Semua Bab Brother's Best Friend Is My Child's Father : Bab 1 - Bab 10

The night has settled over the hospital room like a heavy blanket. Maya is sleeping in deep sleep, completely oblivious of the death one hand still loosely clutching mine even in sleep.I should be thinking about donor registries, treatment protocols, and the endless battle that lies ahead. But my mind, traitor that it is… drifts elsewhere. It drifts to another hospital room, another time, another version of myself who didn't know yet that hearts could break in so many ways.Dominic.The name slips into my consciousness like an old wound reopening. I haven't let myself think about him in years, building walls around all of his memories. But sitting here in the dark, with my daughter fighting for her life, my walls start to crumble. I close my eyes, and the memories carry me back, straight to Los Angeles.The first memory that I find myself in, is the day of the car accident.I remember the screech of metal, the shattering glass, the sudden, violent jolt that threw my world off its

The morning sun streams through my office window, cutting across the mahogany desk where I've spent the last four hours buried in acquisition papers. Numbers blur before my eyes. Spreadsheets merge into meaningless columns. I've read the same paragraph three times and still couldn't tell you what it says.My mind hasn't been right for days. Weeks. Months, if I'm honest. Not since... not since when? Since she left? Since I woke up that morning and found her gone? Since I spent months calling a number that no longer worked, driving past places she used to frequent, making a fool of myself asking anyone who might know where she went?Seven years. Seven years, and still, she lives in my head like a tenant who refuses to pay rent.The knock on my door makes me jump. Rita, my secretary, pokes her head in, her expression unreadable. She's worked for me long enough that I can usually read her like a book, but today, something's different. Something's off."Mr. Watson?" She steps inside, clutc

Marcus was not in a good mood when he came back.I could tell before he even opened his mouth. I had known Marcus long enough to read him without needing words. He was the kind of man who wore his emotions close to the surface even when he thought he was hiding them, and right now he was not hiding anything. He walked into my office and dropped into the chair across from my desk with the kind of heaviness that came from a conversation that had gone badly, and he sat there for a moment just staring at nothing in particular.I leaned back in my chair and waited.The silence stretched between us, not uncomfortable, just loaded. Marcus pressed his fingers together and looked down at the floor. His jaw was tight. Whatever had happened at Elena's apartment had gotten under his skin in a way he was still working through."She's not the same," he said finally.His voice was quiet but the frustration underneath it was clear."The Elena I grew up with was open. She was the kind of person who c

The venue was exactly the kind of place that made you stand a little straighter when you walked into it.There were high ceilings, warm lighting, round tables dressed in white linen, and the steady hum of important conversations happening in every corner of the room. Men and women in formal wear moved through the space with the particular ease of people who were used to rooms like this. Doctors, researchers, hospital directors, and the kind of business people whose donations kept medical institutions running. The award ceremony had drawn everyone worth knowing in this industry, and the energy in the room reflected that.I stood near the entrance for a moment and took it in.I was wearing a simple navy dress, my hair pinned back, and I had taken more care than usual getting ready because I understood what this evening required. This was not just an event. This was an opportunity, possibly the most important one I had right now, and I needed to be present and focused and ready to mak

I was still standing in the same spot Victoria had left me, trying to collect myself.My heart was beating faster than it should have been and my hands were not entirely steady, but I was holding it together. I was keeping my face calm and my posture straight and I was telling myself that Victoria's words, as cutting as they were, did not change anything. I took a slow breath and opened my mouth to reply her but her hand connected with my shoulder in a force that got me off balance and I was falling.There was no time to react. No time to grab something or turn around or even understand fully what was happening. One moment I was standing on the edge of the pool terrace where the evening's guests had spilled out from the main hall, and the next moment I was in the water.The cold hit me like a shock to the entire body.I went under for a moment, the water rushing up around me, the sounds of the party becoming muffled and distant. My dress pulled heavy around my legs and I pushed upwa