The CEO's Regret: His Lost Wife's Secret Twins novel Chapter 91

Chapter 91

“I’m so sorry, Aria. We did everything we could. The drowning caused severe oxygen deprivation to the brain. His brain was already

compromised from the accident ten years ago. We tried resuscitation, but the damage was too extensive…”

“No.” I shook my head violently. “No, that’s not possible. I just saw him a few hours ago. He was getting better. He said my name!”

Matthew placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’m truly sorry. Your father has passed away.”

“You’re lying!” I shoved his hand away. “Take me to him right now!”

‘Aria-

“Take me to my father!”

Matthew exchanged a glance with Olivia, then nodded. “You can see him. Follow me.”

I followed Matthew through the emergency room doors. My legs moved on their own. Everything felt distant, like I was watching someone else walk down this hallway. This isn’t real, I kept thinking. This can’t be real.

The emergency room was a chaos of equipment and medical waste. Dad lay on a bed in the corner, surrounded by discarded packaging and used medical supplies. He looked small, his skin pale with a bluish tint. His hair was still damp, water stains darkening the pillow

beneath his head.

“Dad?” I approached slowly, unwilling to believe what I was seeing. “Dad, it’s me.”

His chest didn’t rise. His face was slack. I touched his hand-it was cold.

This couldn’t be happening. Just hours ago, he’d squeezed my pinky with his. Just hours ago, he’d looked at me with recognition in his eyes when I told him about the baby.

“We were supposed to have more time,” I whispered. ‘You promised me. We pinky swore.”

The teddy bear I’d brought him this morning sat on the chair beside his bed. I picked it up, holding it to my chest. It still smelled faintly of Dad’s hospital room, that mix of sanitizer and the orange slices I’d brought him last week.

“You were supposed to meet your grandchild,’ I said, my voice flat now. Empty. “You were supposed to live with us. You promised.”

Something inside me cracked. Not broke-breaking implied there were still pieces left. This was different. This was everything inside me turning to dust.

I stood there, staring at Dad’s face. The teddy bear hung loose in my hand. I couldn’t cry anymore. I couldn’t feel anymore. There was just… nothing.

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Chapter 91

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A lifetime. I’d waited what felt like a lifetime for him to wake up. I’d visited every week. I’d talked to him, read to him, played his favorite songs. I’d held onto hope when everyone else had given up. And he’d woken up. He’d come back to me.

For three days.

Three days was all I got. Seventy-two hours to make up for ten years of silence. Seventy-two hours before someone’s negligence-or worse

-left him alone by that lake.

What’s the point? The thought drifted through my mind like smoke. What’s the point of any of it?

I’d fought so hard. Endured Blake’s cruelty. Survived Emma’s schemes. Dragged myself through pregnancy alone. Worked myself to exhaustion. All because I thought Dad would wake up someday. All because I thought we’d have our happy ending.

But there was no happy ending. There never had been.

“I’m tired, Dad,” I whispered. My voice sounded strange to my own ears. Distant. Like it belonged to someone else. “I’m so tired.”

The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. Medical equipment beeped in other parts of the room. Voices murmured in the hallway. But it all felt far away, like I was underwater. Like I was drowning.

Where was the caregiver?

The question floated through my mind, but I couldn’t hold onto it. Couldn’t hold onto anything. My thoughts were slipping away, dissolving into the numbness spreading through my chest.

I looked at Dad’s face one more time. Memorizing it. This was the last time I’d see him like this-still whole, still recognizable as the man who’d raised me. Soon they’d take him away. Soon he’d be gone forever.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

My legs buckled. The teddy bear fell from my hands. I didn’t feel the impact when I hit the floor. Didn’t feel Matthew’s hands catching me. Didn’t feel anything at all.

The darkness that took me was almost a relief.

C

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