Chapter 1559:
Her heart galloped with a fierce, belated devotion; love rose in her like a swelling tide, each beat jagged and loud enough to fracture reason.
Without warning, a shallow sheen of water pooled at her feet.
Lydia’s jaw locked; a resolve steadied her shoulders. Tears blurred her vision at some indistinct moment, draining color from her face until it was almost translucent.
She brushed the wetness away, the smear of blood on her palms streaking across her skin and ghosting over her cheeks, making the pallor more pronounced.
Then, the operating door swung open. A surgeon stepped out into the light.
Lydia hauled herself upright, the tremor in her eyes vanishing and being replaced by a hard, cold determination. If fate turned cruel, she vowed she would kill Torin before she joined Jeffry in whatever came next.
The doctor peeled away his mask and said in steady tones, “The patient is stable for now; we’ll be moving him to a normal ward shortly.”
Lydia felt her shoulders sag like a sail losing wind, her gaze dropping as relief and residual dread wrestled within her. She offered an inward prayer of gratitude that Jeffry had made it. Her exterior remained composed, voice clipped and formal as she said to the doctor, “Thank you.”
News traveled fast—the Harper family arrived at the hospital as the update spread.
Louis grabbed at a passing nurse, his voice sharp.
“Which room is the patient who just came in?”
𝖁𝖎𝖊𝖜𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖊𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 gⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀﹒𝖼𝗈𝗆
The nurse pointed toward the surgical wing.
Lydia spotted the Harper family approaching, stole one lingering look at the operating door, and then turned away from the hospital corridors. The Harpers would tend to Jeffry’s recovery; there were other matters demanding her immediate attention. As Lydia pivoted, the worry that had shadowed her eyes smoothed into a single, unbending resolve.
She descended to the basement, opened the safe she kept hidden, and removed a compact pistol and a blade that caught the light with a dangerous sheen. Torin had crossed a line by hurting the man she loved; he would be held accountable for it. Had she been so silent for so long that Torin had come to think her harmless, an easy target to push around?
She was Shadow’s premier operative—the one credited with obliterating Shadow’s stronghold single-handedly. She held the rank of S-class, not because she had reached some ceiling but because S-class was Shadow’s own highest title.
For years, she had chosen obscurity and a gentle life as camouflage; that did not mean she had surrendered her edge. Since Torin refused to allow her peace, she would ensure he found none.
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