“Camile, where is Nate?” I grabbed Camile’s sleeve and asked.

She yanked her arm free and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Ugh, you reek of sweat! Stay away from me! You just don’t quit, do you? I told you, Nate’s not available. And even if you managed to track us down, there’s no way I’m letting you drag him away. My dad is having his surgery today. If anything happens to him, you’ll regret it!”

“But my parents need Nate too!” I started shouting, “Nate Black, come out! Dad has had a heart attack, and Mom was in a car crash! You have to come with me now!”

Before I could say anything more, a nurse rushed over and rebuked me. “This is a hospital. Please lower your voice.”

I ignored her. I kept calling Nate’s name and frantically searched the place.

Camile tried to grab me, but I shoved her to the floor.

As nurses swarmed me, I finally found him.

I grabbed Nate’s arm and tried to pull him with me, but he shook me off. “Andrea, I’m prepped for surgery. Do you realize how contaminated your hands are? You just ruined everything. Stop being hysterical! You’re looking like a shrew right now. This is so embarrassing. I can’t believe I ever married you!”

His words cut straight through me, but I refused to let go.

Tears burst from my eyes as I stared at him. “Nate, please come with me. Mom and Dad need you. They’re waiting for you to save them.”

A few nurses rushed over and started trying to pull me away from him.

Nate sneered and said, “Andrea, I’ve made myself clear over the phone. If your parents were really in critical condition, you wouldn’t have time to chase me down! I was worried you’d sabotage Mr. Walker’s surgery, so I scheduled his surgery here. And yet, you still found us. When are you going to stop being so petty and controlling?”

My heart ached so much that I felt like it was being ripped apart.

With tears blurring my vision, I dropped to my knees before Nate. “I’m not lying, Nate. Just come with me and see for yourself. Mom really was in a car accident. I’m begging you, please come with me now. If we wait any longer, it’ll be too late.”

Nate was stunned as he looked at me. His stern expression faltered as he took a few steps toward me.

Sensing the shift, I quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him with me.

“You’re lying!” Camile’s shrill voice cut through the chaos as she blocked our path.

She thrust her phone in Nate’s face.

“I just checked the news. Yes, there was an accident in the city, but the woman involved wasn’t your mom. It was just a fender-bender. No one was hurt.”

Nate glanced at the screen. There was a look of disappointment on his face as he looked back at me.

“Andrea, you lied to me again. You make me sick!”

He turned to a nearby nurse. “Call security.”

As he started to walk away, I struggled and shouted, “Nate, don’t you dare leave! I’m not lying! Please, you have to believe me. You have to!”

The hospital security guards tackled me to the ground. I could only watch as Nate’s figure disappeared down the hall.

Camile stepped on my fingers with her designer shoe and said in an icy tone, “Andrea, you had it coming! Your parents deserved their accidents! Maybe this was karma for raising a daughter like you. Andrea, I’m back now. Nate will be mine again!”

The police took me into custody for disturbing public order.

At the station, tears streamed down my face as I knelt before the officers. I begged them to let me return to the hospital as my in-laws were waiting for me.

The officers looked at one another, unsure of what to do as they listened to my cries.

After making several calls, their stern expressions softened with pity.

They agreed to let me return to the hospital, but I had to return to the station to face the consequences afterward.

I rushed back to the hospital.

Helen, who had been unconscious all this time, suddenly opened her eyes. She stared behind me, as if she was searching for someone. After a moment, the light in her eyes gradually faded.

I clutched her icy hand and sobbed uncontrollably. “I’m sorry, Mom! I’m so sorry!”

She managed a faint smile. Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “Good girl…”

Then her hand slipped from mine, but her eyes stayed wide open.

I knelt beside her. I was weeping uncontrollably as grief tore through me like a blade.

Swallowing my grief, I wiped away my tears and went to see Peter.

He had pulled through for the moment. The doctors said he was stable, but without a suitable heart, his condition could take a turn for the worse at any time.

When he finally regained consciousness, I told him that everything was okay and Nate would be coming back soon.

Peter nodded with a smile.

I rushed to the doctor’s office and asked them for news about a compatible heart. The doctor told me there was nothing available at that moment and we could only wait.

I walked toward the ward with a dreadful feeling, only to find Peter sitting in a wheelchair and being pushed toward the morgue.

I rushed forward to stop them. His face was pale, his lips tinged with a bluish-purple. Streaks of dried tears marked his cheeks.

Before I could say anything, Peter said softly, “I just wanted to see Helen one last time. She was with me my whole life. I have to see her one last time.”

My body trembled with sorrow as I held back more tears and gently wheeled him to Helen’s side.

Peter pulled a small comb from his pocket and carefully began brushing her messy hair.

He smiled and said, “Helen always cared about her appearance. We can’t have her hair all out of place. I used to braid it for her, you know. She’d always tell me I had good hands.”

I watched him as his trembling fingers braided her hair with aching care. I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from sobbing aloud.

Peter finally said, “Would you give us a moment? I’d like to talk to her alone.”

I leaned helplessly against the wall. I tried again and again to call Nate. I even tried Camile. I tried every mutual friend we had.

However, I could not reach him.

Half an hour later, Peter was wheeled out of the room.

He had called in both a lawyer and a doctor. Peter had updated his will. He had left the family’s house and all their savings to me.

I tried to refuse, but he gently placed a hand on my head and said, “We didn’t raise our son right. We owe it to you. Divorce Nate. Please accept these. They’re from me and Helen. Please don’t turn them down.”

He turned and summoned the doctor. Apparently, he and Helen had signed the body donation agreement long ago.

I said, “Dad, you’re going to be okay! We’ll find a matching donor soon! I know we will. You can’t give up hope.”

He just smiled and said, “Andrea, you’re a good girl. But Helen was always afraid of the dark. I can’t keep her waiting too long.”

Suddenly, his breath hitched. He clutched his chest.

I watched as the doctors rushed him back into the emergency room. It felt like I was falling into a bottomless pit, where there was nothing but despair and crushing loneliness.

Not long after, they wheeled Peter out again. He was covered with a white sheet.

I dropped to my knees. I was sobbing so hard I could barely breathe. Just as suddenly, I burst into hysterical laughter. What remained of my sanity threatened to leave me.

That day, I lost the two people who loved me the most in the world.

They died in despair and helplessness, all because their own son, my husband, had not shown up to help them.

With Peter and Helen gone, whatever attachment I still had to Nate vanished too.

I had loved this family more than I loved him.

With the family gone, so was my love.