All Chapters of Game Of Chess With My Ex-Husband's Uncle : Chapter 81 - Chapter 85

~ Vivienne's POVThe sterile white walls of the hospital room seemed to close in on me as I sat beside Dante's bed, my hand wrapped around his small, cool fingers. The steady beep of the heart monitor provided a rhythmic soundtrack to my nightmare, each beep a reminder that my son was still alive, still fighting, but also still sick.So desperately sick.The fluorescent lights overhead cast a harsh, unforgiving glow that made everything look washed out and surreal. Dante's face on the white pillow was too pale, his lips slightly parted as he slept fitfully under the influence of the pain medication they had given him. Dark lashes that were so like mine rested against cheeks that had lost the healthy flush of childhood in just a matter of hours.How could everything have changed so quickly?Dr. Morrison's words from earlier still echoed in my mind, each syllable a fresh wound. Leukemia. Advanced. Bone marrow transplant. Rare blood type.After he had delivered that devastating diagnosis

~ Vivienne's POVThe tension in the room was thick enough to choke on. Marco stood there, chest heaving with righteous fury, his finger still pointed accusingly at Lorenzo. The Chairman and his butler remained near the doorway, observing the scene with expressions that ranged from confused to calculating.But it was Lorenzo's reaction that caught my attention. His entire body had gone rigid, his jaw clenching so hard I could see the muscle tick beneath his skin. The tender expression he had worn while looking at Dante vanished, replaced by something cold and dangerous."I suggest you lower your voice," Lorenzo said, his tone deadly calm. Each word was clipped and precise, carrying a threat that made the air feel heavier. "There's a sick child in this room who needs rest."Marco either didn't notice or didn't care about the warning in Lorenzo's voice. He took another step forward, his movements aggressive and territorial. "Don't tell me what to do in front of my son! You have no right

~ Vivienne's POV The elevator doors slid open on the fourth floor with a quiet chime, and the sound of it felt almost too gentle for the way my heart was hammering against my ribs. I walked out into the corridor, and the smell of the hospital wrapped around me immediately, that particular mixture of antiseptic and recycled air that I had never quite gotten used to despite years of working in places exactly like this. My heels clicked against the linoleum as I moved, and I told myself to slow down, to breathe, to stop behaving like someone who had just run a marathon when in truth I had only crossed a parking lot.I had left Richard and James on the third floor. Marco was gone. That chapter of the evening, at least, had closed itself with more finality than I had expected, and somewhere beneath the residual shock of it, there was a quiet gratitude I didn't know how to hold yet. But it was a distant feeling right now. Everything was distant except for the single, consuming thought pull