Sadie's POV

“M-Mom…”

Mick’s weak voice pulled me out of a nightmare.

I quickly grabbed his small, icy hand and pressed it to my face.

“Mommy’s right here,” I whispered.

He tried to give me a smile, though it clearly took effort, and comforted me. “Don’t cry, Mommy. Mick’s okay.”

I then quickly wiped the tears I didn’t even notice when they trickled.

“I love you, Mom,” he murmured.

“Sweet boy. Mommy loves you, too. You’re going to be okay.”

Those three minutes waiting for help felt longer than my entire lifetime.

At 2 minutes and 48 seconds, the medical team finally arrived.

They were fast and efficient. Not a single movement wasted. In seconds, they had an oxygen mask over Mick’s face, fluids running through a line, and a blood transfusion started.

“Ms. Middleton, Mick’s condition is quite serious,” the lead doctor said. “We need to move him to a hospital with better equipment for a full evaluation. Don't worry, we’re licensed to operate globally and can use any facility without cost or delay. The best option right now is MediTrust Hospital. It’s the closest and also the best.”

At first, I hesitated because MediTrust belonged to Denton.

But Mick couldn’t survive a longer drive. And this hospital was built specifically with children like him in mind, as Denton invested one hundred and fifty million in it back when Mick was frequently sick.

Besides, Denton was off chasing after Melanie and her daughter. He wouldn’t be back anytime soon.

With that in mind, I nodded.

Half an hour later, the emergency room light finally went off.

“Is Mick okay?” I rushed toward the doctor, grabbing his hand in desperation, trying to peek into the room.

The doctor looked completely exhausted as he replied, “He’s stable now. We’re replenishing his red blood cells. If all goes well, he should wake up in about thirty minutes.”

I finally breathed again. And with that breath came the realization that I had been gripping the doctor’s hand so tightly it had turned red.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, letting go. “Thank you. Thank you for saving my son.”

The doctor offered a tired but kind smile. “It’s my job. But you should know, he still needs careful attention. He’s lost a lot of blood. It’s a serious threat to his life.”

I nodded, dazed, and a wave of guilt crashed over me. I should’ve protected him. I failed him. I was supposed to be his mother.

“What can I do for him?” I asked helplessly.

“You don’t need to blame yourself too much. What he needs now is rest,” the doctor answered.

I glanced into the hospital room. For the first time, some color had returned to Mick’s little face. But his brows were still furrowed in discomfort.

Suddenly, I remembered his favorite teddy bear.

That bear had comforted him more than anything else. More than my hugs. More than even Denton’s affection.

He also loved the sound of wind chimes and those dinosaur picture books he read every night before bed.

Maybe those familiar things could help him sleep better.

Thinking of it, I grabbed my keys and rushed back home.

But as soon as I parked in the underground garage, I caught a faint whiff of smoke.

Yet I didn’t think much of it since I had no time.

I bolted straight for Mick’s room, but when I opened the door, I froze.

It looked like a war zone.

The room had been completely torn apart and ransacked like it had been looted. Everything was gone. Even the family portrait he drew and stuck on the wall was ripped to shreds.

Then I heard her voice.

“Throw it all in the river.”

I looked down over the railing and saw her, Melanie, commanding someone to dump all of Mick’s belongings.

“Melanie!” I screamed. “Have you lost your damn mind?! What the hell are you doing?!”

Sadie's POV

I stumbled and scrambled down the stairs, desperate to stop her, but it was too late. Everything had already been shredded, ripped, and destroyed.

I dropped to the floor, frantically trying to piece Mick’s things back together like some broken puzzle, but it was hopeless. All of it was gone.

Yet Melanie stood there, smiling gracefully as if she were watching a madwoman unravel before her eyes.

“Oh, relax,” she said calmly. “It’s just a bunch of useless junk. I’m helping you clean up.”

“Useless?!” I cried out, shaking. “Those were Mick’s things!”

She gave a casual shrug. “Well, it’s not like he’ll need them anymore, right? You should be thanking me, honestly. What kind of manners did that little brat even learn from you?”

Her words cut deep, each one worse than the last.

“This room’s about to become the new nursery,” she added, still smiling. “If we don’t clear it out properly, who knows what kind of bad luck your little dead-weight son might pass on to my and Denton’s baby?”

“Nursery?” I snapped, voice rising with fury. “There are plenty of other rooms! Why did you have to destroy his?”

She tilted her head mockingly. “You’re really this hard to talk to? Or are you just crazy now? That short-lived son of yours, how many days do you think he’s got left?”

That smirk on her face, so full of venom and cruelty, pushed me over the edge.

Before I could think, my hand had already flown across her face.

Her head whipped to the side, and blood trickled from the corner of her lip. But instead of anger, she smiled even wider.

She gently touched the red, rising print on her cheek, her eyes glittering with malice.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she whispered darkly, “you’re going to regret that.”

Then suddenly, she threw herself backward, away from me, arms flailing dramatically as she let out a panicked scream.

She landed right into the fire pit.

Instinct kicking in, I reached out to pull her back, but she grabbed me instead, yanking me down with her. My knees slammed straight into the shattered glass of Mick’s favorite snow globe.

She whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes as she gripped her stomach.

“Please, Sadie, I didn’t mean to throw Mick’s things away. Don’t hurt me anymore. I still have to take care of Jewel. She needs me.”

The pain in my knees and hands was unbearable, but I couldn’t even process it anymore. My brain was too overloaded with everything that was happening.

“Stop!”

The sharp voice cut through the chaos as Denton arrived.

He stormed over and saw Melanie sitting on the ground, covered in ash and dirt, looking like a damsel in distress. Without hesitation, he scooped her into his arms, and his face twisted in anger as he turned on me.

“What the hell did you do?!”

Before I could even open my mouth, he yanked me to my feet, then kicked me hard in the stomach.

With the brutal force, I went flying across the patio, crashing into the iron railing so hard that it bent.

“I didn’t. I swear I didn’t hurt her,” I choked out. “She fell on purpose—”

“Shut up!” he roared, towering over me. “Do you think I’m that stupid? That I’ll keep letting you lie to me again and again?”

“I warned you not to touch Melanie or her daughter! You mistook my tolerance for weakness, didn’t you? You thought you could keep playing me like before?”

He grabbed me again, this time dragging me across the garden like a discarded corpse. Sharp rocks and branches tore into my skin, causing blood to ooze out.

“You’ll pay for this,” he growled.

Once inside, he threw me into the bedroom and hurled our wedding keepsakes at me like garbage. The small velvet ring box then hit me square on the forehead, and blood trickled from the gash above my eyebrow, blurring my vision in red.

He destroyed everything. Everything we were.

The pain wasn’t even physical anymore. It was something far deeper, far colder. I felt like my heart had been carved out, one slice at a time. And now, he was burning the rest.

Even so, I didn’t cry. I just sat there, watching it all burn down.

All I wanted was to go back to the hospital and be with Mick.

But Denton wasn’t finished.

“Put her on the helicopter,” he ordered coldly. “Drop her at three thousand meters.”

My blood turned to ice upon hearing that.

He knew I had a paralyzing fear of heights.

I looked at him, terrified, silently begging.

Yet he only smiled and said, “I told you. You'll pay the price of what you did.”

And it hit me again. This man, this monster, wasn’t just powerful. He ruled both the underworld and the business world. People trembled at his name. So if he wanted me gone, he wouldn’t hesitate.

But Mick didn’t deserve this.

“Please, don’t do this,” I sobbed. “Just let me see Mick and I’ll disappear. I’ll take him and go far away. You’ll never see us again.”

He looked down in disgust as I clung to the hem of his pants, my palm torn and bloody.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Sadie,” he said. “I’m not letting either of you off the hook. Not the woman who humiliated me for five years, and definitely not that bastard child.”

“He’s not a bastard! He’s your son!”

“You’re still lying to me!?” he shouted, then slapped me across the face with full force.

Blood filled my mouth instantly, and a tooth even flew out and hit the floor.

Still, I tried to speak and beg. But my voice was lost in the pain and blood.

“Take her away,” he barked.

Then I heard a muffled sound at the back of my head, and everything went dark.

The last thing I thought before blacking out was terrifyingly clear that they were going to kill me.

Sadie's POV

I didn’t know when I woke up, just that when I did, all I could hear was the howling wind.

My body ached all over, and I was lying on a freezing metal floor. The biting cold reminded me that I was thousands of feet in the air.

I forced myself to glance outside, only to see pitch black.

At 3,000 meters, even breathing felt like a chore. Just that one glimpse sent me into a full-blown panic. My chest tightened, my vision flickered, hives broke out across my skin, and I couldn’t even feel my legs.

I collapsed onto the floor of the cabin, trembling as I looked around.

There was nothing but a single bottle of water and one parachute.

I checked the time. It was already 9 PM.

Mick should be waking up around now. He must be so scared without me.

But I had no choice.

If I wanted to see my son again, I had to jump.

Hands shaking, I strapped on the parachute and began rehearsing the motion to pull the ripcord over and over, again and again. Yet I couldn’t guarantee I’d even be conscious after jumping. I might pass out the second I leave the aircraft and end up a pile of shattered bones on the ground.

But staying meant death, so jumping gave me a sliver of hope.

And if I didn’t make it, at least I knew my grandmother would take care of Mick.

That thought gave me the courage I needed, and I jumped.

The sheer rush of terror jolted me awake mid-fall, so I managed to pull the chute at just the right time, but everything after that went dark.

When I woke up again, I was surrounded by dense jungle. A group of student hikers had luckily found me. At first, they thought I was some extreme sports enthusiast. Yet I didn’t bother correcting them and just let them help me get back to the city.

The moment sunlight hit my skin, every inch of my body screamed in pain. It felt like my bones had been hammered one by one.

Still, I forced myself toward the hospital.

But the moment I arrived, something felt off.

Everyone looked at me with such pity in their eyes.

I glanced down at myself, torn clothes, bloodstained, and filthy. I looked like a homeless woman. If Mick saw me like this, he’d probably be scared.

As such, I cleaned up in the nearest restroom, just enough not to terrify my own son. Then I hurried to his room, only to find it empty.

My heart skipped a beat.

Maybe they just moved him to a regular room? Maybe he got better?

I quickly dialed his attending physician.

But the silence on the other end of the line made my stomach turn.

Then came his voice, low, hesitant. “Your husband… he didn’t tell you?”

Something in me froze.

“Mick went into cardiac arrest around midnight. He passed away. Your husband said… maybe this was as long as he was meant to live. So he took Mick’s heart and said that the only value your son had left might be to be a match for Jewel,” he explained.

Seeing me stunned, he continued, “I tried calling you, but I couldn’t reach you. And since your husband is listed as Jewel’s legal guardian, and you and your grandmother never officially disclosed your relationship, we had no legal grounds to delay the procedure.”

Each word stabbed me, over and over, every syllable a poisoned blade sinking deep into my chest.

Mick was really gone?

No. No, that couldn’t be. Just yesterday afternoon, he looked at me and told me he loved me. How could he be gone today?

I shoved the door open and ran to the bed, throwing myself onto the sheets, desperate to catch even the faintest trace of his scent.

But there was nothing. Only the cold, sterile smell of disinfectant.

“No. No! I don’t believe this! Where is he?! Where’s my son?! Give me back my child!”

I screamed and screamed, like a woman completely unhinged.

“He’s right here,” a voice said calmly.

I turned and saw Melanie.

She stood there in a white Chanel suit, elegant and polished, like she’d just walked off a runway. In her arms, what looked like a small, decorative box, like an accessory.

“This is his ashes,” she said lightly. “I figured you might want them.”

She then tossed the urn toward me, and I lunged like a rabid animal, tears pouring freely.

But the tears blurred my vision, and I couldn’t see where it landed.

Then I heard the crashing sound of porcelain hitting the floor.

And just like that, in the first light of dawn, Mick’s ashes scattered into the wind.