Chapter 103: Her Fault
The sterile light of the emergency ward cast long shadows on the tiled floor, flickering faintly with every shift of the overhead fluorescents.
Eryx sat across from Lunara, both of them locked in silence, as if words would make the guilt more unbearable.
He hadn’t said much since they arrived. Not because he didn’t care but because he did, and far too much. Every second he’d spent tearing Matilda’s empire apart had cost him something greater. He should’ve been there. He should’ve known.
Lunara sat still, barely noticing the hospital blanket someone had gently draped over her shoulders. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, unfocused, while her hands stayed tightly clenched in her lap.
If she had just listened. If she hadn’t insisted on going out. If she didn’t sulk and asked him to pull out all the security around her. If she hadn’t let her pride drown out his warning to stay home.
Mila wouldn’t be lying in that operating room right now.
The weight of all those ’if only’ twisted inside her, sharp and unforgiving.
The nurse returned, hesitant. "Miss Lunara... the woman who...you brought along. She’s asking for you."
Lunara stood on instinct, her legs almost giving out from how long she had been sitting still.
She rushed to the woman’s bedside and saw her breathing was ragged, her body broken beneath a mess of wires and bandages. But her eyes clung to Lunara with startling clarity, as if holding on to the last thread of life.
"I... I’m sorry," the woman rasped, wincing. "I didn’t mean for her to get hurt. I just... I needed the money."