Chapter 27
541 Words
The Truth Always Rises
The sky outside the hospital window was grey, clouds thick with the weight of a storm. Inside, the atmosphere was no less tense.
Daniel sat on a bench near the hospital café, phone in hand, still reeling from the emotional chaos of the past few days. His mind buzzed with questions, none louder than one: Why did Anna run back to Noah?
That was when someone approached him. He looked up to find Isabelle—dressed flawlessly, eyes smug—with two coffees in hand.
“I thought you might want something warm,” she said sweetly.
Daniel frowned. “Thanks… but I don’t recall asking for your company.”
“Oh, come on, Daniel.” She sat beside him uninvited. “We’ve both been on the sidelines too long. It’s time we admit what’s going on.”
“And what’s that?”
“That Noah and Anna are toxic. They destroy each other. You’ve seen it. So have I.”
He stared at her with narrowed eyes. “You act like you care about Noah. But something tells me you’re more concerned about winning than loving him.”
Isabelle’s expression faltered for a moment, but she recovered quickly. “You think she’s innocent? That Anna hasn’t been playing both of you?”
Before Daniel could respond, his phone buzzed with a new message. It was a photo—Anna helping Noah into a car, looking worn, tender. Too tender.
Isabelle leaned in. “She never stopped loving him, Daniel. You were just a placeholder.”
Daniel stood abruptly, disgusted. “You’re a snake. And sooner or later, Noah will see it too.”
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Later That Evening…
In Juliet Carter’s estate, the air was thick with perfume, wine, and bitterness.
“Anna is manipulating him,” Juliet snapped, pouring herself another glass. “Just like she always has.”
“She slapped me, Juliet,” Isabelle added, still nursing her ego. “In front of him. And now she’s back in his life, pretending to care.”
“She was always beneath him. A gold-digging lawyer with nothing but a pretty face and a tragic sob story,” Juliet muttered.
Isabelle leaned forward. “Then let’s end this. You still have power of attorney over his estate while he’s under care. Let’s arrange an engagement party. Public. Press invited. Once the media sees us together, Anna can’t claw her way back.”
Juliet smirked. “Consider it done. The world will know Isabella is his fiancée by the weekend.”
---
Meanwhile…
Noah lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Restless. Conflicted. Distant sounds of Juliet and Isabelle whispering didn’t help.
A soft breeze fluttered through the curtains. He sat up, breath catching. That scent. Lavender and lemon.
Anna.
His head throbbed as images surged like a dam breaking—
Anna in a red sari. Their wedding day.
Their first kiss in the rain.
Her voice whispering, “Forever, Noah.”
His accident. Her scream. The ring in her hand.
He clutched his chest as the memories came flooding back—like a movie playing in reverse.
His breaths grew sharp. Sweat beaded at his temples.
“Anna,” he whispered.
And then he remembered everything.
- Writer
