?Chapter 90:


    “Is that truly what you want?”


    Brian’s fingers gripped his wheelchair’s armrest with crushing force, his knuckles turning white as veins stood out prominently against his skin. His typicallyposed features now masked barely contained fury and anguish.


    “Yes.” Rachel’s answer rang with finality.


    The silence that followed stretched between them like an endless chasm.


    Brian finally said, “If that’s your wish, I’ll honor it.”


    “Deal.”


    Before Rachel could draw another breath, a familiar voice pierced the air behind her. “Brian! I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”


    Tracy glided forward, her voice carrying a practiced cheerfulness as she positioned herself behind Brian’s wheelchair. “You disappeared without a word,” she added, her hands resting possessively on the handles.


    Her stance radiated an unmistakable message of their closeness.


    Tracy’s eyesnded on Rachel with calcted surprise. “Rachel! What an unexpected pleasure to find you here.”


    The false warmth in her voice barely masked the underlying challenge.


    “Indeed,” Rachel responded with deliberate detachment, offering only the barest of nods.


    As she turned toward Jeffrey’s room, each step felt heavy, whether from exhaustion or the crushing weight in her chest. The corridor stretched before her like an endless expanse.


    Tracy’s voice floated down the hallway with crystal rity. “Brian, you’ve always been my protector. Now it’s my turn to care for you. The medical facilities here are so inadequatepared to what we have at home. Let’s return tomorrow, shall we?”


    Your hub for fresh chapters gα?ησv??ls


    Rachel didn’t stop walking, but the words still reached her, clear as day. The corridor seemed endless, and by the time Tracy’s voice finally faded, Rachel felt as though she had been walking for a lifetime.


    Only then did she allow herself a single nce back.


    The sunset outside painted the sky in brilliant reds and gold, a breathtaking masterpiece of light and shadow.


    From a distance, she saw them—Tracy, gently pushing Brian’s wheelchair, the two of them moving in quiet harmony. They looked like a perfect picture, as if they had been ced in that frame together all along.


    Rachel’s fingers curled slightly at her sides. Maybe, she thought, she had been mistaken from the start. Maybe Brian’s heart had always belonged to Tracy. She had been foolish, hadn’t she? Forcing herself into his life, stubbornly believing she could carve out a space for herself. Looking back now, it almost felt ridiculous.


    At that moment, Samira stepped out of Jeffrey’s room and caught sight of Rachel standing still, staring off into the distance.


    Something about her expression made Samira’s chest tighten. “Rachel? What are you looking at?”


    Rachel blinked, pulling herself from her thoughts. The hallway was empty now. “Nothing,” she said softly.


    It was time to stop clinging to something that was never really hers. Maybe it was time to let go.


    .


    .


    .