Putting Graham in charge

~ Stellan’s POV"I need a trauma team on standby! Now!"My voice shattered the quiet, disciplined atmosphere of the private Manhattan medical center. The med-evac chopper had touched down on the roof less than three minutes ago, but to my frantic, blood-soaked mind, it had felt like three lifetimes.Thea was frighteningly light as I ran alongside the rushing gurney. The elite medical staff of my personal facility swarmed us, their hands moving with practiced, urgent precision. I refused to let go of her icy fingers. She was entirely unresponsive, her head lolling to the side against the stark white hospital pillow, the ugly, blossoming bruise on her cheekbone a glaring, violent testament to my catastrophic failure to protect her."Mr. Vaughn, you need to step back," the lead trauma surgeon ordered, his voice cutting through the chaos as they breached the heavy doors of the intensive care resuscitation room. "We need to push IV fluids and administer the counter-agents. We have to intu

Meeting Father

~ Thea’s POVThe freezing, suffocating weight of the narcotic was gone.The agonizing throb in my cheekbone where my uncle had struck me, the sharp, burning ache in my shoulders, the metallic taste of my own blood, it had all entirely vanished. I was no longer lying on the cold, unforgiving marble floor of the Hamptons estate, trapped in a paralyzed, failing body.Instead, I opened my eyes to a world bathed in an impossible, golden warmth.I was standing in the center of a sprawling, sunlit conservatory. It looked vaguely like the greenhouse attached to my childhood home, but the glass walls stretched upward into an infinite, brilliant sky. Lush, emerald-green vines cascaded from the vaulted ceilings, and the air smelled heavily of blooming jasmine and old paper. It was completely silent, a profound stillness of peace.I looked down at my hands. They weren't trembling. They weren't stained with the dark ink Uncle Robert had forced onto my thumb. I was wearing a simple white dress, t

His Devotion

~ Thea’s POVThe absolute, terrifying darkness began to thin, replaced by a dull, pulsing ache that radiated from the very center of my bones. Then came the sounds. A steady, rhythmic, mechanical beep. The soft, pneumatic hiss of an oxygen machine. The faint squeak of rubber-soled shoes on a polished floor.The smells hit me next. The sharp, sterile bite of rubbing alcohol, clean cotton, and a faint, underlying trace of rich cedarwood.Cedarwood. I forced my heavy eyelids upward. The harsh, glaring white light of the room temporarily blinded me, sending a sharp spike of pain directly into my skull. I blinked rapidly, my vision swimming in a hazy, unfocused blur before the sterile environment of a massive, high-tech medical suite finally solidified around me.My throat felt as though it had been lined with crushed glass. Every breath was a monumental effort. I tried to swallow the thick, cotton-like dryness in my mouth, parting my cracked lips."Stellan?"The word was barely a whisper

I have something to say.

~ Stellan’s POVCaught in my shock and confusion, I let her finish talking."He wasn't angry, Stellan," Thea whispered, her voice trembling, her fingers gripping the fabric of my black t-shirt. Tears pooled in her eyes, shining under the harsh hospital lights, but they weren't tears of sorrow. "He told me he knew. He knew exactly what he was doing when he left me to you. He wasn't betrayed... he was happy."My jaw clenched so tight my teeth ached. A profound, crushing weight, a suffocating guilt that had lived in the darkest corner of my chest since the moment I first pulled her into my bed, began to violently fracture."He said you didn't manipulate the will to get to me," she continued, a wet, breathless laugh escaping her bruised lips. "He said he manipulated you. He knew you needed an anchor, and he knew I needed a fortress."A dark, resonant chuckle tore itself from my throat before I could stop it. The sheer, colossal arrogance of Richard Mercer. Even from beyond the grave, the

I want to marry you

~ Thea’s POVSitting on the edge of my hospital bed was simply a man. A man who looked entirely, devastatingly exhausted, his pitch-black eyes stripped of all their titanium armor, leaving only a raw, bleeding vulnerability.I slowly lowered my hands. "What is it?"Stellan looked down at his lap, his jaw clenching tightly before he forced himself to meet my gaze again. "When I first brought you into my home, after Richard's funeral, I made a vow to protect you," Stellan began, his hands resting on his knees, his knuckles white and bruised. "I thought I could manage it clinically. I thought I could be the distant, impenetrable guardian your father asked me to be. But the second you challenged me, the second you looked at me with those beautiful eyes... I was lost."He took a ragged breath, the confession tearing out of him."The control, Thea," he murmured, closing his eyes for a fraction of a second. "The rules, the curfews, the tactical mercenaries at the gates. I know how it looked

All Chapters of What Daddy Left Behind: Chapter 131 - Chapter 135

Putting Graham in charge

Meeting Father

His Devotion

I have something to say.

I want to marry you