BRIANN P.O.V
The cold air outside burned against my skin as they lifted my father's body from my arms.I could still feel his last breath ghosting against my palm.The ambulance's siren wailed through the street.Sharp,mournful and when they pulled the white sheet over him,my chest cracked open.
"Please…no,not like this" I whispered,but no one heard.The world around me blurred in red and blue light.My father who was the only person i thought i had,laid still beneath that thin white cloth.And then,before I could reach for him again,someone guided me toward another stretcher.
I barely realized they were putting me into the ambulance.My fingers were trembling,my dress sticky with blood and dust.As the doors slammed shut,all I could do was stare through the tiny rear window,at the shrinking image of my father's covered body left behind under the stuttering glow of sirens.
Inside the ambulance,the air smelled of antiseptic and panic.The paramedic spoke softly,his voice muffled through the haze. "Miss,try to stay calm.You're safe now"
Safe.The word sounded so strange,so cruel.
When we reached the hospital,everything became noise with voices shouting orders,metal clattering,the wheels of my stretcher squealing against the tiled floor.The lights above me kept flashing past,one by one,like fragments of memories I couldn't hold onto anymore.
"Her pulse is weak.She's burning up" I heard someone say.Then came the sharp sting of a needle and the world dimmed around the edges.
When I woke again,the room was quiet except for the steady beeping beside me.I blinked up at the white ceiling,every breath feeling like it scraped against my ribs.A doctor hovered beside me,smiling gently.
"You're running a fever,Miss" He said softly. "You need to relax and let your body rest.You've been through a lot"
I nodded faintly,but I wasn't listening.My mind wasn't here,it was still in that courtyard,still beside my father.The doctor's voice kept droning on,but all I could hear was silence. The silence of a man who would never answer me again.
And then,i heard chaos.
A familiar voice echoed from the hallway outside,rough and trembling with rage.
"What have you done to her? Where is she?"
Massilo.
His voice cut through every sound like lightning.I turned weakly toward the door just as another voice answered,so cold,composed and almost amused.
"Shouldn't you be worried about your company?" Mr Mason's voice carried in,low and sharp with mockery. I could almost picture his face — that faint,cruel smile that always meant he'd won.
My stomach turned.The words sank in slowly like poison.The company...No. No,it couldn't be.My chest tightened painfully as realization struck.I was the reason he'd lost everything.He'd traded his legacy,his father's empire,just to save me.
Tears stung my eyes.I tried to sit up,but when I pulled at my arms,cold metal bit into my wrists.My hands were cuffed to the bed rail,both wrists,both ankles.The sight of it made my heart pound harder.
"Please…" I muttered,struggling weakly against the restraints. "Let me go.I need to see him"
Outside,I heard Massilo again,but louder this time,his voice was breaking.
"Where is she!" He shouted.His tone was desperate now,like someone clinging to the last thread of hope.
There was a pause and then his father's voice answered flatly.
"She's getting treatment in the wardroom"
Footsteps thundered toward me,faster and faster,and then the door burst open.
It was Massilo.
His eyes were wild,red-rimmed and frantic,his breathing uneven.For a moment,he just stood there,frozen and staring at me as if he couldn't believe I was real.Then he crossed the room in two long strides and dropped to his knees beside my bed.
"Briann…" He breathed.His voice broke around my name.
Before I could even find my words,his arms were around me so tight,his face was buried in my shoulder.I could feel the heat of his tears seeping through the thin fabric of my hospital gown.
"I thought I lost you" He whispered,voice cracked and shaking. "I thought you were gone"
I wanted to hold him back,to tell him it wasn't his fault — that none of it was.But the cuffs held me down and all I could do was look at him through the blur of my tears.His heartbeat pounded against me,steady and alive and for a moment,just a moment,I let myself believe that maybe I wasn't completely alone.
Even if everything else had already been taken away.
Massilo P.O.V
I could still taste the anger in my throat as I stormed through the hospital corridors that kind of burning fury that comes from fear, from guilt,from knowing you might be too late.The white lights above flickered coldly, flashing across my face as my boots pounded against the tiled floor.
"Where is she?" I yelled again,my voice cracking from shouting so much.My heart was hammering so violently it felt like it would tear through my ribs.
Mr Mason stood near the ward entrance, his arms folded,his lips was curved in that infuriating smirk he wore whenever someone else was suffering.
"Shouldn't you be worried about your company?" He said,his tone came out light,cruelly calm like he was savoring every word.
For a moment,I just stood there,stunned.The world seemed to spin.My company…my father....everything I'd built was gone because I gave it up to save her.And now she was here,behind that door,broken and alone.
"You…" I started,but the words stuck in my throat.My voice trembled with rage. "You think I care about the company right now? I'll burn every damn thing if it means she's alive!"
I didn't wait for her to reply.I shoved the door open so hard it slammed against the wall with a hollow bang.
And there she was.
Briann.
Lying on the hospital bed,pale under the harsh light,her wrists and ankles was cuffed like she was a criminal.Her eyes looked glassy,tired and red from crying when she turned toward me the moment I entered.
For a heartbeat,everything else disappeared.The sound,the people,even my own breath was gone.All I could see was her.
"Briann…" I whispered,my voice broke.
She looked so small,so fragile,but the moment our eyes met,I saw the pain there,the weight of everything she'd endured.It shattered something deep inside me.
I ran to her without thinking,closing the space between us in seconds.When I reached her bedside,I dropped to my knees,my hands trembling as they hovered over hers,the metal cuffs was stopping me from holding her the way I wanted to.
She tried to speak,but her lips trembled too much to form words.
So I leaned closer,my forehead pressed against her arm,my voice was low and shaking.
"I thought I lost you" I said. "I thought I'd never see you again"
My tears burned as they slipped down my cheeks,landing on her skin.I didn't care who was watching.I didn't care about pride,about wealth,about the empire that had already turned to ash in my hands.
None of it mattered anymore.
All I wanted…was for her to open her eyes and tell me she was still here,still breathing,still fighting.
Her weak voice came out like a whisper. "You shouldn't have given him everything…"
I looked up then our eyes met again and I felt something in me broke beyond repair.
"Everything I had was nothing without you" I said softly.
And as I finally reached forward,wrapping my arms around her trembling body.I promised myself that this time,I wouldn't let her go even if the whole world tried to tear us apart again.