Chapter 9
After what felt like ages, the light above the operating room door flickered off, and it slowly swung open. Maximo Myers leapt to his feet, rushing forward to ask about the situation.
The hopeful smile that had started to form on his lips vanished as he saw the somber expression on the doctor’s face. A wave of dread crashed over him, nearly causing him to stumble.
He steadied himself against the wall, barely managing to stay upright.
“How is she?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Myers,” the lead surgeon, Matthias Carr, said bluntly, “The surgery wasn’t successful. Miss Myers didn’t make it.”
Maximo’s eyes reddened with instant agony, veins bulging as though they might burst. It took several moments for him to find his voice, now dry and hoarse.
“Who—who didn’t make it?”
“Miss Myers,” Matthias continued, delivering the news with a bluntness that pierced Maximo’s heart. “She had suffered severe injuries, both inside and out. Her condition was just too dire.”
The reality of the doctor’s words washed over him like ice, extinguishing any anger he might have felt. He was left speechless, his heart shattering into a million pieces.
She was gone…
No! It couldn’t be!
Maximo tried to step into the operating room but fell to the floor. He picked himself up, only to fall again, reduced to a desperate crawl forward.
As he entered, the world seemed to lose all color, the ghastly red the only thing that remained in his vision.
He stared in disbelief at the horrific scene before him. He couldn’t comprehend how someone could lose so much blood.
Maximo tried to approach her, to wake her from this nightmare, but the sticky blood beneath his feet made him fall to his knees in pain. The metallic scent was unmistakably sharp.
This time, he couldn’t get up.
“Arlette…” He crawled toward the operating table.
There was no reason to hide his feelings now, no fear of her using his love to dominate or hurt his sister. His tears fell freely, mingling with the crimson pool on the floor.
“Arlette…”
Maximo took her hand.
He had held her hand countless times before, but never had it been this cold, this lifeless.
“Arlette!” Maximo wept, unable to stop the tears.
She was gone…
Her body already stiffening.
Not long ago, he’d been ready to let go of all resentment. She didn’t love him; she wished he would just disappear. But he didn’t care. He had wanted her to stay by his side.
But now she was gone…
“Brother?”
Winnie Hughes awoke groggily on the operating table next to Arlette’s. As her head throbbed, she squinted at the lifeless form beside her, a smirk beginning to form on her lips.
But her satisfaction vanished when she saw Maximo on the floor.
Her brow furrowed in irritation.
He was her brother! He couldn’t be crying for someone else!
Winnie tried to sit up and pull Maximo away, but the effort strained her newly stitched wound, causing intense pain.
In horror, she looked down.
“Aah—”
Winnie couldn’t believe what she was seeing; for the first time, the woman known for her cruelty showed genuine shock and helplessness.
Her trembling fingers touched the seam of the incision.
The stitches were tight, pulling her skin together like a repulsive centipede across her waist.
“Ah!”
“What did you do to me?” she cried out.
Just then, Matthias Carr re-entered the room. Winnie’s eyes shot daggers at him, her fury evident even before she fully registered his face. But at the sight of him, her words faltered into silence.
Her lips quivered, her entire being consumed by a chilling dread.
“You, no, it can’t be…”