Chapter 297 If You Wake Up
+15 BONUS
The hospital room was dim, except for the steady glow of the monitor by Ashton’s bed. Machines
hummed and ticked in a rhythm that had become both a comfort and a torment to me.
I sat curled in the chair beside him, one hand resting on the blanket near his.
He already looked thinner, as if the fever had carved him away in just a few days. His skin was pale, almost translucent under the harsh hospital lights, and his mouth was drawn tight even in sleep.
Yet, even haggard like this, he was still devastatingly handsome. The sharp line of his jaw, the dark lashes against his cheek, the faint furrow between his brows–all of it made my chest ache.
Sometimes he stirred, his lips moving faintly, a sound breaking out so soft I almost thought I imagined it.
Then, once, unmistakably, he whispered my name.
My throat closed up. I leaned closer, pressing my ear near his mouth as if he might say it again.
He didn’t.
But I’d heard it, and the way it sounded, raw and tender, was enough to make tears prick the corners of
my eyes.
“You’re still fighting,” I whispered, brushing the damp strands of hair from his forehead. His skin burned
under my fingers, the fever still holding him hostage. “But you’re not fighting alone.”
The door opened quietly. Dominic slipped in, looking tired but as composed as always, a file tucked under
his arm. He nodded politely to me before speaking in a low voice, as if not to disturb Ashton.
“The board has calmed down. With the moratorium withdrawn, confidence is back. Shares stabilized this
morning. No one’s panicking anymore.”
I let out a long breath. “Thank God.”
Dominic hesitated, then said, “He pushed himself too hard for too long. This, all of this, is the cost. But…
he’ll be proud of you. When he finds out.”
“Don’t tell him,” I said quickly. “Not yet. He doesn’t need more pressure. I just… I just want him to wake up first. That’s all that matters.”
Dominic inclined his head, respectful as always, then left me alone again.
The quiet pressed back in, heavy and suffocating. I leaned forward, resting my arms on the bed, and finally let the words spill. Words I’d been carrying, choking on, refusing to let myself say.
“Ashton,” I murmured, keeping my voice soft, though I knew he couldn’t really hear me or maybe he could, who knew? “I need you to wake up. Because I need to take something back. I was wrong to break
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Chapter 297 If You Wake Up
+15 BONUS
up with you. I was wrong to push you away.”
My voice cracked. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to keep going.
“I told myself I didn’t deserve you. That you were too far out of my league, too brilliant, too strong, too untouchable. And maybe that was true at the start. I thought all I could do was drag you down. And when you got hurt, I blamed myself. That stupid dive, that stupid trip, and suddenly you were the one paying the price. I hated myself for that.”
The tears came then, hot and relentless. I pressed my face against his arm, the scent of antiseptic and faint traces of him breaking me all over again.
“But these last weeks showed me something. I’m not powerless. I can fight for you, the way you always fought for me. I can protect the things you love. I can stand beside you–not behind you, not as some girl who needs saving every time the world throws a stone at her.”
I lifted my head, blinking through tears. His face was still, and yet his chest rose and fell, steady and stubborn.
“I love you,” I whispered, the words escaping before I could catch them. My heart pounded, as if it couldn’t believe I’d finally said it aloud. “I’ve loved you longer than I’ll admit, even when I was pretending I didn’t. Even when I told myself you belonged to someone like Lea, or to a world I’d never fit in. But I do. I fit here, with you. I want to.”
The words tumbled faster, unstoppable now.
“I’ll sell my shares in Valmont & Cie. I’ll walk away from Paris, from everything I thought mattered more than you. I’ll even give up Mira Joie if I have to. I’ll do it all, if it means you’ll open your eyes and look at me again. Because nothing matters without you. Nothing.”
My hand found his, cold and limp beneath the hospital sheet. I held on tight, tighter than I ever had.
“So if you can hear me,” I whispered, “if even a part of you is listening, please, wake up. Because I don’t want a world where you’re not in it. I don’t want to waste another second pretending I don’t love you.”
I kissed the back of his hand, my lips lingering against his skin.
And for a heartbeat, I thought I felt the faintest squeeze back.
