Semua Bab Cruel By Design : Bab 1 - Bab 9

ISABEL MAYS “Isabel! Why ain’t you dressed up already? Come on!, You are not allowed to put on those rags you called cloth.” I stopped halfway on the staircase, clutching my rough trousers in my hand.My sister stood by the window in a gold coloured mini dress, a large bow resting at her back. She moved around, opening the windows and carefully setting the curtains. She didn’t look at me, she had heard my footsteps. From the window’s reflection, I caught the slight lift of her chin…that annoying look she always gave me. Tonight is the night the three-year celebration returns, bigger, louder, and more forgiving than ever. An event held in our household where family, relatives, and friends come around to celebrate and flaunt themselves. A night for appearance, for laughter and music, for people to show off who mattered and who didn't.“Sadie, I have a very important meeting to attend in two hours, I only came downstairs to iron my rumbled trouser,” I said flatly, heading towards t

AIDEN BLACK“Why isn’t he waking up?” I barked, slamming my hand against the bedside table.The doctor flinched. “Sir… we’ve tried everything. His vitals are stable, but…”I didn’t let him finish. I walked to the window, fists clenched. The city lights blurred into streaks as I stared out. I should have been used to this by now. I wasn’t. Not after the first time. Not after losing my sister three years ago.“Three years, and still nothing,” I muttered to myself, teeth grinding. My brother’s cough echoed in my memory, faint but unmistakable. Every moment of helplessness burned me again.“Sir, please…” another voice interrupted. One of my men, Marcus, I think. He’s been with me for a long time. “You need to rest. If you don’t…”“I don’t need to rest,” I snapped, turning on him. “I need a cure. A solution. I need someone who can save him before it’s too late.”He didn’t answer. He never did. Not when I was like this or when I was planning my next move.The problem wasn’t the illness itse

ISABEL MAYSThe car felt too quiet, not a peaceful one but a heavy kind. The kind that sat on your chest and made it hard to breathe.I stared out the window, watching the city lights blur past. My hands were folded tightly on my lap, but I could still feel the tension crawling through me.“You could at least say something,” I muttered.Aiden didn’t look at me. His hands stayed firm on the steering wheel. “I don’t see the need.”I scoffed. “Of course you don’t. You never see the need to explain anything, do you?”Still nothing.I turned to him, irritation rising. “You dragged me out of my workplace like I didn’t have a choice. The least you can do is tell me where we’re going.”“My house,” he said simply.“That’s not an explanation.”“It’s enough.”I let out a short laugh, shaking my head. “You’re unbelievable.”“And you talk too much.”I froze for a second, then turned fully toward him. “Excuse me?”“You heard me,” he said calmly. “If you spent less time arguing and more time focusi

ISABEL MAYSAiden was saying something. I heard his voice, low, controlled, answering the question I had asked but I wasn’t really listening anymore. My eyes were on the monitor steadily.The rhythm didn’t change. Not even slightly. No fluctuation. No reaction. Nothing.That wasn’t normal. Not for someone in his condition or someone who had been like this for the past three years.“…and after that, the seizures stopped,” Aiden finished.I barely nodded.“What triggered it?”A pause.“We don’t know.”I glanced at him briefly. “You don’t know, or no one told you?”His jaw tightened. “We don’t know.”I looked back at the screen.“First symptoms?”“Seizures. Then weakness. Then he collapsed.”“How long between the seizures and the collapse?”“A few weeks.”“And the doctors?”“They tried everything.”I exhaled slowly. “Clearly not everything.”His gaze snapped to me. “What is that supposed to mean?”I didn’t answer.Because something wasn’t right.And the more I looked… the clearer it beca

ISABEL MAYSThe room didn’t settle.Even after Marcus spoke… after Aiden gave his orders… after the door closed again…Something stayed.Tight.Like the air had shifted and refused to go back.I didn’t say anything.I just watched him.Aiden.He hadn’t moved much since Marcus finished talking. But it wasn’t the stillness that caught my attention.It was what sat behind it.Not confusion.Not a shock.Something sharper.Controlled.Calculating.I looked away first.Back to the patient.Because that was easier.Safer.He hadn’t changed.Same position. Same steady breathing. Same quiet rhythm on the monitor.Like nothing had just been uncovered.Like someone hadn’t been standing in this exact room, touching things they shouldn’t.Watching.Waiting.My fingers moved to the console again.Slower this time.More deliberate.Think.Not react.I glanced instinctively at my hand.Empty.No phone.No screen lighting up. No missed calls. No time.Just silence.For a second, irritation flickered.