Chapter 2:choice she never wanted
1096 Words
The hospital air felt too cold.
Jane stepped out of the car, her heart heavy with every step she took toward the entrance. And then she saw her.
Her mother sat just outside the hospital entrance, shoulders slumped, eyes distant like someone who had been waiting not just for hours, but for hope.
Mum
Mrs. Lawrence looked up, and in that moment, her face lit up with relief. She stood quickly, rushing toward her daughter and pulling her into a tight embrace.
Jane, you’re here.
Her voice trembled, but there was comfort in it too. Jane held her gently. Of course, I came.
Her mother pulled back slightly, holding her face as if to make sure she was truly there. “Go and see your father,” she said softly. “He’s been asking for you.”
Jane hesitated. Her chest tightened. She wasn’t ready. Not ready to see him weak, not ready to face whatever this moment was going to be. But she was already here. There was no turning back.
The walk to his room felt endless. Each step echoed louder than the last, until Jane finally stood in front of the door. For a second, she just stared at it, her hand frozen on the handle. Then she pushed it open.
The sight broke her.
Mr. Lawrence lay on the bed, his body restless, shifting slightly like he couldn’t find peace . The machines around him beeped steadily, but there was nothing steady about him. This wasn’t the man she knew. This wasn’t the strong, commanding father who built an empire.
This was someone fading. A wave of pity washed over her. Dad,” she called softly.
He turned slowly, his tired eyes searching until they found her.
Jane,” he whispered. She walked closer, forcing herself to stay strong, even as her heart cracked inside.
“I’m here.”
He motioned weakly for her to sit, and she did. For a moment, he just looked at her. Then his expression changed something deeper, heavier. I’m sorry,” he said. The words caught her off guard. “Sorry?”
“For everything,” he continued, his voice low and strained. “For the times I wasn’t there… for the things I did wrong… for the kind of man I was.”Jane swallowed hard, unsure what to say. This wasn’t the father she knew. He had never apologized before.
“Dad, you don’t have to, “I do,” he interrupted gently. “Because I don’t have much time left to make things right.”Silence filled the room. Then he took a slow breath.
“The company he said. Jane stiffened immediately. I want you to take over. Her heart dropped.
“No,” she said almost instantly, shaking her head. “That’s not possible.”He frowned slightly. “Why? Because you have two sons,” she replied, her voice firm but emotional. “My brothers have been working with you for years. They understand the business more than I do. It won’t sit right with them.”
“And you?” he asked quietly. “Does it sit right with you?”She hesitated.“That’s not the point,” she said.“It is the point,” he replied.
She looked away, overwhelmed. “I have my own life, Dad. My job, my children, this is too much.”
Mr. Lawrence’s expression hardened slightly, not with anger, but with determination.“That is exactly why I chose you.”She looked back at him, confused.
“I want change,” he said slowly. “Real change. This company, this legacy, it has been built on things I am not proud of.”Her brows furrowed.
“Your brothers,” he continued, “they are already becoming like me. They know the business, yes, but they also know the wrong ways to run it.”Amara’s heart began to race.
“I don’t want that anymore,” he said. “I want something different. Something better.”He reached for her hand weakly. And you are that change.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Dad, I can’t.”You can,” he said firmly. “You just don’t believe it yet.”
Before she could respond, the door suddenly opened. Voices filled the room. Jane turned. Her two brothers walked in, followed by their wives and children. The atmosphere shifted instantly: surprise, confusion, tension. They all stopped the moment they saw her.
Jane? one of them said, clearly shocked. “You’re here?”She stood up slowly, her heart pounding. No one spoke about what had just been said. No one mentioned the decision.
After a while of gisting with their father, their mother suggested they all go home so she could cook for them and they could talk better there.
When they are about to leave, their father holds Jane's hand and says, " Think about what I have said. The older brother asked what it was, but no one answered.
Jane walked out of the room, and everybody followed.
They got home peacefully, their mother asked the maid to prepare food for them, they all sat down, and the mother was having a conversation with one of her grandchildren, while the maid walked in to tell them she had served their food on the dining table
They all went to the dining room to eat. While eating, the eldest brother asks again
Jane, what was Daddy talking about?
They looked at each other, and the mother answered him and said, " Your father wants her to take over the company.
He shouted and said never…
My father had trained me for this company, and I know everything. Jane doesn't know anything, and my mother replies. That's what your father wants
On the dining table, the second brother was just there looking at them without saying a word. Angrily, the eldest brother left the dining table and went outside to sit; his wife followed him.
Miles away in the hospital, where their father was, someone pretending to be a doctor was wearing a nosemask and scrubbed in Mr. Lawrence's room and injected him, and he died
At home, Mrs. Lawrence was packing her husband's food for the hospital. She received a call fr the hospital telling her Mr. Lawrence had died. She shouted, her children rushed to meet her, and asked what had happened.
In panic, she started crying and told her children their father had passed
Immediately, Jane knew something was fishy, someone she had seen hours ago
- Writer
