Samuel walked out of the ICU, his scrubs soaked in blood. For the first time, there was a flicker of panic in Calvin's eyes—because no matter how heartless he pretended to be, no father could stay unaffected after hearing something like that.

But right then, Sheena let out a soft chuckle behind her hand. "Looks like you're not that poor after all, Josephine. You even bribed the doctors to act for you. That was one hell of a show—I actually kinda enjoyed it. If Harry's really dead, I'm dying to see what you'll do next."

Hearing her voice, Calvin visibly relaxed. He glanced down at the photo Carol had sent him again. He scoffed, "I knew you were just trying to pull a stunt. You wanted some money and an excuse to walk out of the Fuller family. This time, I'll let it slide. But if you ever try this again, don't blame me for what happens next."

He waved a hand at his bodyguards to wheel Sh

I returned alone to the Fuller residence and began packing the few things that belonged to me. It was laughable, really—most of the clothes I owned were cheap, dark-colored workwear, picked specifically because they would not stain while I took care of Sheena. They were not even fit to wear outside the house.

I threw most of them into the trash, zipped up the small, weightless suitcase, and turned to leave. In my arms, I carried Harry's photo and his urn.
 
...

When I pushed open the front door of my childhood home, the first thing I saw was my parents' black-and-white portraits on the mantel. I reached into my backpack, took out Harry's photo, and placed it beside theirs. Then, I lit three candles and stood quietly in front of them.

I whispered, "Dad, Mom... I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough to protect Harry. Please take care of him for me.

"Harry... You always wanted me to leave th

He asked, "Are you Harry Fuller's guardian? He's in critical condition. We need you to sign the critical condition consent form. Have you gathered the money for surgery?"

Samuel handed over the consent form, and for a second, Calvin froze. His fingers trembled as he reached out to take it, and the shock on his face was impossible to miss.

He stammered, "T-This can't be real..."

His lips pressed into a hard line as he reached into his pocket for his card. Before he could hand it over, Sheena suddenly let out a gasp.

"Cal! Look at this—Harry's homeroom teacher, Ms. Smith, just sent me this video!"

Calvin grabbed her phone and watched the screen. In the video, Harry was smiling brightly and laughing as if everything were perfectly fine.

That trembling in his lips turned into a cold, bitter smirk. Then, without warning, he slapped the consent form right into my face and barked, "Josephine, what else do you have to say for yourself?"

I stared at Sheena in disbelief. Her lips curled into a mocking little smirk, cold and cruel, and my heart turned to ice. Then, I looked at Calvin's eyes—so empty and sharp they felt like shards of glass—and I completely broke.

"Calvin, Harry's dying... I'm begging you, please just believe me this once!"

The hallway went dead silent.

Calvin did not speak right away. Instead, he slowly held up his card in front of me and said, "You want money? Fine. Get on your knees and beg Sheena for it—you'll get however much you want."

I turned to look at Sheena, and the humiliation slammed into me like a truck. Nonetheless, I could do anything for Harry's sake.

"Fine. I'll beg her." I dropped to my knees in front of her, ignoring the burning pain. "Is this enough now? Will you transfer the money?"

My hands were clenched so tightly that my nails dug into my palms, but thinking about Harry finally being saved helped me breathe again.

Calvin suddenly let out a fake, exaggerated gasp. "Oops. My bad. Guess I just accidentally spent 100 grand on a new designer bag for Sheena."

Sheena leaned into Calvin's shoulder and giggled sweetly. "Cal, how do you always know exactly what I want? As long as it's from you, I love it."

I stood there frozen, completely stunned, while Calvin looked at my devastated expression with satisfaction.

"You staged this whole thing, didn't you? Got a bunch of people to act for you. But Ms. Smith just sent a video showing that Harry's totally fine, and you're still trying to scam me?"

My ears started ringing. I could not hear anything else anymore.

Right then, Samuel came back out. He looked between me and Calvin with pity in his eyes and said gently, "I'm sorry. We did everything we could. Please contact the funeral home to make arrangements."

Samuel walked out of the ICU, his scrubs soaked in blood. For the first time, there was a flicker of panic in Calvin's eyes—because no matter how heartless he pretended to be, no father could stay unaffected after hearing something like that.

But right then, Sheena let out a soft chuckle behind her hand. "Looks like you're not that poor after all, Josephine. You even bribed the doctors to act for you. That was one hell of a show—I actually kinda enjoyed it. If Harry's really dead, I'm dying to see what you'll do next."

Hearing her voice, Calvin visibly relaxed. He glanced down at the photo Carol had sent him again. He scoffed, "I knew you were just trying to pull a stunt. You wanted some money and an excuse to walk out of the Fuller family. This time, I'll let it slide. But if you ever try this again, don't blame me for what happens next."

He waved a hand at his bodyguards to wheel Sheena away, then tossed over his shoulder, "Anyway, I'm leaving. Stop wasting time on petty tricks. R

Chapter 5