All Chapters of Divorced At Dawn: The CEO Who Begged Too Late: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Miranda woke to white.Not the soft white of morning curtains or fresh sheets. This white was harsh. Clinical. It smelled of antiseptic and something metallic that coated the back of her throat.Her body felt wrong. Heavy. Detached. As though she was only aware of it because something ached everywhere at once.She blinked slowly.The ceiling swam into focus, fluorescent lights humming faintly above her. Machines beeped somewhere to her left, rhythmic and indifferent. Mechanical. Each sound is precise. Unemotional.She turned her head.Aunt Felicia was there.She sat stiffly in the plastic chair beside the bed, hands clasped together so tightly her knuckles were pale. Her eyes were red. Not glossy. Red-red. As though she had cried past the point of relief and straight into exhaustion.“Madam,” she breathed, rising immediately. “Oh, thank God. Thank God.”Miranda swallowed. Her throat was dry. “Where…?” Her voice cracked, thin and unfamiliar.“The hospital,” Aunt Felicia said quickly. “

He said it.Not just her mother’s name, but her exact age. Just like that? The information hit Miranda like a physical force.Her breath caught.Her fingers tightened around the bedsheet.“You know my mom?” Miranda mumbled. “I know she’s not your biological mom.” Colin clarifies. “Your real mom cries herself to bed every night because she lost her only daughter.” Aunt Felicia gasped.“That’s…” she started, then stopped, covering her mouth.Miranda’s heart began to pound. Hard. Fast. Uneven.“No,” she whispered.But it didn’t sound convincing anymore.Colin watched her reaction carefully, with no form of triumph whatsoever. Not even a smug.Just… patient.“We can ask her later,” he said gently. “When the time is right.”Miranda’s throat felt tight.“You…” She shook her head, trying to ground herself. “What exactly do you want with me? You could have found that anywhere.”“I didn’t,” he said.“You’re lying.”“I’m not.”“You’re. Did Adrian send you? Did he…”“Miranda.”Her name.The

“Sabrina,” he said, his voice dropping low, “what do you mean something’s wrong?”On the other end, her breathing was uneven. Panicked.“It’s Dad,” she said again, like repeating it might make it easier to understand. “He collapsed earlier, and when the doctors came, he refused.”Adrian’s brows knitted.“Refused what?”“Treatment!” she cried. “He won’t let them touch him. He keeps pushing everyone away.”Adrian’s grip tightened around his phone.“That’s ridiculous.”“I know!” Sabrina snapped. “But he’s not listening to anyone. Not me, not the doctors, no one.”Adrian’s jaw clenched.“Put the doctor on the phone.”“I tried!” she said, her voice breaking slightly. “He sent them out. He said he doesn’t want to see anyone unless…”She hesitated.Adrian’s patience snapped.“Unless what, Sabrina?”There was a pause.“Unless Miranda comes.”Silence.Adrian’s expression darkened instantly.“He’s asking for her,” Sabrina repeated. “He said if she doesn’t come, he won’t cooperate.” Adrian’s g

The drive felt endless.Or maybe it was just the way every second dragged against Miranda’s bones, heavy and slow,like her body was fighting to stay conscious.Adrian didn’t say a word.Not to her.Not to the driver.Not even to himself.His jaw was locked so tight it looked like it might crack.Miranda sat beside him, barely upright. Her head leaned against the window, eyes half-lidded,breath shallow. Every bump in the road sent a dull ache through her arm where he had grippedher too hard.Six days.She held onto that thought like a lifeline.Six days… and this would all be over.The car finally slowed.Large iron gates opened.The car barely came to a full stop before Adrian stepped out and yanked her door open.“Out.”Miranda tried.God, she tried.Her legs didn’t cooperate.The moment her feet touched the ground, her knees buckled.Her body tipped forward and would have hit the ground if Adrian hadn’t caught her.But there was nothing gentle about it.His grip tightened, finger

Darkness had a way of stretching time.It pressed in on Miranda from all sides, thick and suffocating, until she couldn’t tell how long shehad been sitting there.Minutes.Hours.It all blurred together.The room was empty, no furniture, no light, nothing but cold walls and silence that echoed tooloudly in her ears.At some point, her body gave in.The exhaustion.The weakness.The emotional weight of everything.She slid down fully to the floor, her back against the wall, her head tilting slightly to the side.Her eyes fluttered.And then they closed.Sleep didn’t come gently.It came in fragments.Broken thoughts.Half-formed memories.And one face.Cole.Her brows furrowed slightly even in her sleep. His voice echoed faintly in her mind. “If you are asking how much I love her…”Miranda shifted faintly.“…then it’s much more than I’ve ever loved anyone.”Her chest tightened.Even now.Even here.That moment replayed over and over again.Not because of the words.But because of wh