All Chapters of After My Last Breath: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

[Elara]“When will Daddy come home, Mommy?” Cora, my four-year-old daughter, asks.The back of my eyes sting with disappointment. I look up at the time and breathe in a deep sigh. It’s already half past ten. No wonder Cora ran out of patience. She usually doesn’t complain about many things. All she ever asks for is to spend time with her daddy, something she rarely gets to do. And I wonder if it’s…too much to ask for?But Damon…how could he do this? How could he not show up at his own daughter’s birthday? I’ve already called him at least a dozen times, left him several texts on Messenger. But still no response.‘Where the hell are you, Damon? Are you really going to abandon your daughter on her birthday?’Pushing back the hurt, I bring a smile to my face and pull Cora onto my lap, kissing the top of her head. “Very soon. You know Daddy loves you more than anything, don’t you? He’d never miss your birthday.”“But it’s already so late. When are we going to cut the cake?”I look at the c

[Elara]The next morning couldn’t have arrived sooner.The second I wake up, I almost rush out of the room to check on Cora.After what Dr. Wilson said last night, I have been restless. I still don’t know what’s wrong with my daughter, but that doesn’t do anything to ease my anxiety. My heart keeps thundering, and my chest keeps hurting.The moment I open the door, I come face-to-face with Damon himself.I almost forgot about the call he received last night—the call from Hannah that pulled him out of bed faster than any million-dollar project could.He looks at me squarely, his brows furrowed so deeply that he looks more intense than usual. “What are you rushing to?”I take a step back, hoping to bring some calm to my face. “To check on Cora. It’s her last day at school before the holidays start. I don’t want her to be late.”My answer seems satisfactory to him, considering he doesn’t follow it up with another question.He walks inside—almost into me. “We need to talk.”“I—” But befor

[Elara]After leaving the hospital, I head back to Cora’s school. Being the last day before the holidays begin, she only had a half day.When the car pulls up outside the already open school gates, I smile at the adorable face of my daughter, who’s already hurrying toward me.“Hey,” I hug her tight, trying my best not to look as devastated as I feel after hearing about the condition of her heart. Dr. Wilson reminded me before I left that as long as Cora is happy and stays away from stress and exertion, she should be fine.But that doesn’t mean I can rest. I need to see Damon today—at any cost.“Mommy, we had a handwriting competition in class today,” she chirps, waving a certificate at me. “I won first place! Are you proud of me?”My heart fills with so much love and pride that I can barely hold back my grin.I kiss her cheeks. “Oh my, darling. Mommy’s always proud of you. You are my sweet angel, after all.”She giggles, kissing me back. “Mommy, let’s go and celebrate. I want to have

[Elara]I rush to the hospital, my mind wrecked and heart pounding.Cora has to be fine. She just has to be.“Mrs. Blackwood!” Gwen spots me and runs over. “Thank God you’re here—I didn’t know what to do.”“How’s Cora? What did the doctor say?”“They haven’t come out yet,” she says nervously.Before I can ask more, Dr. Wilson appears with a resident.“The thing I was afraid of has happened,” he says gravely.My breath catches. “Please—tell me she’s okay.”“She’s stable for now, but we can’t wait any longer. The surgery must happen within forty-eight hours.”“Then do it,” I whisper. “Please, just save her.”The doctor nods and leaves. I sink onto the bench, trembling. Gwen squeezes my hand. “She’ll be fine,” she murmurs.“She has to be,” I breathe.A nurse calls me to fill out the consent forms, but when I beg for a minute with Cora, she finally allows it.However, what I see, breaks my heart like anything.She looks so small against the white sheets, her skin pale, her lashes wet. The

[Damon]“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The words fly out before I can stop them. “Standing this close to some stranger?”The moment I saw her standing that near to the man in scrubs, something in my chest burned. My hands clenched, my jaw locked.I don’t even know what got into me. She was just talking to him. But for some reason, that little distance between them—which, thinking about it now, wasn’t even that small—made me completely lose it.“We were just talking,” she says, her tone calm—too calm. It throws me off. Before this, every time I accused her of something, she’d rush to defend herself, desperate to make me understand. But now, for the first time, she acts like it doesn’t matter.She turns to the man. “Thanks for earlier.”He nods, then glances at me with a look that practically screams murder. Before I can say anything, he turns and walks away, disappearing around the corner.No. Why the hell would he look at me like that? Like I’d offended him somehow. And ev