Claire’s POV
I stared at the elderly woman standing before , her frail fra slightly hunched, but her presence was as warm and familiar as ever. My chest tightened, and before I could stop myself, tears welled up in my eyes.
"Grandmother..." I whispered, my voice breaking. It had been so long since I’d seen her, and amidst all this chaos, I hadn’t even realized how much I missed her. Without a second thought, I pushed off the bed, ignoring the sharp pain in my ankle, and threw my arms around her. "I am so sorry!" The words spilled out, uncontrollable, as if a dam had burst inside , releasing every ounce of regret and sorrow I’d been holding in.
She wrapped her frail arms around , trembling, but her embrace was just as warm and just as comforting as I rembered. I buried my face in her shoulder, letting the tears flow freely now, allowing myself to fall apart in her arms.
I had kept everything bottled up for so long! Evander, the lies, the betrayal— but now, with her holding , I could finally let go. My body shook with sobs, and for that brief mont, I didn’t care about the hospital, Evander, or the cruel ga he seed to be playing. All that mattered was that I was here, with her, feeling safe again.
"I missed you so much, Claire," she whispered, her voice weak but filled with love. "I have been waiting to see you. I wanted to have dinner with you and Evander... my sweet, sweet children."
Her words hit like a punch to the gut. My tears stilled for a mont as I pulled back slightly, looking into her soft, familiar eyes. Her face, though aged, still held that warmth and kindness, but sothing was terribly wrong. Her words echoed in my head, but they didn’t make sense.
Dinner? With Evander?
How could she not know about the divorce? Or everything that had happened between us?
Before I could respond, an elderly nurse stepped in, offering an apologetic smile. "Forgive , Miss," she said, bowing her head slightly. "Old Madam has dentia. She... she doesn’t rember anything after her grandson and granddaughter-in-law passed away."
My heart dropped. Passed away?
"Ex–Excuse !?" I stamred, blinking in shock. What was she talking about? "Passed away? Elijah and Lexi?" My voice trembled as I tried to grasp what she ant. The world around felt like it was spinning.
The nurse gave a sad, knowing look. "Yes, Miss. Old Madam Kensington believes you are still married to Evander, and she thinks her grandson Elijah and his wife are still alive."
I stood there, stunned, unable to process her words. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law were dead? The only support I had in the Kensington family after Grandmother!
How could this be possible? Why was I not made aware of that? Or did it happen while I was gone?
Grandma, oblivious to the tension that gripped , smiled warmly. "Julie, hurry up and call Evan! I want him here right away," she chirped happily, her frail voice filled with innocent excitent. "He will be so happy to see you, my dear!"
"No, Grandma!" I exclaid, my voice rising in panic. "You don’t need to call him!" My heart raced, pounding in my chest. I had barely escaped Evander’s grasp. The thought of him finding again, of getting pulled back into his web, made my skin crawl.
I tried to remain calm, for her sake, but the desperation clawed at my insides. "Please," I pleaded softly, my voice breaking with the weight of all I had been through, "don’t call him."
But she didn’t hear . The nurse quietly nodded to her, then looked at sympathetically as if she understood. And in that mont, all the emotions—conflict, grief, fear— swirled inside , a storm I couldn’t outrun.
But then again, deep down, I knew the truth. As long as I stayed in this city—or anywhere in this country, for that matter—there was no way I could escape him. He had eyes everywhere, power that reached farther than I could imagine. Even now, the mory of him hailing the taxi and sending to the hospital played over and over in my mind, taunting . Why had he brought here? Was this all part of so twisted ga he was playing?
The thought made my stomach turn. My body stiffened as a terrifying realization crept over .
Wait... Could this have been another one of his plans? To use Grandmother to bind , trap even further?
Just the idea of it sent a chill racing down my spine. My fingers trembled, and I felt the air grow cold around . Evander was manipulative, ruthless—always calculating his next move. But to drag his grandmother into this? To exploit her mory loss and innocence? Was there no line he wouldn’t cross?
My breath ca out in short, uneven gasps as my heart pounded wildly. What the hell does he want from ? He already had everything—a mistress waiting at his side, children born from their affair, living the life that was stolen from . anwhile, I had been left to drown in the agony of losing my own child, my world shattered beyond repair.
What more could he possibly want?
Tears blurred my vision, but this ti, they weren’t from sadness—they were from anger. How could soone be so heartless? So cruel? He had ripped everything I loved away from , torn my life apart piece by piece, and still, he wasn’t done. His grip on was suffocating, like a chain I couldn’t break no matter how hard I tried.
As I stood there, trapped in that hospital room with Grandmother’s frail arms still around , the fear settled into my bones. He would never let go.
I was still in my thoughts when a small figure appeared in from and hugged my thighs. "Mommy! I finally found you!"
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