick stood near the edge, hands shoved into the pockets of his black coat, the wind tugging at his hair. He looked… smaller somehow. Not in height, but in weight, like someone who had finally stopped pretending to carry everything alone.When he turned, the city lights caught the edges of his face. For a moment, neither of us said a word.“You came,” he said finally. His voice was low, careful.“I wasn’t sure I should.”“I wasn’t sure you would.”The wind carried the silence between us. I wrappe

Maxwell’s POVI was buried in quarterly reports and legal updates, the fallout from the Serenity case still bleeding into every corner of my work, when Clara appeared at the door.She looked hesitant, which was never a good sign. “Sir,” she said, her voice low, “there’s someone here asking to see you. She doesn’t have an appointment, but she says it’s urgent.”I didn’t look up from my desk. “Who is it?”“She says her name is Maude Faye.”That made me freeze. Slowly, I lifted my gaze. “What did you just say?”“Maude Faye,” Clara repeated, frowning slightly. “She said you’d recognize the name.”I leaned back in my chair, the memory slicing through me like a blade. Maude Faye, Morgana’s mother.The woman I’d personally had escorted off my property after Morgana kidnapped my children.I’d accused her of knowing what Morgana was going to do and keeping silent. She hadn’t denied it, just begged me to believe she hadn’t meant harm. I hadn’t cared.Now she was here.For a moment, I considered