“Elissa!”

The door burst open. Ernest rushed in, with Quentin right behind him.

Seeing the scene, it was as if a bomb had gone off in Ernest’s mind.

“Stop!” he bellowed.

Both men sprang into action.

Ernest grabbed Elissa from behind, while Quentin rushed to steady the bloodied and barely conscious Linda.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Elissa thrashed in Ernest’s arms. Her body trembled as her nerves unraveled. “She’s a murderer!”

She turned to him with tearful eyes and grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, as if both begging and accusing. “She caused my grandfather’s death! Are you really going to let her get away with it?”

“Elissa!” Ernest’s voice cut through the chaos as he caught her by the arms and steadied her. “You need to think about yourself first. If anything happens to her, it’ll fall on you. You’ll be the one they call a murderer. Do you even realize how many people were watching? There are cameras in the ward. If you go through with this, even I won’t be able to protect you.”

“Go ahead and arrest me,” Elissa spat, her face as pale as a ghost. “Do you think I care?”

For a moment, he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t believe she had thought this through.

Once he found the words, Ernest reminded her, “And what about Locke? He just got his mother back. Are you really going to leave him behind?”

Elissa froze. Her body stiffened as if it had turned to stone.

He was right. Her Locke… he was still so young.

“Let’s go!” Ernest took advantage of her silence. He swept her into his arms and carried her out.

By the time Hadley wrapped up for the day, Eric had already been waiting for a while. His face was set in a grim line. He looked like he wanted to speak but couldn’t bring himself to start.

? ? : ν?

“What happened?” Hadley asked, sensing something wasn’t right.

It didn’t feel like it was about her. If it were, Eric wouldn’t have stood there patiently waiting for her to finish filming. Was it about Elissa, then?

Earlier, she had tried calling Quentin but couldn’t get through. After that, work pulled her back in.

She pressed her lips together, then asked carefully, “Is it about Elissa?”

“Yes.” Eric stepped closer and gently took her hand. Then, as steadily as he could, he began, “I need you to stay calm and listen to me. Elissa’s grandfather has passed away.”

Hadley gasped. Her breath caught, and her mouth parted slightly in shock. She shut her eyes for a moment, forcing herself to take it in.

How could this happen?

“Wasn’t he supposed to be getting better?” she asked.

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