Married to the crippled billionaire

Chapter 6 _ A Dead husband

Rhoda's POV

My knees buckled and I collapsed on the cold hospital bench. My heart pounded in my chest as the realization of Lucian’s death crashed on me

I felt like been drained from my body. I wanted to scream, to grab life and give it a punch in the face, but there was no undoing death.

Someone touched my shoulders “Mrs knight, I'm so sorry,” the doctor murmured but I barely heard him

A sob tore from my throat. Not just a sound but a raw agony sound.

He was gone. The man who I had just gotten married to in less than twenty-four hours was gone.

My crippled husband was gone in the twinkling of an eye. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I clenched my fist.

What was I supposed to do now? Does this mean I have to go back to my family? The family that betrayed me? The family that stabbed me in the back?

I raised my teary eyes to Mom who was sniffing with a handkerchief close to her nose.

Then I shifted it to my Kenneth who was still shocked by the sudden news of his son's death.

Mrs Rachel herself sat still on the bare old hospital floor, tears rolling down her wrinkled cheeks with her gaze fixed on the floor.

Dad's eyes were filled with anger and regret but no remorse, no sadness.

Probably regretted why he mentioned and confirmed the setup while still in the reception hall

And probably angry that Lucian heard everything and is now dead.

“Happy now?” I asked, my voice trembling with pain and fury.

He shifted his gaze to me, his expression unreadable.

“I'm a widow now. I hope you're satisfied,” My voice cracked, but I held his stare.

Dad instantly tore his gaze away as if my words meant nothing to him.

“This is all your fault,” Mr. Kenneth barked, his glare shifting between Mom, Clara, and Dad. “You should have kept your mouths shut and discussed whatever you needed to at home but instead, you opened your mouth wide and let out everything right there at the wedding. Lucian wasn't supposed to know any of this”

“Don't you dare raise your voice at us, Kenneth,” Dad shot back, his tone sharp. “We weren't the ones who pushed your son against the glass table. You even had no pity for him and you punched him without battling an_”

Dad couldn't finish our statement because the moment the words left his mouth, Kenneth lunged at him.

His fist connected with Dad's face in a brutal punch.

“Don't ever speak to me like that again,’ he hissed, his voice low and ice-cold as he pointed his index finger at Dad's face “Know your place”

The two men stood there locked in a deadly glare the tension in the air so thick it was suffocating.

A sharp gasp broke the silence and I turned just in time to see Mrs Rachel clutching her chest, her face pale as a sheet.

“Mom?” I rushed towards her, but before I could reach her, Mr Kenneth got to her first.

I paused in my tracks, watching them on the floor as I realized that I had called her mom.

I shouldn't be calling her that anymore because I wasn't her daughter-in-law anymore.

This was a marriage contract and Lucian was dead so there wasn't a need for me in their lives anymore

“What is it?” He asked her in panic, his eyes scanning her face “Talk to me” he ordered his voice trembling

“I deserve to die with my son. He is my son, and I couldn't even protect him,” she said, more tears rolling down her cheeks.

Pain erupted around us.

“Rachel” Mr. Kenneth screamed, fear and worry etched on his face “Stop saying such things. Lucian didn't die because of you so stop blaming yourself,” he said, his voice trembling but firm

“I failed him as a mother. I shouldn't have let him marry that girl. I shouldn't have let him go ahead with the marriage and you're to blame too. You forced him to do this. You took advantage of his desire to inherit the company and now, see what it's caused” Mrs. Rachel said, hitting her weak fist on Kenneth's chest

I, Clara, Mom, and Dad all watched Mr Kenneth and his wife as they wallowed in their pain.

The pain was written all over their faces.

A nurse hurried past us, her expression filled with urgency and something close to confusion as she rushed out of Lucian’s room.

I frowned wondering what was going on.

I watched her retracting figure as she sprinted down the hall turning sharply at a corner until she disappeared from sight.

“What did she see?” Clara asked teasingly. “A ghost?” She added, laughing out loudly but no one spared her a glance.

This was not the time for that.

Less than a minute later, she returned with three other nurses following closely behind.

They all rushed back into Lucian's room, their movement frantic

Panic gripped me. What was happening? What could possibly make them run in and out of a dead man's room like this?

Another nurse dashed out, only to return moments later with the doctor. I rose to my feet instantly and blocked his path before he could enter.

“What's going on?” I demanded, but he merely stepped around me and rushed into Lucian's room without a word.

“What's happening? Why won't they say anything?” Mrs Rachel's trembling voice echoed through the hallway laced with worry.

“Are they taking him to the mortuary?” Clara asked, her tone devoid of any emotion.

“They can't do that. We haven't even seen him yet,” Mrs Rachel said firmly

Just then, the doctor burst out of the room again, speaking urgently to a nurse beside him, “Quick! Call Mr Benson and tell him to come immediately. It's urgent.”

As he turned to rush back in, Kenneth grabbed him by his collar, slamming him against the wall

“What the hell is going on?” He barked

The doctor praised his hands in surrender. “It's nothing serious Mr Kenneth. We just need to attend to Lucian immediately. His life depends on it.”

I blinked in confusion “His life?”

“Yes,” the doctor confirmed. Then after a brief pause, he added, “We found a pulse and we suspect he's alive”