Chapter 2
Chapter 2
He picked up a wrench.
He brought it down on my fingers.
“No… Damian, wait… AAGH!”
One by one, he smashed every single one of my fingers. But the pain in my heart was infinitely worse.
I lay collapsed on the floor, my lips turning blue. Damian’s hand, still holding the wrench, trembled.
‘If I go to prison for this, so be it. We’ll go together.”
coughed up a mouthful of blood. With my last ounce of strength, I reached up with my broken hand and ipped the buttons from my shirt.
You want the truth? Here it is.”
When he saw my chest, the wrench fell from his hand with a deafening clang.
Elara?”
He stared at the jagged, brutal scar over my heart, his fury evaporating into stunned silence. Sienna, who hac Deen weeping theatrically, froze. A flash of cold panic crossed her face before she quickly composed herse f, reaching for Damian’s sleeve. “Damian, I…”
But he was already moving. He swept me into his arms, his first instinct to call for the medical team. But vhen he saw Sienna’s pleading, pathetic face, he hesitated, then took only half the team with him as he ushed me away. The best cardiac specialists.
A short while later, they emerged, their faces grim. “Mrs. Ashford’s condition is extremely complex. We have o transfer her to the Capital City for surgery.”
You’re the best in the field! What do you mean you don’t know what’s wrong?”
The lead surgeon shook his head, a troubled look in his eyes.
Damian’s face hardened. Since Lily’s death, since Elara had refused to testify, he hadn’t touched her. He hac
o idea where a scar like that could have come from.
The Capital City
lust before the surgery, I regained consciousness for a fleeting moment. Looking at the white-coated figures
round me, I forced the words out. “When I die… take what’s in my heart… give it to… the police…”
Damian, dressed in sterile scrubs, stared at me, stunned. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but I
ad already slipped back into darkness.
Outside the operating room, the head surgeon emerged, his brow slick with sweat. “The situation is compli- cated. There’s a foreign object in the patient’s heart, but it’s dangerously close to a major artery. Attempting
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Chapter 2
to remove it could nick another vessel. A rupture in that area… she might not survive. The mortality rate is over seventy percent. We are legally obligated to inform the family.”
Damian’s breath hitched. “Can it be left in?”
The doctor shook his head. “Frankly, it’s a miracle the object hasn’t shifted and pierced the aorta already. We can’t guarantee it won’t move in the next second and cause a fatal hemorrhage.”
Damian’s breathing was ragged.
“For now, we recommend leaving it in and observing her. We’ll convene to discuss a new surgical plan.”
Damian had no choice. He waited outside the ICU, his mind a chaotic storm. Elara’s last words echoed in his head, refusing him a moment of peace. What’s in my heart… It had to be the key to solving his sister’s murd
