Maya's POV
I run through the hotel lobby. My heart pounds. My phone still pressed to my ear.
"Is he alive?" I ask Ethan.
"The paramedics are working on him now. Maya, it looks bad."
"I'm coming. I'm" I stop. Stand frozen in the middle of the street. "Wait. Why am I running to help him?"
"Because he's your father."
"He just lied to me! Manipulated me! He's faking the heart attack too. Just another game."
"What if he's not?" Ethan's voice is gentle. "What if this is real?"
I close my eyes. See Richard's face when I threw him out. The cold mask. The cruel words. No love. Just manipulation.
"Let him die," I say. The words feel like poison. "I'm done saving people who only hurt me."
"Maya"
"I mean it. I'm not going. He made his choices. Now he lives with them. Or dies with them. I don't care anymore."
I hang up. Hail a taxi. Go back to my office.
But guilt follows me like a shadow.
