Chapter 9
Mateo stared at Catalina as she suddenly collapsed, and his face lost all its color.
“Catalina! Open your eyes!
“Stop faking it! Get up right now!”
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No matter how loudly he shouted, she stayed completely still. It was the second time she’d passed out in two days. Fear crept into Mateo’s heart. Without wasting a second, he picked her up and rushed her to the hospital.
On the way there, her cold words and the way she had looked at him kept playing over and over in his mind.
Not long after she was taken into the emergency room, the doctor came out with a grim expression.
“She isn’t breathing anymore. We couldn’t save her.”
Mateo’s brows drew together tightly, and the moment he heard the news, it felt like a bolt of lightning struck him.
He clutched the doctor’s wrist and shouted, “That can’t be true! She only passed out. How could she die?
“Start treatment again, right now! You have to bring her back!”
The doctor was taken aback and slowly shook his head. “It’s not that I won’t help. She’s already passed away.
“I’m very sorry for your loss.”
Tears filled Mateo’s eyes in an instant. “No way! Are you sure? Please check again.”
His usual calm and proud attitude disappeared, and the doctor let out a soft sigh.
“Didn’t you know she was in the final stage of kidney failure? Both her kidneys and her heart are necrotic. There’s nothing we can do.”
Mateo stood frozen in disbelief. “How could she have been sick?
“Just two days ago, you said she was simply exhausted.” He kept shaking his head, refusing to accept that Catalina was dead.
A little while ago, she had still been arguing with him stubbornly, but now she looked peaceful, almost like she was sleeping.
He had never seen her look so at peace. In his memory, she was always challenging him, always arguing.
He froze for a moment, then frantically contacted the top doctors in Chicago. But every single one gave the same an- swer; there was nothing they could do.
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Chapter 9
She was gone and didn’t even leave him a final word.
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He knelt beside Catalina’s bed, overwhelmed by the pain. Why did losing her hurt more than anything he had ever
felt?
He didn’t even dare to place his hand near her mouth to check if she was breathing, as if a small part of him still hoped she would suddenly wake up.
He stayed quiet and held her hand. It felt cold to the touch.
It was like he had finally snapped out of a dream and fallen to his knees, completely crushed.
His eyes reddened, and a sharp ache pierced his chest.
“Catalina, stop lying there, wake up!
“If you don’t wake up, I swear I’ll go after your dad. I’ll make sure he never gets out!”
Usually, just hearing something like that would’ve made Catalina respond right away.
But this time, she stayed completely still, and tears started to fall from Mateo’s eyes.
He clutched his chest tightly. Why did it hurt so badly? Wasn’t he supposed to despise her?
His assistant came rushing in from outside the room. “Mr. Naillon, I looked through the USB drive you gave me. Nothing was edited. It’s all authentic.”
Mateo laughed bitterly, his chest tightening as he shook his head with teary eyes.
“Why… why did I only figure this out now?”
He had been blaming the wrong person the entire time. He destroyed the Higgin family. He ruined everything Catali- na had.
He had treated her like she was worthless, pushed her to the edge, made her wish for death, but left her trapped in her misery.
Every terrible memory was enough to make Catalina hate him forever.
Right now, his heart felt like it was pulled so tight it might snap. “Catalina, I know I was wrong.
“You can hit me, scold me, even take my life if you want.
“I’m begging you, just wake up, please…”
His tears soaked her cold fingers, but no matter how hard he pleaded, she would never wake up again.
