All Chapters of When I Stopped Calling Him Daddy, the Professor Fell Apart: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Please, you're seriously the only one who can save this world!"The system I hadn't heard from in a year was crying inside my head."Sebastian has lost it. He keeps trying to kill himself. I don't have enough energy left to stop him. Without the male lead, this entire world is finished!"I answered flatly."Even if I go back, I won't love him the way I did before.""That's fine! I just need you there!" It threw out the offer in a rush. "Only three months. Once the world is stable again, I'll send you straight back. I'll return your feelings and pay you a hundred million. Deal?"That sounded reasonable.And with no emotions, he couldn't hurt me....When I opened my eyes again, I was standing at the gate of that familiar estate.Sebastian Grey walked toward me.The young professor the whole campus worshipped—cold, controlled, untouchable—now looked more like something that had been caged for far too long.But when he saw me, the darkness and fury in his eyes shattered, and what was lef

Chapter 2

I kept eating my baked lobster and gave her one look."I didn't miss you."Her smile locked up. She recovered quickly, acting like nothing had happened, and settled in next to Sebastian."Well, I'm glad you're back. These two years have been so hard on my brother. Lucky I was here for him, or I don't know how he would have made it."Sebastian didn't push her away. He kept his eyes fixed on me.I wiped my mouth, looked up, and gave Vivienne a smile too."Oh, how kind of you. I'm sure it was exhausting."She stared at me, thrown off.I stood up and nodded to both of them. "Professor, I'm a little tired. I'll head back to my room. You two take your time."A heavy crash came from behind me.Then Sebastian's voice, low and strained with anger.Then Vivienne's wounded little sobs.I didn't look back.I closed the bedroom door and sat down on that big bed with its fresh new sheets.Before I fell asleep, I crossed off one day in my head.Eighty-nine to go.Over the next few days, Sebastian was

Chapter 3

He kept repeating it, his voice dropping lower each time."Ella, what happened to you... I don't want you like this... I'd rather you curse at me, hate me, hit me... even if you cried and told me you hated me, that would be better than this..."He used to be the proudest man in the room.Now he was curled up at my feet.I should feel something, probably.If I still had a heart.I crouched down and patted him gently."Professor. It's late. Go get some rest."He snapped his head up and grabbed my wrist."Don't call me that!""Call me by my name... call me Sebastian... or call me like you used to..."Daddy.That name he used to wrinkle his nose at.I smiled. "Of course, Sebastian."His grip went slack. He got up, hollow-looking, and left.The next afternoon, I was trimming roses in the garden when Vivienne knocked the shears out of my hand, her face twisted."You disgusting little bitch! You don't even love him anymore, so why did you come back? I'll make sure you understand exactly what

Chapter 4

His face—the urgency, the feeling—fell apart like something hit it from the inside."...Ella?"His voice barely made a sound, like he was afraid of disturbing something.He dropped to his knees in front of me, hand shaking as he reached for the mark on my face.The cold that traveled from his fingertips to his chest broke every last thing he'd been holding onto."Ella... stop hiding from me... I'm here..."His voice began to shake."I came for you. Look at me. Please look at me..."Nothing."Brother..." Vivienne reached out carefully toward him."Get away from me."He shoved her aside like she wasn't there and started CPR, frantic."Wake up! Ella! Wake up!"Nothing.He pulled the cold, still body into his arms and made a sound that had no shape to it."Ah—Ah—"Like something that had been skinned alive.He held me, his whole body convulsing, tears falling in big heavy drops onto my face.Vivienne picked herself up off the floor, looking lost.She'd imagined this differently. Sebastian

Chapter 5

I sat in the void and watched.The irony of it was almost funny.Pushing the person you love into hell, just to satisfy your own need to play the hero who pulls them back out.He called that love.If I still had feelings, I probably would have felt sick.Then came a knock at the door.The private doctor came in with his report, unable to hold Sebastian's gaze."Mr. Grey... I'm very sorry for your loss.""After examination, Miss Ella had been injected with an extremely high dose of a veterinary-grade stimulant. The compound is highly concentrated, and the strain it places on the heart is fatal.""Combined with her preexisting cardiac condition—"Sebastian's head came up sharply. "What condition?""Miss Ella had a congenital heart muscle disorder." The doctor turned a page. "A heart like hers could not survive a drug at that dosage.""In simple terms... her heart stopped. Right then."The room stayed silent for a long time.Sebastian's body curved inward, inch by inch."She never told me

Chapter 6

He folded over the edge of the bed and cried without making any sound at all."I'm sorry... I'm sorry...""I just wanted you to love me... I just wanted to go back to when you called me Daddy...""How did it end up like this...""Even if you were just a puppet... I should have kept you close... I was wrong... Ella, I was so wrong..."I watched the screen quietly."Host." The system's voice was small. "Do you... really feel nothing at all?"I genuinely didn't.But I knew one thing.I looked at the string of numbers in the corner of the screen, dropping fast.The world stability rating.Falling."System," I said."Is this world still salvageable?""No," it said softly. "The male lead is the foundation of this world. When he stops wanting to live, the world follows."Just as I thought.On the screen, Sebastian had run out of tears.He rose slowly, opened the nightstand drawer, and took something out.A lighter.A basic Zippo.The first gift I'd ever given him.I'd just crossed over back t

Chapter 7

I wiped my face and took a deep breath."Thank you, system."I said it out loud to the empty room, and I meant it."Even if you almost got me killed halfway through.""It worked out."The system let out a relieved little sigh. "So... host, I'll be going now. I won't bother you again. Unless—""There's no unless." I cut it off, laughing. "Goodbye, system.""...Goodbye, Miss Ella. I hope the rest of your life is good to you."The voice was gone.My head went completely quiet.I lay back on my pillow and stared at the ceiling.The tears were still coming, but I was smiling.I had money.I had freedom.I had my feelings back.I had a healthy heart, beating hard and fast in my chest.And I had a long life ahead of me that belonged to nobody but me.The neon outside threw red and green across the ceiling, flickering on and off.It struck me that it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.The first thing I did with a hundred million dollars was quit my job.The second was book a full phys

Chapter 8

His name was Ethan. He was a wildlife photographer.He spent most of the year moving around the world, chasing migrating whales and birds with a camera.He didn't know anything about my past.He only knew that sometimes I'd stare at something for a while, my eyes going somewhere far away.When that happened, he never asked what I was thinking about.He'd just come over and take my hand. Or wrap his arms around me from behind and rest his chin on my shoulder.He wouldn't say anything.He'd just be there, quietly.One evening he asked, "Blueberry muffins tonight? That new place on the corner is supposed to be great."I paused.An image flashed past—an empty stretch of road, a car that wouldn't start, a cloth over my mouth.Then I pushed the image gently away."Nah." I shook my head, smiling. "Too sweet. I want tacos. The spicy kind.""Okay. Tacos it is."He said it so easily.No control in it. No possession. None of that suffocating obsession and madness.Just an ordinary evening. Real,

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