chapter623

"You... you are..."

Connor watched Jenson's terrified face and let out a cold, crooked smile. "Connor Jefferson."

Jenson could only stare, his mind reeling. It was like a thunderclap inside his head. He couldn't take any more. His eyes rolled back and he passed out right there.

They'd had a winning hand, but played it so badly. Honestly, they deserved what was coming to them.

Lydia went to the police station to give her statement, and afterward, Connor drove her to the hospital to see Luke.

If Luke hadn't called her himself and agreed to help expose Milana's crimes, none of this would have gone so smoothly.

As Lydia pulled into the hospital lot, the place was chaos. Fire trucks and ambulances lined the entrance, lights flashing. People crowded the courtyard, craning their necks, and others were pressed against windows, whispering and pointing.

"I heard it's a boy, maybe sixteen. He's got some kind of terminal illness. Said he doesn't want to live anymore."

"That's heartbreaking. He's just a kid, barely started his life."

"No, I heard it's depression, not some incurable disease. Maybe life just got too heavy for him."

"Whatever it is, you can't just give up. Look at all these people in here fighting to live."

"He's been sitting up there for half an hour, won't let anyone near him. It's what, ten stories up? If he falls, he's done for.

Lydia's brows knotted together. She glanced at the building where everyone was looking. Her heart skipped a beat.

That was Luke's wing of the hospital.

Even from a distance, she could make out the floor, and the thin shape perched on the edge of the window was all too familiar.

"It's Luke!"

She didn't even think, just took off running.

Connor's sight still wasn't back to normal, so he couldn't see what she saw, but if Lydia said it was Luke, he believed her. He hurried after her, not willing to let her go alone.

Night lay thick and heavy over the hospital, the sky almost pitch black. The white hospital lights spilled out, shining on a sixteen-year-old boy sitting quietly on the window ledge, his legs hanging over nothing.

His silhouette looked so small and alone against the night.

His eyes were empty, almost hollow, staring out at the endless dark like it was calling to him.

The wind kept brushing past, lifting his hair, making him shiver inside and out.

His face was paper pale, tears shining in his eyes, but not a single drop fell.

He clung to the window frame so tightly his knuckles were white, pain and confusion washing over him in waves. The pressure, the

much. Maybe, if he just one

hopelessness it all felt like took

let go he' finally be free.

"Luke, listen to me. You're eighty percent better. If you stick with your treatment, you'll be able to live like everyone else. I promise!"

Dr. Hady stood two meters away from Luke, not daring to get any closer. He was

terrified that one wrong move would send Luke over the edge.

A firefighter tried to sneak up from the side, but Luke's voice cut through the tension. "Come any closer, and I'll jump."

"Luke, whatever's going on, wait for

your sister, okay? Just talk to her first. Don't do anything you'll regret Dr. Hady pleaded, hoping the

mention of Lydia would making

&

difference. He'd only come into check Luke's condition, but he found him halfway out the window instead. There hadn't even been time to call Lydia, but she always came by in the evenings. He could only hope she'd arrive soon.

Luke let out a bitter laugh. My sister? Which one? The one who did my surgery, or the one who gave me her kidney?"

Dr. Hady hesitated, not sure what to say. He didn't want to set Luke off, but he didn't know how to calm him down either.

Luke kept talking, his voice

trembling. "The one who did my

surgery isn't really my sister. The

one who gave me her kidney is but So what's

she just wants me dead

the point, really? Why should even stay alive?"