CHAPTER 65
The smell of disinfectant clung heavily to the hospital corridor.
Elena’s heels echoed softly against the polished floor as she walked toward the private ward at the far end, her expression unreadable. The closer she got, the heavier her chest felt–not with worry, but with exhaustion. The kind that came from realizing the people closest to you were the ones who had lied the longest.
She pushed the door open.
Inside, Margaret lay propped up on the hospital bed, her arm wrapped in thick bandages, her face pale but eyes sharp. On the adjacent bed, Sophia lay dramatically reclined, an oxygen mask resting uselessly near her chin, eyes half–lidded as though she were on the brink of death. A bouquet of flowers sat untouched on the table between them.
The moment Elena stepped in, Sophia’s eyes snapped fully open.
“So you finally decided to show up?” Sophia snapped, her weak act vanishing instantly. “Do you know how close we were to dying?”
Margaret scoffed bitterly. “I really thought you’d do something useful for once. Arrest him. Throw him in prison. Instead, you let us get humiliated, beaten, and thrown out like trash.”
Elena closed the door quietly behind her and walked in without responding.
Sophia pushed herself up on the bed, rage flashing across her face. “Do you know what happened after we were kicked out of that banquet? Do you?” she shrieked. “They beat us! People you associate with your precious Adrian’s people! Even Lucas was beaten!”
Margaret clenched her jaw. “Lucas is your fiancé, Elena. And yet you’ve been silent. Not a single arrest. Not even a statement. Do you even care about us anymore?”
Elena stopped a few steps away from the beds.
“I looked into it,” she said calmly.
Sophia let out a sharp laugh. “Looked into it? What does that even mean? We told you everything!”
“Yes,” Elena replied evenly. “You told me your version.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed. “What are you implying?”
Elena met her gaze without flinching. “I found out what really happened. And I realized something very simple.” Her voice hardened. “You lied to me.”
The room fell silent.
Sophia’s face twisted. “Excuse me?”
“I reviewed the security footage,” Elena continued. “Interviewed witnesses who weren’t connected to you or Lucas. I spoke to people who had no reason to protect Adrian–or to protect you.” She took a slow breath. “You provoked him. You humiliated him publicly..”
“That’s nonsense!” Sophia shouted. “He’s a violent lunatic!”
“He defended himself,” Elena said flatly. “And he stopped short of doing real harm.”
Margaret’s hand trembled on the bedsheet. “So now you’re defending your ex–husband? The same man who ruined our family?”
Elena’s eyes flashed. “He didn’t ruin us. We did that ourselves.”
Sophia’s voice rose, shrill and cutting. “Unbelievable. Your ex–husband beats us, disgraces us, and you stand here lecturing us? Do you even love Lucas at all?”
CHAPTER 65
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Margaret leaned forward angrily. “Lucas is the reason your business has been booming! He’s opened doors for you that Adrian never could! And instead of throwing that man into prison, you’re acting sympathetic?”
Elena reached into her bag.
“I came here to ask you something,” she said quietly.
She pulled out a thin folder and placed it on the table between the beds.
Margaret frowned. “What’s that?”
Elena opened the folder and slid out a single document.
“A contract,” she said. “Signed years ago. Between Adrian and my father.”
Sophia scoffed. “So what? Another trick of his?”
Elena didn’t answer immediately. She waited until both of them looked down at the paper.
Margaret’s eyes scanned the text.
Her expression slowly changed.
The document was old but impeccably preserved. The signatures were unmistakable.
Adrian’s name.
Her father’s name.
Sophia snatched it from the table, reading faster, her breathing growing uneven.
“This–this says…” she stammered.
Elena spoke for her.
“It says Adrian promised to support me for life,” she said. “To ensure my safety, my happiness, my stability. Not because he was forced to. Not because he expected anything in return.”
Margaret’s voice trembled. “That’s not what we told you.”
“No,” Elena said quietly. “You told me he wouldn’t love me. That he stayed only out of obligation. That he resented me.”
She looked at them both, eyes steady, unblinking.
“You lied.”
Sophia shook her head violently. “Even if that’s true, what difference does it make? He still left you! You still chose Lucas!”
“Yes,” Elena agreed. “I chose Lucas. I made that decision because I thought I was going to free him.”
Margaret slammed her hand against the bed. “Then why are you protecting Adrian now?”
“Because,” Elena said, “despite everything… he kept his promise.
Silence filled the ward.
“He didn’t retaliate against me,” Elena continued. “He didn’t sabotage my business. He didn’t expose the lies. Even after everything you did to him.” Her voice softened slightly. “Letting him go was the least I could do.”
Sophia stared at her as if seeing a stranger. “So you’re just going to ignore what Lucas did for you?”
Elena looked away for the first time.
“I’m not ignoring it,” she said. “But I won’t destroy an innocent man to protect your pride.”
Margaret’s lips trembled. “There’s difference between Adrian and Lucas,” she snapped. Lucas is honest has everything to help
CHAPTER 65
you fulfill your dream, while he would only hold you back.”
Elena’s gaze snapped back to her mother.
“No,” she said firmly.
Sophia scoffed. “And what would that be?”
“Elena,” Margaret warned.
Elena straightened.
“One stood behind me without asking for anything,” she said. “The other demanded loyalty as payment.”
Margaret’s face darkened.
“You’ve already made your choice,” her mother said coldly. “You gave Lucas his chance. Don’t pretend otherwise.”
Elena said nothing.
She gathered the documents, slid them back into the folder, and tucked it into her bag.
“I didn’t come here to argue,” she said quietly. “I came to tell you the truth. Whether you accept it or not… that’s on you.”
Sophia turned her face away, seething.
Margaret stared at Elena for a long moment, her eyes filled with something unreadable—anger, disappointment, fear.
Then she looked away.
Elena turned and walked toward the door.
She paused once, her hand on the handle.
“I won’t arrest Adrian,” she said without looking back. “And I won’t lie for anyone anymore.”
She opened the door and stepped out.
The ward fell silent behind her.
Margaret sat rigidly on the bed, jaw clenched, while Sophia’s hands shook in her lap.
“Do you think she want to go back to him?” Sophia asked..
“No she can’t, not after what Lucas has done for her”
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