The contracted heart

y tethering David's father to this mortal plane. Sofia felt rooted to the spot, her body

he fathom running headlong into her ex-husband like this. The man whose betrayal

e inhumanly cruel wi

indication. Those hauntingly familiar eyes she'd once fallen headlong into fli

s suit doing nothing to soften the harsh angles of his face a

and lingering turmoil battering her from all sides. The turbulent highs and shatt

self not to get swept away by that raging undercurrent of emotions. Beside her, Kel

sting like ash on her tongue. "I...Kelvin

eyes and mouth as he stared at the comatose figure in the bed. Of course, he'd had no idea this trag

penetrable mask. He inclined his head at the withered man lying between them—a mer

stubbornness has landed us all

-delusion, could ignore the tangled ramifications of this encounter. Not when the man who had

are. "With all due respect, I didn't come here for some twisted reunion with my girlfriend

He looked riven, stoic facade cracking under the weight of his grief, fear, and protectiveness all conve

ven if her insides roiled with a sickly combination of dread and emotional whiplash from David's reappearance. "Whate

hin in a mollifying nod. He pivoted sharply back towards the hospital bed, leaving th

ully assumed a bedside vigil, clutching his father's limp hand between his calloused palms

ner stationed at his side, subjugating her inner turmo

hospital staff rotating the ElderLord Dickson's forest of IV drips and tubes. But his weighted stare seemed to b

a slowly blinked, dragging a weary hand down her features as the world swayed blearily ar

Kelvin sucked in a strangled inhale. Following his

m rupturing the fragile bubble of stillness. Because the cacophony

nd there was nothing any of them could do but bear witn

ckled grip, murmuring soft, meaningless reassurances against his heaving shoulder blade

he whirlwind of medical intervention swarming his father's bed. His face was

was still a son grappling with a primal, immeasurable loss at this moment. Sofia ach

hal dynasty should be the catalyst drawing the shattered fragments of their lives into realignment once mo

once-shared histories were now forever anchored together in the wake of this cruelly symmetr

om this mortal plane, even the phalanx of medical professionals seemed to

ce from the demons of the past. Not anymore. Only the option of weathering th

ndolences and indistinct promises about processing paperwork. Until

ion hollowed ou

he stared with lashless intensity at the bed

overing in the chasm between

n, there was no hostility, no pretense in hi

husked syllables already corroding

history quaked between them, a pit of recrimination and ruins. All

ith the first shockwave of sobs, Sofia didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his torso. Providing

f a s