Tucked away in a quiet corner of the hospital, right after Reese slipped out of the room, a woman in nurse''s scrubs suddenly appeared in the hall.
She had a tiny remote in her hand. As she walked past a security camera, she pressed a button and the little red indicator light went dark.
She adjusted her mask, took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, and then walked straight into Mr. Ratcliff''s room.
Inside, she locked eyes with the caretaker. She gave her a barely-there nod, eyes dropping to the floor like she hadn''t seen a thing.
The woman moved to the bed.
Mr. Ratcliffy there, eyes closed, oxygen mask strapped over his face. Leslie reached up and slid her mask off. Her face twisted with excitement, eyes bright with a dark, gloating energy.
Who would''ve guessed? Back when he found out about her and Sebastian, he had practically shouted in her face, called her delusional, refused to let them be together, and even tried bribing her with money and promises of a shiny future overseas. Now he was just a frail patient, helpless in a hospital bed.
Leslie let out a lowugh. "So what if you never approved of me, old man? Look at you now. All this because of your precious granddaughter-inw."
She pulled a pair of scissors from her pocket and stepped up to the bedside, lifting them to the oxygen tube.
But just as the des touched the stic, Mr. Ratcliff suddenly moved. His cloudy eyes cracked open a bit. "Reese..." he croaked.
Leslie jerked back, startled. But when she saw that he was barely conscious, she steadied herself and let a cruel smile spread across her lips.
"Take a good look, Mr. Ratcliff."
She leaned down, her voice cold and close to his ear. "I''m not Reese, you old bastard. I''m Leslie. And I''m back."
At her words, Mr. Ratcliff''s eyes sharpened for a moment, filled with nothing but disgust.
He''d met women like Leslie before-ruthless, willing to do anything to get what they wanted.
He tried to call for help, to order the guards in, but his voice was so weak it barely made it past his lips.
Leslie just smiled. "Don''t waste your energy. There''s nobody out there ? billboard crashed through the. windows downstairs and everyone''s gone to check it out."
She looked down at him. "You always cared so much about the Ratcliff family,
right? How it feels to know Reese got rid of her own child.
"Oh, and by the way? That baby was mine. Mine and Sebastian''s.
"You tried everything to split us up. You threw money at me, sent me overseas. But Sebastian still wanted a child with me. Nothing you did mattered.
"And he didn''t want our kid to be a bastard, so he had Reese do IVF for us."
Her wordsnded like a grenade. Mr. Ratcliff''s pupils shrank in shock, his already
thin breathing turning sharp and ragged as he struggled for air.
Of course. He should have known. The only woman Sebastian would go this far for was Leslie.
All that money, all those ns, all the effort to break them up-none of it had worked.
Anger filled his chest until he could hardly breathe. He tried to speak, to ask her why she''d broken their deal, but all he could do was gasp and choke on air.
Leslie watched him, eyes glittering
d.ne
with satisfaction. "You were powerful once, I''ll give you that But now you''re old you cant control Sebastian anymore
"Still, you have one use left."
She straightened, set her eyes on the oxygen tube, and without a hint of hesitation, cut it in two. The mask
deted. She yanked the call buttons cord out making sure no help coulde.
Once she was sure everything was set, Leslie tapped the bed rail like she''d just won a game. "Enjoy this, old man. Savor everyst second.
"Maybe next time, you''ll let me be your granddaughter-inw. Would''ve saved us all this trouble."
She gave him onest look-powerless, gasping for breath-then turned to go.
But, just as she was about to leave, she caught something out of the corner of her eye: the door was open a crack, and a shadow darted past in the hallway.
"Who''s there?"