I collapsed to my knees, my hands trembling as I gathered his broken body into my arms.
“Jasper… Mom is here… I am sorry… I am so sorry…”
I cried until my voice tore apart, as if my soul had been split open.
Again and again, I swore it.
“I will make them pay. I swear I will.”
The medication seemed to have lost its effect on me.
I was actually able to brace myself against the wheelchair and slowly stand.
I lifted Jasper onto the wheelchair and covered the horrifying wound in his chest with a burial shroud.
Step by step.
I pushed him all the way to the entrance of the police station.
I refused to believe this world truly had no justice for me.
“I want to file a report,” my voice was shockingly steady. “Xander and Anais are suspected of intentional homicide and deliberate leakage of classified information.”
I pulled back the shroud.
Jasper’s wound was exposed under the harsh white light, grotesque and terrifying.
“My son was murdered,” I said coldly. “You can perform an autopsy. You will find out exactly what drugs were used on him.”
The officer’s expression shifted from shock to grim.
Then he slammed the desk and pointed at me, shouting.
“Mr. Xander has long stated that you suffer from delusions. Nothing you say can be trusted!”
“And besides, he already signed a donation agreement on behalf of the child. That was legal!”
My heart felt as if it were being crushed alive.
I had never imagined this.
That for Anais, Xander could set such a flawless trap.
I stepped back, only to bump into someone.
I turned around.
It was him.
Xander stood there.
He still carried the scent of hospital disinfectant, his expression colder than the first time I ever met him.
The moment he saw that I had brought Jasper out, his face changed drastically.
“Isadora, are you insane? Stealing a body is a serious crime!”
When he noticed the bloody hollow in Jasper’s chest, his anger slowly faded, replaced by a display of false grief.
“I already chose a burial site for him. Dragging him around like this, are you trying to make sure he never rests in peace?”
The last thread of my reason snapped.
“This is my son!” I roared. “Of course I will demand justice for him!”
“Have you forgotten how my legs were broken? Have you forgotten who fired three shots at him?”
Xander did not answer.
Instead, a weak and familiar figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
It was Anais.
She was wearing a hospital gown, her face pale, her steps unsteady. Yet she walked straight up to me and dropped to her knees.
She actually knelt.
“Isadora…”
Her voice trembled with sobs. “Back then, I was blinded by obsession. I was wrong.”
She pulled out her surgical scalpel and pressed it against her chest.
“If you hate me… I am willing to die right now to atone.”
The blade rested against her chest. One slight push and it would pierce her heart, blood splattering everywhere.
Everyone held their breath.
And for the first time,
I saw real fear in her eyes.
“Anais, you just had surgery. Do not get agitated!”
Seeing the bandages still wrapped around her chest as she held the scalpel to her heart, Xander completely lost control.
He rushed over almost frantically and snatched the blade away.
When he looked back at me again, his eyes were already stained with barely restrained hatred.
It was the first time I had ever seen him panic this much for a woman.
“Isadora, how far are you planning to take this?”
His voice trembled, though he forced himself to sound calm. “Do you only feel satisfied when you push Anais to her death?”
“She did make mistakes back then, but she has already paid the price. She barely survived. Is that still not enough?”
I stood there in silence.
All the rage, grief, and confusion churned violently in my chest, until in the end, only exhaustion remained.
