Between Love, Pain and A Contract

Chapter.5

Yes! It was true.

I was just told I had been unconscious for up to thirty minutes, but it felt like I had been lost in another world entirely. My head throbbed as though someone had slammed it against a stone.

Every sound was muffled, distant, like I was underwater. The tears wouldn’t stop…hot, blinding, and endless.

It would have been better if I had never known. If I had just kept longing for my missing sister, dreaming of the day I would finally see her again.

Now there was nothing to long for. Nothing to dream of. She was gone. Forever.

And then, another blow came crashing into me like a wrecking ball.

“My mom…” The words tumbled from my lips, breaking into pieces as soon as I said them aloud.

The news spread through me like fire, scorching every nerve, burning my insides until I couldn’t breathe.

“She didn’t survive!” My voice cracked, almost unrecognizable. My hands trembled violently as I grabbed Edward’s arm, my nails digging into his skin.

“After everything she went through? After everything she worked for….just to keep me standing?!” My chest heaved, my wedding dress heaving with it.

“Yes! It’s my fault!” I screamed suddenly, clutching my head until my veil slipped sideways. “I was too late! If I had run faster, begged sooner…maybe she’d still be alive!”

Edward’s eyes softened but he didn’t say a word.

I turned to him, almost shaking him. “Kill me!” My voice was shaking so hard I barely heard myself. “Please, Edward. Let me go. What am I still living for? They’ve all left me. There’s nothing left!”

Edward didn’t speak. He just pulled me into a crushing embrace, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe. His grip was strong, unyielding, as if he could hold me together by force.

But the pain wouldn’t stop.

I collapsed to my knees and rolled on the floor, my sobs tearing from me in jagged pieces. The polished tiles were cold beneath my palms, grounding me and yet making me feel even more exposed.

My veil tore from my hair as I clutched the hem of my wedding dress and dragged myself along the ground.

People rushed to me, their voices overlapping, faces blurring into a sea of meaningless shapes.

“Sherlock!” Mrs. Principal knelt beside me, reaching for my shoulders.

“I am so sorry, Sherlock. Please, my dear…”

“Don’t touch me!” I hissed sharply, jerking her hand away like it burned me.

My tear-filled eyes glared up at her. “You could have helped her! You could have done something!”

“Sherlock…” she tried again, her voice almost pleading.

But I staggered to my feet, backing away from her touch like a wounded animal.

Miss Nancy, one of the junior staff, came forward timidly and tried to lead me away from the crowd, but I shook her off so violently she nearly stumbled.

“Leave me!” My voice cracked as I shouted at everyone. “Please….you all should leave me alone!”

Their murmured “sorry” and “take heart” echoed in my head like cruel music. A thousand useless apologies that could not bring my mother back.

I gagged, suddenly sick, and covered my mouth, forcing back the bile that rose in my throat. The smell of perfume, sweat, and flowers from the wedding reception made me dizzy.

This was supposed to be my wedding day.

My celebration.

My beginning.

Instead, it had become the worst day of my life.

One by one, everyone drifted away, whispering as they left, their pity stabbing me like pins.

Only Edward stayed.

He sat beside me where I had slumped against the wall, my wedding dress spread around me like a broken cloud. His arms went around me again, pulling me close as if I might shatter into dust.

“I’m here,” he said quietly, his voice a solid weight in the storm. “I will never leave you. Not today. Not ever.”

For a strange, fleeting second, the words felt… steadying. Encouraging. Like a lifeline thrown into dark waters.

I nodded weakly against his shoulder, too tired to fight.

Then my phone rang.

The sound was so sharp, so intrusive, that I flinched.

I almost ignored it. I didn’t want more bad news. I didn’t think I could survive more bad news.

But Edward reached over and picked it up, his voice low but firm. “Yes?”

“This is her husband,” he said when the caller asked for me.

The voice on the other end was brisk but warm. “There is good news.”

My head snapped up, eyes wide, tears still wet on my cheeks.

“What…what good news?” Edward asked, putting the phone on loudspeaker.

I held my breath.

“A good Samaritan has come forward to settle your mother’s medical bills,” the voice said. “Her surgery was successful. She’s alive.”

For a second, I thought I had misheard.

Alive?

“She’s alive?” I whispered, gripping Edward’s hand so hard my knuckles turned white.

“Yes, ma’am. She’s stable now.”

I pressed my palm against my mouth, choking on a sob.

I wanted to scream, laugh, cry..everything all at once.

But then the next question struck me like a spark in dry grass.

“Who?” I asked, my voice suddenly hoarse. “Who is the good Samaritan?”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, the kind of pause that sent a shiver racing down my spine.

Before I knew it, the call ended.

I sat frozen, my heart pounding. A good Samaritan. Someone who cared enough to save my mother when I had already given up.

But who?

My gaze swept across the emptying hall by instinct……and froze.

There, at the far end of the room, half-hidden in the shadows, stood Garrett.

My breath hitched violently.

I thought he had left hours ago. Why was he still here?

And why…why was he staring at me like that…his gaze locked on me with an intensity that felt like a hand around my throat.

Could it be him?

Could Garrett be the one who paid for my mother’s life?

And if he was…why now?!