After sending a flurry of messages and making the necessary arrangements, Catherine immediately dialed Dorian.
Her fingers trembled around the phone.
Her chest felt painfully tight, as though something heavy had been lodged inside it, making every breath difficult.
Maybe she had made the wrong choice. Maybe leaving Maximilian and staying beside Dorian had been a mistake from the very beginning.
What if... What if he had suffered another brain bleed because she wasn't there?
The thought was irrational, and she knew it. Yet guilt had never listened to reason.
The call connected.
"Dorian..." Her voice cracked before she could steady it. "Daddy's sick."
The lie came easily. The tears… did not.
"Can I visit him?" she whispered. "I... I just want to see him."
She knew her family would not appreciate her father being used as an excuse. Ordinarily, neither would she.
