Ruthless Daddy; His Bratty Little Girl のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 71 - チャプター 79

JulianThe doctor's office is quiet, just the two of us and the hum of the air conditioner, and I've been staring at the folder on his desk for the last thirty seconds without saying a word."You're a match," he says again, like he thinks I didn't hear him the first time. "Blood type, tissue markers, everything lines up. You could donate today if we needed to move that fast.""But you have someone else.""We do." He folds his hands on the desk. "An anonymous donor came forward through the registry. Also a match, maybe even a slightly better one on a few markers. The donor's been very clear about wanting to stay anonymous. No name, no contact, nothing traced back.""You called earlier that there is someone else. So why am I still sitting here?""Because anonymous donors sometimes change their minds," he says. "Because paperwork falls through. Because I'd rather have a backup sitting in my office than find out two days before surgery that we don't have one." He looks at me carefully. "

DaphneTime moves strangely in hospital waiting rooms. I've learned that over the past few hours, the way minutes stretch into something closer to hours, and hours blur into something I can't measure at all. Julian got me to eat half a sandwich I don't remember tasting. Layla paced the length of the hallway so many times I lost count. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, I must have dozed off against Julian's shoulder, because I wake to his hand gently squeezing mine."Daphne."I blink my eyes open, disoriented for a second, and then I see him. Dr. Reyes, still in his scrubs, mask pulled down around his neck, walking toward us with his gloves already off. My heart stops somewhere in my chest."Is he—" I can't even finish the sentence. I'm on my feet before I realize I've moved, Julian rising right along with me, his hand steady at the small of my back."He's out of surgery," Dr. Reyes says, and the words land on me like a physical weight lifting. "And it went well. Very well, act

Daphne's POVThe house feels strange to walk back into after two days spent almost entirely inside hospital walls, like I've stepped out of one version of time and into another that moved on without me. I kick off my shoes at the door and head straight up the stairs, mental list already running through my head. Eli’s going to need real clothes once he's finally cleared to go home, not the thin hospital gown he's been stuck in, and I want to bring him something that actually feels like comfort instead of sterile cotton and tubing.I let myself into the guest room he's been staying in since he moved in with us, and it still smells faintly like him, that same cologne he's worn since college, and it catches me off guard for a second, standing in the doorway of a room that's his and empty and quiet in a way it shouldn't be.I pull his duffel bag from the closet and start working through his drawers, folding a few soft t-shirts, a pair of sweatpants, his favorite worn-out hoodie with the fr

Julian's POVLuca's waiting for me in the study when I come down, two folders spread across the desk, a glass of whiskey untouched beside his elbow. He doesn't drink when he's working, which tells me whatever he found, he wants his head clear for this conversation."Tell me you have something," I say, closing the door behind me."I have pieces." He slides one folder toward me as I take the seat across from him. "Not enough to call it a picture yet, but pieces."I flip it open. Photographs, blurred, taken from a distance, grainy enough that I can't make out much beyond shapes and shadows. A man getting into a car. Another standing at a dock at night. None of them show a face clearly enough to matter."This is it?""This is what three weeks of digging got us." Luca leans back, arms crossed. "Ryker Stone isn't a name anyone uses carelessly. Nobody talks about him directly. Nobody even confirms he's the one running things. I had to piece together rumors, half-conversations, guys who clam

JulianThe road stretches long and empty ahead of me, fields blurring past the window, and I've got the phone propped against the dashboard, my grandfather's voice crackling through the speaker before it's even finished ringing twice."Julian." Gravelly, unimpressed, like he already knows this call isn't a courtesy. "You just left here a few days ago. What happened now?""I'm on my way back. Should be there within the hour.""You don't drive two hours out to my ranch twice in one week without a reason. What is it?""I'll explain everything when I get there."A pause, and I can picture him exactly, sitting in that study of his, pipe probably resting in the ashtray, eyes narrowed the way they do when he's already three steps ahead of whatever I'm about to tell him."One of your warehouses got hit."My hands tighten slightly on the wheel. "How do you already know that?""Boy." A low, rough chuckle, no humor in it at all. "There is nothing happening in this world that I don't eventually h