The CEO's Regret: His Lost Wife's Secret Twins novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23

ARIA

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We stared at each other across the room, and neither of us moved.

Then my voice came out, strangled and raw. “What are you doing?”

Christine’s hand dropped from the tube. Her face was pale, but her eyes stayed steady. Too steady. “Aria. I

didn’t expect you.”

“That’s obvious.” I stepped further into the room, putting myself between her and the machines. “Answer

1. What the hell were you doing?”

“Sit down. We need to talk.”

“I’m not sitting anywhere. Talk from there.”

She drew a breath, and something in her expression shifted. Softened. When she spoke again, her voice was

gentle. Almost kind. “Baby, I know this is hard. But it’s been ten years.”

Ten years. She said it the way you’d say “it’s time” or “enough is enough.” My hands started shaking.

“He’s not suffering,” she continued, moving slightly toward me. “The doctors say he doesn’t feel anything.

He’s just… existing. Is that really what you want for him?”

“He’s alive.”

“He’s not living.” She reached out, tried to touch my arm. I jerked away. “Aria, please. I’m his wife. I’ve

watched this man lie here for a decade. No movement. No response. Just machines keeping him breathing.”

“So you thought you’d just-what? Unplug him?”

“I thought I’d let him go.” Her voice stayed soft, reasonable. “Let him rest. He’s already gone, sweetheart.

This is just prolonging the inevitable.”

Something hot and vicious rose in my chest. “Don’t call me sweetheart.”

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Chapter 23

“Aria-

“And he’s not gone. Dr. Mayer told me his brain activity is improving. He showed me the scans. Dad could

wake up any day now.”

The room went silent.

Christine’s face changed. The gentleness vanished, replaced by something sharp and cold. “What did you

say?”

“You heard me. His neurological function is better. After ten years of nothing, suddenly there’s activity. Dr.

Mayer said it’s unusual but promising.”

“When did he tell you this?”

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“Last week.” I moved closer to the bed, my hand finding the rail. “So no, I don’t think it’s time to let him go.

I think he’s fighting to come back.”

Christine’s mouth opened, then closed. Her hands clenched at her sides.

“All these years,” she said slowly, “you’ve been coming here behind my back.”

“You made it clear you wanted nothing to do with him.”

‘I’m his wife!”

“Then act like it!” The words exploded out of me. “A wife would pray he’d wake up! A wife would sit by his

bed and hold his hand and beg him to come back!”

“A wife would also accept reality!”

“Reality? Or convenience?” I gripped the rail tighter. “Is it reality you want, or is it easier if he stays silent

forever?”

Her hand flew before I could move. The slap cracked across my cheek, snapping my head to the side.

Pain bloomed hot and sharp. I touched my face, tasted blood where my teeth cut the inside of my mouth.

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Chapter 23

We both froze.

“Aria.” Christine’s voice shook now. “I didn’t mean-”

“Yes, you did.”

I pulled my phone from my pocket. My fingers were steady as I opened the camera, pointed it at her. “Say

that again. About how it’s time to let him go. About unplugging the machines. Say it on camera.”

Her face went white. “Put that away.”

“Why? Afraid someone might see? Afraid they’ll know you were trying to kill your husband?”

“I wasn’t trying to kill anyone! I was trying to end his suffering!”

“He’s not suffering! You are!” I stepped closer, the phone still recording. “You want him dead before he

wakes up and tells everyone what really happened that day!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about-”

“Don’t I? Then why are you so desperate? Why now, after ten years, you suddenly can’t wait anymore?” My

voice rose, echoing off the sterile walls. “What are you so afraid he’ll say?”

“Stop this!”

“Not until you tell me the truth!”

Christine lunged for my phone. I twisted away, but she grabbed my wrist. Her nails dug into my skin, right

over the bandages from the restaurant.

I cried out. The pain shot up my arm, white-hot and blinding.

The door burst open. Two nurses rushed in, followed by a doctor I didn’t know.

“What’s going on here?” The doctor’s voice cut through everything.

Christine released my wrist immediately. She stepped back, smoothing her hair, her face sliding into a mask

of distress. “My daughter is having a breakdown. She attacked me.”

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Chapter 23

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“That’s a lie!” I held up my phone, hands trembling. “I have video. She was trying to disconnect his life

support.”

“Ms. Taylor, please calm down.” The nurse moved toward me, hands outstretched…

“I am calm! Look at the recording! She admitted it!”

The doctor exchanged glances with the nurses. “I think we should all take a moment-

“Show them,” I said to Christine. My voice had gone flat now, dead. “Show them your hands. Show them

where you grabbed me.”

Slowly, Christine held out her hands. Her fingers were still curved slightly, like claws. Under her nails was

blood. My blood.

The doctor’s expression changed. “Mrs. Taylor, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“This is ridiculous. My daughter is clearly unstable-”

“Now, please.”

Christine looked at me. Something flickered in her eyes. Not regret. Not shame. Something else. Something

that made my skin crawl.

“You’ll regret this,” she said quietly. “When he wakes up and you learn the truth. You’ll wish you’d let me

end it.”

Then she was gone.

The nurses fussed over my wrist, re-wrapping the bandages. The doctor asked questions I barely heard. I

answered mechanically, my eyes on my father’s face.

He looked peaceful. Just sleeping. Like he might open his eyes any second and smile at me.

Eventually they all left. Hospital policy, they said. Someone would be stationed outside the room. Security

measures. Investigation pending.

I didn’t care.

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แรก

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I sank into the chair beside his bed. The phone was still in my hand, the video saved. Evidence. Proof. But of

what, exactly?

That my mother wanted my father dead? That wasn’t news.

The real question was why.

I reached out and took Dad’s hand. It was warm. His pulse beat steady under my fingers, kept alive by

machines, yes, but beating nonetheless.

“I’m so tired,” I whispered to him. “So tired of not understanding. Of feeling like everyone knows something

I don’t.”

His hand didn’t squeeze back. The machines beeped their mechanical rhythm.

But somewhere deep inside, I felt certain he heard me.

Hot tears started sliding down my cheeks. I didn’t try to stop them. There was no one here to see. No one to

judge my weakness.

Just me and my father and ten years of silence between us.

“Please wake up,” I said through my tears. “Please. I need you.”

The machines beeped on, indifferent to my breaking heart.

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The CEO’s Regret: His Lost Wife’s Secret Twins