ziel

--

Week

--

nto the hospital ward. I had been here more times than I could count,

pital bed, her hand gently brushing through his hair

n mask over his face and a few wires attached t

hing that mattered, her touch gentle, full of care

not once in my life, and a bitter ache

, my voice colder th

he's been for the last five years." Her voice was as cold as al

tween us, thick with

me here," I

ble beside Nathaniel's bed,

brushing the edge of the fi

woman who looked strikingly familiar, though

member. Then it clicked-about a month ago

ng the photos, a growing sense of unease

said, finally turning to fac

iffe

silence a room. A man who built an empire from the g

r way in, they'd leave with more than what most other wealthy famili

kwood-was standing at the center of whate

shutting the file.

ends," my mother replied smoothly. "And

dy falling into place, but I forced myself to

y mother said without hesitati

lenched arou

g someone under Nathaniel's na

edding to Shoshana Bates wouldn't have been canceled if you hadn't gotte

h the Bates, and now you're

r on my tongue. "You talk as if I

fault," she said, her tone sharp as a knife, "but what happened to Nathaniel five y

rs of my mind, but hearing her say it out loud twiste

gotten involved

name." I cut her o

ly, but there was something else

. She was naive and a virgin, unlike the other girls he messed around with. He w

et her and try to steal her for yourself,"

son was the one who begged me to switch places with him, just so he co

ng past my lips. "How is it my faul

in disgust. "Enough!" she hissed. "I don

anced at Nathaniel's unconscious form, her voice flat. "..

he handles of my wheelchair, the tension in my body growing with each word, while a rush of frustratio

g in Nathaniel's shadow..." The

your twisted little game-and I still don't get a say in any of this!" My

g. "I can't even remember the last tim

che I hadn't let myself feel in a long tim

" Her voice was cold and dismissive, as if it

want to hear

s almost mocking, as if dari

one in mind, but because deep down, I knew it wou

as always futile. No matter how hard I tried, I was just a shadow com

oftness in it. "This isn't something you can just choose to do or not do. S

avy fog, stretching on for what felt like

out I've been pulling money from the company..." Her words

brother's treatment, but they're digging, and it's only a matter of ti

s the reality of it all settled

s name is the only option?" I interrupted,

e only way to save this family. And the only way

er, "It's the only way you

added, her tone dismissive. "She's too

r than I cared to admit, but I stayed silent and simply wheeled myself out of the

them, and I didn't stop until I was outside

building in my chest. I inhaled deeply, trying to clear m

burned brighter than the rest-why did Zane Lancast

and every other elite family had r

phone buzzed-A

reen and frowned at

ve years ago after Nathaniel's accident.

tried to trace the source, but

ked on the message, dreading

ane Blackwood is