Chapter 1403:


    Maxwell excused himself and walked off, carrying a lingering worry for Chris that he couldn’t shake.


    “What?” Ethan blinked, dragged out of his thoughts as he spotted Maxwell sprinting toward the elevator with surprising speed.


    “I’m going to track down your sister and Chris,” Maxwell called out, giving a quick wave while moving away. “And you—don’t waste this chance. My sister isn’t someone you should let slip by.”


    The elevator doors slid shut after his deration, and Ethan remained in the hallway, overwhelmed as heat rushed to his ears and his heartbeat thundered in his chest.


    Somewhere else in the hospital, Jarrod sat beside Richard and held his father’s hand with excitement that seemed toe from deep within him.


    A rasp of a voice left him as he spoke. “Dad… you’re finally awake.” His eyes were rimmed with red.


    Richard blinked his way into consciousness, first recognizing his son, and then turning toward the other bed where his wifey. “Your mother… tell me, how is she?”


    Jarrod bit his lower lip and offered only a faint shake of his head.


    The answer hit Richard like a cruel blow. Whatever strength he had gathered broke apart in silence. No questions followed. Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes and sank into the pillow beneath him.


    A quiet moment stretched out between father and son while the steady ticking of time surrounded them.


    Jarrod gathered his courage after a long pause. He needed rity, no matter how painful. “Dad, on that day, was it truly Maia who asked you to meet?” he said, forcing his words to stay steady.


    The room felt colder after the questionnded.


    Richard’s expression shifted as if a hidden nightmare wed back into view. His body lurched in shock.


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    He seized Jarrod’s hand with trembling fingers. “It wasn’t Maia. It was Rosanna. She pretended to be Maia and led us there.” Richard’s voice cracked open with raw panic. “She messed with the car. It was all her doing.”


    A sudden eruption of rms filled the room as machines reacted to the spike in distress. Shrill beeping sliced through the air.


    After confessing that much, Richard weakened fast. His hand ckened in Jarrod’s grasp, and his eyes slid shut as consciousness slipped away from him.


    “Dad!” Jarrod mmed the call button with urgency. “Please stay with us. You can’t leave like this.”


    In a rush of footsteps, medical staff poured into the room, and a nurse guided Jarrod out of the way with firm hands. “I warned you not to upset him so soon,” she muttered, sounding beyond tired, as though the night had aged her.


    A doctor stepped forward with a stern set to his jaw. “His condition is unstable. You need to wait outside.”


    The room door shut behind them with a final thud.


    Out in the corridor, Jarrod slid down the wall until he sat on the floor.


    His hands twisted tightly into his shirt, and tears slipped free, falling one after another and darkening the fabric beneath them.


    A storm of feelings churned inside him.


    Every choice he had made felt like a disaster. He had failed everyone, failed himself. Worse still, he had walked straight into Rosanna’s trap without ever questioning it.


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