Isabella's POVI glanced up, my vision blurry with tears of pain and exhaustion, catching sight of Lilian now heading toward the front door. “Babe...” I croaked weakly, but my voice barely carried any weight.The leader of the paramedic team quickly instructed one of her colleagues to stay with me while she hurried outside to join Lilian.I sank deeper into the chair, the paramedic beside me gently squeezing my arm in a feeble attempt to comfort me. My ears were straining against the rising voices from the yard.In a matter of seconds, James and Lilian were having a confrontation, and I could hear every word.“Didn’t I just tell you to leave?” Lilian’s voice trembled with frustration. “Or do you want me to call the police?”“Hey… Don't dare come any closer!”James barked back, his tone laced with venom.“Did you just raise your hand at me?” Lilian’s sharp voice cut through the noise, a statement that sent a chill down my spine.I gasped, attempting to stand, but the paramedic he
ISABELLA'S POVThe trial treatment had since begun. And here was in the private ward where they had admitted me.I lay on the bed, tangled in stiff white hospital sheets, feeling every ache and burn.I have been hearing the hum of machines for some time now, and the rhythmic beep of my heart monitor filled the room.They were the only sounds cutting through the quietness.I blinked twice, forcing my eyes open to find Michael sitting by my side.He was there the day I got this update; everything I was going through healthwise had been revealed to him. And like I expected, he had become so quietly overprotective.He had even insisted on accompanying me there.His eyes were fixed on me, filled with a worry he couldn’t quite hide. From time to time, he would reach out, his hand cool against my fevered skin, brushing back a strand of hair that clung to my forehead.The forced smile he wore didn’t reach his eyes. His face was shadowed with dark circles, and yet this was just the first da
ISABELLA'S POVSince we started the trials, it had drained me in ways I had not anticipated.Each injection, each dose chipped away at my strength until I could barely move, much less function properly.As a matter of fact, I had been avoiding my parents for days now, shutting out their worried calls, and even my precious job had become an afterthought. Dr. Ken, the Chief Medical Officer at the hospital, had called more than once, but I just couldn’t bring myself to respond. The treatment had left me so fragile, so utterly vulnerable. My life had become one linear cycle of shuffling between the research center and my apartment. where I would collapse into the nearest chair and stay there, too exhausted to do anything but read. When I say read, I mean my atlas and my medical textbooks, as I was used to doing. The mental journey gave me some sort of strength.Lilian, my best friend, handled the driving. She always did, these days.It was Lilian who drove me back into the house that
ISABELLA'S POVI sat there, staring at my father as he demanded every piece of information concerning my illness, his voice tight and filled with urgency.Owen and Nathan, my brothers, exchanged helpless glances, both knowing they had no choice but to reveal everything. Every chart, every test result, every number... everything.Even Evelyn’s contact details were handed over to him, and moments later, he was on the phone with her, throwing question after question about the nature of my ailment and the chances of my survival.We all watched him, each of us reacting in our own way.Owen’s jaw was clenched, Nathan rubbed a hand across the back of his neck nervously, and I lay weakly in my chair, a dull ache throbbing in my hand.After what felt like an eternity, he hung up. The silence was uncomfortable. He threw his hands behind him and paced the room; his eyes narrowed in thought. Then his declaration after that hit us like a thunderclap, destroying any last hope I had nursed of ke
(GENERAL POV)Lilian was sitting in her office alone.The wooden panels and shelves of neatly arranged files seemed to close in on her, matching the heavy weight in her chest.Her desk, once a space of order, felt like a battlefield.Different papers scattered, her laptop half-closed, and her phone lying face down as if she couldn't bear to face it. The silence was like a faint cloud, broken only by the soft hum of the air conditioner above.She leaned back in her chair, exhaling slowly. Her mind was just like her desk, but it was consumed by wild thoughts relating to just one person... Nathan.Ever since that kiss at the club, the one that sent sparks through her but left her reeling, she had done everything to distance herself from him. She had to protect her heart. And so she had begun avoiding him, retreating into the safety of her office, her phone, and her work. Nathan had noticed, of course. He wasn’t one to let things like this slide easily.He had tried to reach out, le
ISABELLA'S POVI had actually always thought that the rode to death would be peaceful, a quiet, serene release from the pain of existence. But the last few days had proven me totally wrong. The last stages of the trial treatment to cure me from tyrosine poisoning had been nothing short of a brutal war, one that left me swinging on the edge of life and death. My weak body had been ravaged by side effects, from burning fevers that felt like molten lava coursing through my veins to muscle spasms that left me unable to move, then the pounding in my head that felt so intense that it blacked out the power of my vision.I was barely aware of being moved from one ward to another, sometimes waking up only to faint voices and distant echoes, really.My mother’s voice stood out the most, trembling with fear and helplessness. Other times I would catch fragments of conversations, snippets of her pleading with the doctors. As for my father, he would pace relentlessly, asking the professionals
JAMES’S POVTwo hours had passed since my last ward round, and I returned back to the comfort of my office. in a bid to rest my tired limbs and also make my inquiries on what has been disturbing my mind for some time now.As soon as I took my seat, I exhaled and pulled out my phone, ready to do some targerted browsing.And yes, it wasn’t my typical browsing. This time, it was research. It was circled around one person, Isabella.I needed answers. The rumors had been flying around the hospital for weeks now, and they weren’t even really rumors anymore after the expensive public display in front of everyone over a week ago.Isabella and that douchebag locked in an embarrassing kiss for all to see.The image had haunted me ever since.Now, with my phone in hand, I typed her name into the search box: Isabella Harrington. The moment I hit send, the screen was immediately flooded with photos. First i saw her Her then like a magnet i saw him with his self entitled hands wrapped around he
JAMES’S POVThe next morning, I was at my desk, going through a stack of files, trying to focus on a bunch of paperwork that I had allowed to pile for the past few days.I had almost convinced myself to settle into the quiet routine when, without warning, the door to my office flew open. slamming against the wall with a loud bang.I half jumped and looked up immediately, my hands freezing in the air. What I saw next was the red-faced figure of Zoey storming in aggressively, her eyes blazing with fury I had never seen in them before."Geez," I muttered under my breath, already knowing this wasn’t going to end well.“What was that for?” I managed to ask.But Zoey was hardly in the mood to answer anything; rather, she had come with questions herself.“What the hell is going on between you and Emerald?” She shouted, her voice sharp as a razor.I blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the accusation, then quickly shrugged, trying to keep my expression neutral, as though her words or th