The CEO's Regret: His Lost Wife's Secret Twins novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25

While I got nothing.

I thought about Mother’s Day when I was twelve. Before the accident. I’d saved my allowance for weeks,

bought Christine a bracelet from the department store. Silver, with a small heart charm.

She’d opened the box, glanced at it, set it aside. “Thank you.”

That same year, Emma had given her a card. A simple card she’d probably grabbed at the drugstore.

Christine had teared up. Had hugged Emma. Had put the card on the refrigerator where everyone could see

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My bracelet had disappeared into a drawer. I’d never seen her wear it.

The pain of that memory still cut deep. Deeper than Christine’s slap today. Deeper than anything.

“I needed you,” I told Dad. “After you were gone, I had no one. Do you know what that’s like? Being thirteen

and completely alone?”

His chest rose and fell with the ventilator’s rhythm. No answer. Just the steady beep of machines keeping

him alive.

I’d survived. Barely. Found ways to numb the pain. Kept my grades up because Dad would have wanted that. Kept dancing because it was the only thing that was mine. But my spine was injured, so I could only keep

dance as a hobby.

And then I’d met Blake. Seen a way out. A way to escape the Grant house and Christine’s indifference and

the constant reminder that I wasn’t good enough.

I’d been so stupid. So desperate for someone to choose me. To want me. To make me feel like I mattered.

Blake had never wanted me. Not really. He’d wanted the idea of me. The novelty. The conquest.

Just another person who didn’t see me. Didn’t care.

A nurse knocked softly, poked her head in. “Ms. Taylor? Visiting hours ended thirty minutes ago.”

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11:30 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 25

“Five more minutes.”

“I really should-

“Please.” My voice broke. “Just five minutes.”

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She hesitated, then nodded. The door closed quietly.

I turned back to Dad. Memorized his face one more time. The strong jaw. The straight nose. The kindness

still visible even in unconsciousness.

I kissed his forehead. His skin was warm under my lips.

“I love you,” I whispered. “You’re the only person who ever loved me back.”

Then I stood. My legs shook. My whole body ached.

The hallway was empty. I walked through the hospital in a daze. Past nurses’ stations and patient rooms.

Everything felt distant. Unreal.

Outside, the night air hit me cold and sharp. I hadn’t brought a jacket. Hadn’t thought that far ahead.

My car was in the parking garage. I found it on autopilot, slid into the driver’s seat, sat there in the

darkness.

My phone buzzed. A text from Blake.

[Where are you?]

I stared at it. When had he started caring about my whereabouts?

Another buzz. [Aria, answer me.]

A third. [If something’s wrong, tell me.]

My fingers hovered over the keyboard. What would I say? That I’d caught my mother trying to kill my father? That I was sitting in a parking garage with blood seeping through my bandages and no idea what to

do next?

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11:30 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 25

I turned the phone off. Dropped it in my purse.

The drive home was a blur. Red lights. Stop signs. Mechanical actions that required no thought.

My room was dark when I arrived. Cold. Empty. Just like always.

I didn’t turn on any lights. Just walked to the bathroom, stripped off my clothes, stood under the shower

until the water ran cold.

The bandages came off soggy and pink. The cuts underneath looked angry. Inflamed.

I didn’t care.

I wrapped my wrist in a clean towel, pulled on a T-shirt, crawled into bed.

Sleep wouldn’t come. My mind kept spinning. Christine’s face. Dad’s still form. Emma’s laughter from years

ago, ringing through the Grant house while I sat alone in the servants’ quarters.

Always alone. Always unwanted.

At some point, exhaustion won.

I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me.

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