جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 100

Three weeks.That was how long Lauren had been lying in a hospital bed, suspended between breaths and silence, between life and death.For the rest of the world, twenty-one days meant three workweeks, a few weekend outings, and the slow turn of a calendar page. But for Colt, time had stopped being linear. It had become a thick, suffocating fog measured only by the rhythmic green peaks of the heart monitor and the slow, agonizingly steady drip of IV fluids that never seemed to end. Victor had been lucky. He’d been discharged after only two days, and while he was physically okay, the guilt in his eyes told me he was far from healed. But Lauren... Lauren was still in a coma.Two weeks ago, they had moved her out of the Intensive Care Unit. Colt remembered the moment with painful clarity. He had been pacing the hallway, his eyes fixed on the linoleum floor, when the doctor approached just as the nurses wheeled Lauren’s bed toward the elevators.He remembered how his heart had leapt, how

Lauren woke up, but she didn’t really come back.That was the only thought that looped through Colt’s mind the following day. It was a haunting, hollow realization. Physically, she was present. Her heart was beating, her lungs were drawing in air, and her eyes were open. When the nurses came in to check her IV or change her bandages, she followed their instructions with slow, robotic obedience. But the woman he loved, the fire, the laughter, the sharp wit, were gone.She had pulled herself deep inside, into some dark corner of her mind where no one could reach her, and she had locked the door.Since she found out about the babies, she hadn't said a single word to him.She spent the better part of the morning staring out the window. Her face was always turned toward the pale sky, her eyes following the slow movement of clouds she didn't seem to see. Sometimes her gaze would drift to the ceiling, tracing the tiny cracks in the plaster for hours. Every so often, her eyes would fill quie

“What did I just hear?” Lauren said slowly.It was the first time she had spoken in a week, and the sound of her voice made the world stop.Colt’s heart slammed into his ribs. He hadn't heard her come down the stairs. He had been so caught up in the weight of his own secret that he hadn't noticed the shadow at the edge of the hallway.“Oh no,” he breathed. He stood up so fast the heavy leather couch shifted behind him. His hands were out, palms open, as if he could catch the words he had just spoken and shove them back into his mouth. “Lauren. Honey. I didn’t mean for you to hear it like that. I was going to tell you.”She just stood there, barefoot on the cold hardwood floor, staring at him like he was a total stranger she had found in her house. Her skin was so pale it was almost blue under the dim lights.“My… mother?” she whispered.He crossed the room in three long, desperate steps. “Lauren, please, listen to me.”She backed away. Her eyes were wide, the pupils blown out until t

The knock came sharp and sudden. It was a demanding sound that cut through the house's early-morning stillness.Colt glanced at the heavy silver clock on his dresser. It was 6:50 a.m, too early for the cleaning staff to be moving about. He was already dressed for the day; his dark suit jacket lay neatly over the back of a chair, though his cufflinks were still missing, sitting in their velvet box. He had been staring at his reflection for twenty minutes, dreading the morning ahead. He had a meeting with his mother before the office opened. He had been dreading it all night, a conversation he knew would be filled with sharp words and cold expectations.Another knock came. It was softer this time, almost hesitant.He walked to the door, pulled it open, and Lauren stood there.For a second, Colt forgot how to breathe. He forgot his mother and his early-morning meeting. He just stared at her.She looked so small standing in the bright light of the hallway. She was wrapped in a thick, cre

“I can’t believe it.”Charlotte’s voice cracked as the words left her lips. Her eyes were wide, fixed on her mother as if she were looking at a complete stranger.“How can this even be possible?” she whispered. “Colt hasn't touched her. He doesn't want her.”Julia stood by the large window, the morning sunlight pouring in around her like a bright spotlight. She looked radiant, her face glowing with a look that was dangerously close to joy. She clasped her manicured hands over her heart, looking up at the ceiling.“It is obviously the will of God,” she said. Her tone was reverent, almost holy, like she was discussing a miracle she had prayed for her entire life.Charlotte flinched. “No. Don’t you dare say that. Don't you dare bring God into this.”She stepped closer, her chest rising and falling fast. Her heart pounded so hard she could feel it in her throat. “This is not God’s will, Mother. This is a nightmare, a trap.”Julia turned away from the window. “Of course, it is his will, Ch