Chapter 507:
That morning, Millie took Ari for her final check-up before the surgery. Ari had already been admitted to the hospital two days earlier. If everything came back fine after today’s exam, they could schedule the surgery.
Ari looked anxious. Her small hands were tightly clenched, and she kept glancing up at Millie.
“Don’t be scared,” Millie said, crouching down to meet her eyes. “I’ll be right outside, waiting for you.”
Ari gave a small nod.
“I wish I could be like the other kids. Healthy and happy,” she said softly.
Her biological parents had abandoned her because of her illness.
Millie pulled her into a gentle hug.
Just then, Giffard walked over and crouched beside them, smiling warmly.
“Don’t worry, Ari. It will be over before you know it,” he said, patting her head.
“Dr. Hussain,” Ari greeted him with a nervous smile.
Giffard nodded to both of them.
Later that afternoon, it was time for the operation.
Millie walked Ari to the entrance of the operating room and stayed there. Giffard gave her a reassuring nod. Millie managed a small, tense smile and waited quietly outside.
Meanwhile, a black Maybach rolled to a stop outside Crobert Federal Penitentiary. Once it parked, Brandon stepped out.
Brandon found himself drawn once again to visit Hayden in his sterile prison environment.
They positioned themselves on opposing sides of the thick glass barrier, eyes locked in silent combat, until Hayden broke the tension by lifting the phone first. Brandon’s eyes drifted downward momentarily before his own fingers wrapped around the receiver.
“What brings you back to this place again?” Hayden’s voice carried through the static. “Tell me, did the divorce finally happen? Or did she refuse to sign?”
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Brandon maintained his characteristic composure, though something fragile flickered behind his eyes. “We completed the proceedings. But the truth is…” His voice trailed off as shadows of sorrow clouded his expression.
“She craved freedom from the very beginning,” he admitted quietly.
Hayden’s interest sparked like a flame catching dry wood. “Ah, so you believed you were the one seeking freedom, yet she was the one who cast you aside.” Hayden condensed the painful truth into a single cutting sentence that sliced through Brandon’s defenses.
Brandon offered no reply, choosing silence as his shield.
Hayden erupted into wild laughter, his body convulsing with cruel amusement. The sound echoed harshly through the visiting room as he threw his head back in pure delight.
“How fascinating!” When his mirth finally subsided, he dabbed at the moisture in his eyes and continued, “This outcome never crossed my mind. I can still picture that day when you prostrated yourself before me, begging for her sake, while I looked down on you like you were nothing more than dirt beneath my feet. Back then, I was convinced you two shared a love so powerful it could conquer death itself.”
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