Chapter 170
The quiet hum of the hospital corridor was deceiving. Nothing felt peaceful. Not today. Not when darkness wore a white coat and carried a plastic ID clipped to her chest.
Candice moved silently, her heels echoing softly against the sterile tiles as she approached Room 213. She’d memorized the route from blueprints stolen weeks ago. She’d bribed a janitor with threats and money. She’d waited, bided her time, and now… the moment had come.
Everyone else believed she was gone. The psycho. The criminal. The discarded. But Candice was like rot–hard to remove and always coming back when things finally seemed clean.
She couldn’t let Samantha get a happy ending. Not when hers had been ripped away.
Not while she was still breathing.
Candice cracked the door open slowly. No one around. The nurses had rotated shifts, the hallway was empty save for the faint ding of an elevator at the other end. It was perfect.
The room was dim, curtains half–drawn, letting in a strip of dying sunlight. A single chair sat beside the bed, empty. On the hospital mattress, pale and still, lay Samantha. Her hands rested above the covers, fingers curled like petals. Her face was bruised, but peaceful.”
The sight alone made Candice’s blood boil.
She stepped in, slowly closing the door behind her with a soft click.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she approached the bed. Each step thundered in her head like a war drum. She stood over Samantha, eyes wild with hate. Her lip curled.
“You should’ve stayed gone,” she whispered, fingers curling around the pillow. “You should’ve died the day I planned it.”
And then–she struck.
The pillow pressed hard over Samantha’s face.
The reaction was instant.@
Samantha’s body jerked violently. Her hands shot up, grabbing at Candice’s arms, her legs kicking beneath the blanket. The heart monitor spiked, then screamed, then flatlined briefly before stabilizing again.
Candice grunted, shoving her weight down harder. “Stay. Out. Of. My. Life!”
But Samantha was stronger than she looked. With a desperate shriek, she twisted, her fingernails clawing across Candice’s cheek. A red line bloomed.”
With a cry of pain, Candice stumbled backward, losing grip of the pillow.
Samantha bolted upright, gasping, clutching her chest as she coughed in ragged, panicked breaths. “You’re insane!“she choked out./
Before she could press the emergency button, Candice lunged, tackling her straight off the bed.
They slammed onto the floor with a sickening thud, the IV stand crashing down, glass shattering.”
Candice’s fingers tangled in Samantha’s hair, yanking her head backward and slamming it against the tiles. Samantha groaned in pain, vision doubling.
“You took everything!” Candice snarled. “Jackson, the house, his attention to Nathan
“I never wanted any of it!” Samantha screamed, wrestling her off. “You set me up! You hurt Nathan and blamed me!”
Candice’s laugh was manic, eyes wide with pure madness. “Because you deserved it! You think you’re special? You were.just a second act in my story!”
Samantha tackled her now, rage surging through her veins like lightning. They grappled–nails scratching, arms flailing, legs tangling. Samantha rolled over Candice, grabbing her by the collar.
“You’re sick! You need help!”
But Candice’s hand slipped into her coat pocket.
And pulled out a silver dagger.”
Samantha froze. The room felt suddenly colder.”
‘No–“%
Candice lunged.”
But Inigo burst through the door just in time.”
“Samantha!” His voice cracked, eyes wide with horror.”
In a blur, he rushed forward–right as Candice stabbed.
The dagger plunged into his side with a sickening crunch.”
11:02 AM
“INIGO!” Samantha screamed.
Time stilled.
His body sagged, his knees buckled. He fell, gasping, clutching the wound as blood poured between his fingers.”
blood po
Samantha shrieked, tackling Candice again, knocking the blade from her grip. She slammed her fist into her face, once–twice -until Candice let out a wail of pain.
“You hurt him!” she cried, tears streaming. “You tried to kill him!”
Candice shoved back weakly, trying to reach for the dagger. “You took everything from me!”
“You did that to yourself!” Samantha spat.\
The door burst open again.”
This time, Jackson stood in the frame.
For a moment, no one moved. Jackson’s eyes scanned the chaos–the blood pooling beneath Inigo, Samantha’s bruised face, Candice’s bloodied mouth.
His voice was a whisper. “What… what the hell is this?”
Samantha’s head whipped around, fury igniting in her. “You!” she screamed. “You brought this into my life! You let her come near me again!“}
Jackson’s face went pale. “I–I didn’t know she would-”
“Save it!” she roared. “I never want to see you again! You’ve ruined everything!“}
“Please,” he stepped forward, hands raised, face pale. “Just listen-”
“GET OUT!“”
་་ ོ་་
Her scream echoed off the walls like gunfire.
He froze. The silence was louder than any noise.
Inigo groaned from the floor, his hand reaching for Samantha.”
She immediately knelt beside him, pressing hard on his wound. “Stay with me, love. Stay with me.“”
Jackson’s chest heaved. He opened his mouth. Then closed it. Then turned–and walked out.
Defeated.
Şamantha cradled Inigo’s face. Blood stained her hands.
“Please, baby. Please don’t leave me too.”
Inigo reached up with trembling fingers, brushing her cheek. “I’m not going anywhere…” he whispered, his voice thin. “We’ll be okay…”
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
This man–the man who stepped in front of a blade for her–was her real home.
Her real forever.
And she’d never let him go.
1/2
