Chapter 5
The assistant hesitated before finally catching Chase’s meaning.
“Excuse us, Miss Parker!“]]
Ignoring Jackson and Zoey’s attempts to stop him, he carefully wrapped the shattered frame in his suit jacket.[]
“Where are Mia’s ashes?”
Those narrow, vicious eyes bored directly into Jackson.[]
“Chase! You’ll never find them–ever! Mia’s dying wish was to never see you again!”
He seemed too exhausted to continue arguing and simply turned to leave.[]
Chase locked himself in his study, refusing to open the door for anyone.[]
Three days later, the assistant entered the study again.]
“Mr. Vincent, I’ve discovered something about Miss Parker.“]
chase looked up from the bottle of whiskey he was clutching. Unshaven, hair disheveled, he looked completely wrecked.[]
“Did you
find Mia’s ashes?“]
The assistant shook his head. “That million–dollar compensation for Miss Parker’s kidney–I checked, and it never reached her account.”
Chase frowned. “Never reached her? How the hell is that possible? What is our finance department even doing?“]]
“The money definitely left our accounts. I traced the final destination–it went to Miss Winters‘ account.“[]
The whiskey bottle slammed onto the desk. “Ruby? It was her?“]
“Yes. She spent $800,000 of it, and the remaining $200,000 was transferred to the accounts of the two doctors who performed Miss Parker’s surgery–the anesthesiologist and the lead surgeon.“]]
This news hit Chase like a bolt of lightning.
“W–what did you just say?“]
Thinking Chase hadn’t heard clearly, the assistant repeated himself.
Chase rubbed his throbbing temples, feeling like everything had become utterly absurd.
He had trusted Ruby completely, and in the end, she had deceived him.]]
As he listened to his assistant lay out the facts, tears actually formed in the corners of his eyes.[]
“Why didn’t she tell me…“[]
The assistant looked uncomfortable. After the surgery, Chase had focused all his attention on Ruby–what could Mia have possibly said?]
“Mr. Vincent, there’s one more thing. I always thought Miss Parker wasn’t in the best health…“[]
“Not in good health?! Why the hell didn’t I ever hear about this from her?“]
Chase demanded, face contorted.
The assistant steeled himself. “Mr. Vincent, I’m going to be honest, so please don’t get angry. You only had eyes for Miss Winters back then… Miss Parker was furious when she found out you wanted to donate your kidney to Miss Winters, that’s why she tried to run Miss Winters over…“[]
“But you… you nearly strangled her. She probably agreed to donate her kidney because she couldn’t bear to see you donate yours!“]]
Chase snapped, “When did I ever only have eyes for Ruby?“]
The assistant thought for a moment. “You’d wait in line for two hours to buy Miss Winters‘ favorite dessert just because she mentioned it once, but when Miss Parker had a fever and was hospitalized, you didn’t even visit her.”
“And after Miss Parker’s kidney transplant, you took Miss Winters to Switzerland. You were the one who disappeared for two years without contacting her…”
Chase swayed slightly. “Was I… really that terrible to her? How did I never notice?”
Why is there nothing left of her after her death? Not a single trace?“]
He looked devastated, as if suddenly remembering all the ways he had wronged me. The assistant stood awkwardly to the side.
Chase cradled the urn like a precious treasure, pacing aimlessly around his study.
My soul floated in the air above, watching his anguish.[]
I knew he regretted everything now.[]
But what good was that? I was gone.]]
No matter how much he repented, I couldn’t come back to life.]
Realizing this, I smiled bitterly.
The assistant hesitated before handing him one final document.[]
“This is Miss Parker’s medical report from before her death. We found it in her vanity drawer…”
“There’s something strange in the results–Miss Parker only had one kidney…“]
