Damien stepped forward eagerly. “Why don’t we let him take over the operation? With his skills, he could definitely remove the foreign body from Gideon’s heart.”
For a moment, hope surged through Celeste.
But an inexplicable unease crept in.
She slowly sat back down. “Forget it.”
Damien’s face stiffened. “Celeste?”
She kept her tone steady. “The current team knows his condition best. We’ve been through a lot together. Switching now could jeopardize everything.”
Damien’s hands clenched around the hem of his shirt. He glanced again toward the ward. “But I went through so much trouble just to get Dr. Sutton…”
There was a pause.
Celeste eventually spoke. “Then… Dr. Sutton, I’ll ask for your professional guidance–but we’ll stick to the original team for now.”
Dr. Sutton’s eyes flickered behind his mask. He shared a subtle glance with Damien, then
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composed himself. “Understood. I’ll assist however I can.”
Inside the ward, Gideon lay unconscious-
The scar across his chest was a mark of that night.
Sierra had stabbed him while he was shielding Alden.
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He remembered the cold steel, the overwhelming pain, and the helplessness as he bled out, forced to watch Sierra’s men brutalize Alden.
He thought he’d die alongside his brother.
But he woke up in the hospital.
When he returned to the scene later, every trace of that night had been wiped clean.
Only a broken artisan knife remained.
It wasn’t conclusive evidence–but he recognized it.
It had been Sierra’s favorite: a delicate blade, pink–handled, engraved with a custom design by a master artisan. The artisan later confirmed it.
But without the rest of the weapon, the chain of proof was gone.
What no one else knew–was that the missing half still lay inside his heart.
He’d considered having it removed, but the doctors warned him: the operation could cause massive internal bleeding. Survival rate? Less than 5%.
Still, with a blade buried in his heart, it was only a matter of time.
Every breath he took could be his last.
He spent a day thinking it through… and left a note.
A suicide note.
In it, he asked them to remove the object from his heart after his death–and hand it to the police.
But he never told Celeste.
Because if he did… she’d never let him go through with the surgery.
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My eyes widened. “Damien hired him?”
“Don’t act so surprised. If it weren’t for him, you’d still be in a coma.”
She turned away, voice bitter. “Maybe divorcing you was the best decision I ever made. You’re not the man I used to know.”
I opened my mouth, but she had already walked out–slamming the door behind her.
I clutched my chest.
Would Damien really call a doctor for me?
Or did he send someone just skilled enough to remove the foreign body–just enough to keep me alive, but not to save me?
I was checking out of the hospital, head heavy with doubts. As I passed by a ward, a familiar voice stopped me in my tracks.
“I booked your flight. Once you leave, don’t come back.”
“I know. I’ll visit you abroad later. That’s better than you staying in Los Angeles and getting arrested.”
I froze.
That voice… Damien?
Was he talking to his sister?
“I’ve already misled Celeste. Good thing the person I sent looks enough like Dr. Sutton. She’s convinced now that the foreign body in Gideon’s chest was removed.”
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