Chapter 4

When I reached the hospital, the guard outside the room was gone.

The caregiver stood by the door, too flustered to get out a full sentence.

"Mr. Gilbert left word. He said there was no need to keep anyone on watch today."

I didn't wait to answer. I shoved the door open and rushed in.

My father was already sitting up.

His face was gray, the IV line still taped to the back of his hand.

Eve Swanson stood at the bedside, a sheet of paper in her hand.

Yvonne held up her phone, zooming in on the trending page so he could see.

"Dad!"

I ran over and blocked the screen.

"Get out, both of you!"

Eve stepped back at once.

"Ollie, don't get worked up."

"We only came to set the record straight."

My father looked at me, his voice faint.

"Ollie... is what they're saying true?"

"You and Owen Gilbert aren't married yet?"

I took his hand.

"Dad, don't listen to them."

"I've already broken up with him. The surgery went well. The doctor said you can be discharged today."

He froze.

Before he could speak, Yvonne suddenly slapped the paper down on the bed.

"Went well, my foot."

"This IOU spells it out. The surgery and the follow-up treatment came to one point two million, all of it paid by my brother."

I picked up the paper.

In the borrower's line was my father's name.

The date was the day before the surgery.

"This is fake."

I stared at her.

Yvonne sneered.

"Fake?"

"Your family took the Gilberts' money and still wants to dump my brother. Your own father's lying in a hospital bed, and you're off stealing someone else's husband."

She pushed the phone in front of my father.

The screen showed the post branding me the other woman.

"Sir, your daughter lost her shame a long time ago."

"She spends my brother's money and clings to her spot as the Gilberts' fiancée."

"Now that Eve's pregnant, she still won't step aside."

Eve made a show of tugging at Yvonne.

"Yvie, that's enough."

"Her father's health is fragile. Knowing the truth is enough."

She turned and looked at my father, gentle.

"Sir, Ollie really did date Owen for a few years."

"But the feelings died long ago. She won't admit it because she can't give up what the Gilbert family offers."

"Don't worry. Once the baby comes, Owen will take good care of you."

My father stared and stared at that IOU.

His hands began to shake.

"Ollie..."

"Dad, don't look at it."

I reached for the paper.

Yvonne pinned it down first.

"What's wrong? Afraid your father will find out how you tricked my brother?"

The monitor at the bedside broke into a shrill alarm.

My father clutched his chest and coughed hard.

Blood fell onto the white sheet.

"Doctor!"

I lunged for the call button.

Eve blocked my way.

"Don't upset your father."

"Let him hear us out first."

"Move!"

I shoved her aside.

She let herself drop to the floor by the door, clutching her belly and crying out in pain.

Yvonne planted herself in the doorway.

"His wife's stomach hurts. You can't touch her."

The doctor and nurses were at the far end of the hall.

But the two of them blocked the door, and no one could get through.

Eve braced herself against the frame and said, low:

"Ollie, your father's old. He was never going to last long anyway."

"Yvie just took a burden off your hands."

"You should be thanking her."

I raised my hand to hit her.

Then the door was thrown open.

Owen rushed in, and the first thing he saw was Eve collapsed by the door.

He didn't look at the bed.

He didn't look at my father.

He charged over and shoved me aside.

The small of my back slammed into the crash cart. It hurt too much to stand.

"Olive Henson, what are you throwing a fit about now?"

"Eve's carrying a child, and you dare lay a hand on her?"

I pointed at the bed.

"Save my father first!"

Owen frowned and shielded Eve.

"Get a grip on yourself."

"Eve, let's go. The wedding isn't over."

The doctor finally rushed into the room.

But my father's heart had already stopped.

On the monitor, nothing left but a flat line.

I knelt at the bedside and heard the doctor call it. Resuscitation had failed.

The sob caught in my throat and would not come out, no matter what.

A long time later, I picked up my phone.

I backed up all of it, the room's security footage, the audio, the fake IOU, and their chat logs.

I sent the files to my lawyer.

【Deliberate provocation of a post-op patient, obstruction of emergency care.】

【Call the police now.】

Then I logged in to the wedding venue's cloud console.

Every piece of equipment at that wedding, I had set up myself.

I replaced the love montage they were about to play.

The lights at the wedding were dimming down.

And what the big screen was about to play was the last footage of my father before he died.