Chapter 60
a
I didn’t know when I woke up, just that when I did, all I could hear was the howling wind.
My body ached all over, and I was lying on a freezing metal floor. The biting cold reminded me that I was thousands of feet in the air.
I forced myself to glance outside, only to see pitch black.
At 3,000 meters, even breathing felt like a chore. Just that one glimpse sent me into a full–blown panic. My chest tightened, my vision flickered, hives broke out across my skin, and I couldn’t even feel my legs.
I collapsed onto the floor of the cabin, trembling as I looked around.”
There was nothing but a single bottle of water and one parachute.
I checked the time. It was already 9 PM.}
Mick should be waking up around now. He must be so scared without me.
But I had no choice.
If I wanted to see my son again, I had to jump.
Hands shaking, I strapped on the parachute and began rehearsing the motion to pull the ripcord over and over, again and again. Yet I couldn’t guarantee I’d even be conscious after jumping. I might pass out the second I leave the aircraft and end up a pile of shattered bones on the ground.
But staying meant death, so jumping gave me a sliver of hope.
And if I didn’t make it, at least I knew my grandmother would take care of Mick.
That thought gave me the courage I needed, and I jumped.”
The sheer rush of terror jolted me awake mid–fall, so I managed to pull the chute at just the right time, but everything after ⚫ that went dark.
When I woke up again, I was surrounded by dense jungle. A group of student hikers had luckily found me. At first, they thought I was some extreme sports enthusiast. Yet I didn’t bother correcting them and just let them help me get back to the city.
The moment sunlight hit my skin, every inch of my body screamed in pain. It felt like my bones had been hammered one by
one.
Still, I forced myself toward the hospital.
But the moment I arrived, something felt off.”
Everyone looked at me with such pity in their eyes.<
I glanced down at myself, torn clothes, bloodstained, and filthy: looked like a homeless woman. If Mick saw me like this, he’d probably be scared.
As such, I cleaned up in the nearest restroom, just enough not to terrify my own son. Then I hurried to his room, only to find it empty.
My heart skipped a beat.”
Maybe they just moved him to a regular room? Maybe he got better?”
I quickly dialed his attending physician.
But the silence on the other end of the line made my stomach turn.
Then came his voice, low, hesitant. “Your husband… he didn’t tell you?“N
Something in me froze,W
“Mick went into cardiac arrest around midnight. He passed away. Your husband said… maybe this was as long as he was meant to live. So he took Mick’s heart and said that the only value your son had left might be to be a match for Jewel,” he explained.
Seeing me stunned, he continued, “I tried calling you, but I couldn’t reach you. And since your husband is listed as Jewel’s legal guardian, and you and your grandmother never officially disclosed your relationship, we had no legal grounds to delay the procedure.”
Each word stabbed me, over and over, every syllable a poisoned blade sinking deep into my chest.
Mick was really gone?!
No. No, that couldn’t be. Just yesterday afternoon, he looked at me and told me he loved me. How could he be gone today?!
I shoved the door open and ran to the bed, throwing myself onto the sheets, desperate to catch even the faintest trace of his scent.&
there was aathing Antithe sold taila amalt of dininfactant U
But there was nothing. Only the cold, sterile smell of disinfectant.”
“No. No! I don’t believe this! Where is he?! Where’s my son?! Give me back my child/”
I screamed and screamed, like a woman completely unhinged.”
“He’s right here,” a voice said calmly.
I turned and saw Melanie.\
She stood there in a white Chanel suit, elegant and polished, like she’d just walked off a runway. In her arms, what looked like a small, decorative box, like an accessory.
“This is his ashes,” she said lightly. “I figured you might want them.”
She then tossed the urn toward me, and I lunged like a rabid animal, tears pouring freely.”
But the tears blurred my vision, and I couldn’t see where it landed.”
Then I heard the crashing sound of porcelain hitting the floor.”
And just like that, in the first light of dawn, Mick’s ashes scattered into the wind.
