?Chapter 904:


    Around them, the rogue guard was tackled by Carter’s men, but chaos barely registered.


    All Ste could see was William’s ashen face.


    All she could feel was his fading warmth.


    Kneeling on the ground, she held him tight, sobs tearing out of her. “William, don’t do this—don’t scare me… Wake up… Look at me…”


    Her cries broke through the night as blood pooled beneath her hands.


    The moment the gunshot faded, the family doctor and nurses rushed in, faces tightening as they dropped to William’s side. Blood soaked through his shirt, dark and fast-spreading.


    “It’s a clean exit—straight through,” one of them said sharply. “Too close to the heart. He’s losing blood fast. We need to move—now!”


    Ste barely registered the words. Her legs buckled beneath her, and someone caught her before she hit the floor. Everything around her felt like a dream she couldn’t wake up from—a nightmare with no end. She watched, hollow-eyed, as they lifted William onto a stretcher.


    His face was paper-white, lips tinged blue, his body limp like a discarded rag doll.


    The car doors mmed, the engine roared to life, and they sped toward the city hospital.


    The lights of the city blurred past the windows, but Ste didn’t see any of it. She sat frozen in the back seat, holding William’s icy hand in both of hers, trying to ignore how still he was. His blood had soaked into her clothes, caked under her nails. She couldn’t stop staring at his face—too pale, too quiet.


    The oxygen mask covered half of it now, and still, he looked like he might vanish at any second.


    Fear gripped her chest like a vise. It was all she could feel. Not panic. Not shock. Just raw, soul-deep terror.


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    If William died.


    She couldn’t finish the thought. It sliced through her like broken ss. She hadn’t realized how much he’de to mean to her until this very second.


    Not really. Not fully.


    She couldn’t lose him. Not him.


    She hold tightened around his hand.


    “BP’s crashing. Pulse unstable. Push more fluids. Get the epi ready!”


    The doctor’s voice cut through the fog, but it all sounded distant, like someone yelling underwater. Ste didn’t move. Didn’t speak. She just stared at William, her fingers tightening around his hand, nails digging into her own palm. She didn’t even feel it.


    “Please,” she whispered, barely hearing her own voice. “Hang in there, William.”<fn0162> Newest update provided by f?ndnovel</fn0162>


    “Please… you promised you’d protect me. You said you would.”


    Tears slid down her cheeks, hot and silent, falling onto his lifeless hand.


    The car skidded to a stop at the hospital entrance. Before the wheels had fully halted, a waiting team yanked the doors open and carried William out. The gurney rattled across the pavement as they rushed him inside.


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