Chapter 5

I stayed faithfully by her bedside. My anxiety only eased slightly when she finally woke up.

At dusk, the door opened.

It was Sebastian Cole.

Nana's face filled with absolute hatred; she firmly believed that Sebastian had murdered me.

When my body was pulled from the ocean two years ago, the police found my waterlogged phone.

The very last call had been from him.

Even though the coroner ruled my death an accidental drowning, she remained convinced he was the killer.

I studied Sebastian. He looked like a stranger. His face was gaunt, his eyes sunken, and his designer clothes hung loosely on his frame.

Shouldn't he be living the life he wanted without me around? Why did he look like a walking corpse?

Sebastian offered a faint smile, as if the man he used to be had completely faded away. His usually calculating eyes now held a strange, desolate look.

He spoke softly. "You should try to be happy. It's what Chloe would have wanted."

Nana's body stiffened, and a low, raspy growl tore from her throat: "Get out! I don't want to see your face! Go to hell!"

Sebastian stood at the foot of the bed, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. "Chloe definitely inherited her stubbornness from you."

In that instant, everything snapped. Nana violently yanked the IV lines from her arm. Blood immediately welled up, staining the white bedsheets red.

"You took her away from me!" she shrieked, her voice rising, hoarse with agony. She lunged at Sebastian, beating him with her frail fists, scratching, and kicking.

Sebastian didn't move an inch, just letting her hit him.

Five minutes later, Nana collapsed against the edge of the bed, sobbing helplessly. Her fury had drained away, leaving only pure pleading: "Please... give my baby back."

"Give her back to me," she begged, her voice choked and desperate. "Please, give my Chloe back to me."

Sebastian's eyes glistened with unshed tears, but he forced a nonchalant facade. "Don't be so angry, Grandma. I really just came to see you. After all, Chloe was my wife."

Nana snapped her head up, her pale face streaked with tears. She grabbed him by the collar and screamed hysterically, "You killed her! What did you say to her the last time you called?! Tell me!"

Her grip gave out, and she slid to the floor. Sebastian reached out to help her up, but she swatted his hands away.

In that brief moment, the aura of sorrow radiating from him was palpable.

But why would he be sad? I didn't understand.

Sebastian lowered his eyes, a self-deprecating smile forming on his face. "What else could I have said? I was just... begging her to come back to me."

Before Nana could even process his words, she clutched her chest. She pointed a trembling finger at him, her mouth opening, but no sound came out.

My heart pounded. No, don't!

She was gasping for air, her body curling into a fetal position, trembling uncontrollably.

I rushed into the hallway, screaming for a doctor, but people just walked right through me.

"Excuse me, which room is Rose Miller in?"

Amidst my panic, I heard a familiar voice coming from the nurses' station. It was Liam.

He was still wearing his tailored suit, holding an expensive bouquet of flowers. The nurse told him the room number.

He hesitated for a second before asking, "Is her granddaughter, Chloe, with her?"

Maybe it was my imagination, but his voice seemed to tremble.

The nurse shook her head. "No, sir. There's no record of her."

Sebastian must have heard the commotion. He stepped out of the room. Their eyes met. Sebastian narrowed his eyes, a twisted, mocking grin spreading across his face.

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up. The great Liam Hayes, actually stooping so low as to visit a hospital."

Liam ignored him and rushed into the room. Seeing Nana collapsed on the floor, he immediately shouted for the medical staff.

I drifted alongside the stretcher into the ICU. After an agonizing hour, the doctor announced her condition was stable. Only then did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

I wandered over to the waiting area and found Liam and Sebastian locked in a silent standoff.

Sebastian leaned against the wall, sizing Liam up with a sneer. "You came to the hospital looking for her, didn't you? After all these years, you still can't let her go."

Liam looked exhausted, with heavy dark circles under his eyes.

Had he not slept at all? Even in a suit, he looked somehow smaller, thinner.

He frowned, not understanding what Sebastian was implying.

"Looking for her? Does she even deserve it?" Liam scoffed.

"Still in denial? Go ask the nurses. They said there's no record of a Chloe here. You came to the wrong place, Hayes."

Liam sneered, his tone stiff and dismissive. "Don't speak nonsense. Chloe doesn't deserve my visits. She abandoned me, remember? She chose your money. The only thing she deserves from me is contempt."

"Unless she gets on her knees and begs for my forgiveness."

He was still obsessed with making me kneel-his twisted revenge for the night I walked away from him.

Sebastian stared at him, his jaw practically dropping. Then, a low chuckle slowly bubbled up from his chest, quickly morphing into a twisted, hysterical laughter.

The laughter echoed down the quiet hallway, bone-chilling and deeply unsettling.

He threw his head back and laughed like a madman, his face contorted with a mix of dark amusement and utter despair.

"You... hahahaha... you really don't know, do you?" he managed to say between bouts of laughter. "You're completely clueless."

Liam stared at him as if he were looking at a lunatic.

Sebastian wiped away a tear of mirth from his eye, stood up straight, and walked right up to Liam.

"Do you genuinely not know that Chloe Miller is dead?"