Chapter 802

Jace’s hand fell to his side, his phone slipping onto the floor. His whole body seemed to collapse under an invisible weight. His voice cracked. “Mom said… Dad… he’s gone.”

Wayne didn’t react, like he’d already seen this coming. They stood there in tense silence before Wayne uttered, “Let’s go.”

Jace called while I was half-asleep. My dreams had been all over the place, and the phone’s ringing yanked me out of that foggy mess. I groaned, fumbling for it. “Hello?”

“Rea…” Jace’s voice wavered, then broke.

“What is it?” I mumbled, still groggy.

“My dad… He’s gone.”

His voice was barely a whisper, yet it snapped me awake. My heart thudded as his words sank in. Matthew Johnston. The man who took my parents from me—but also the man who treated me like his own daughter. I hated him, but I couldn’t hate him completely.

It’s why I’d been dodging my promise to Lindey to visit the Johnston house. And now? He was gone. Forever.

I stayed quiet, throat tight. On the other end, I could hear Jace quietly crying. “I… I don’t have a father anymore,” he whispered.

Grief like that is something you can’t explain to anyone who hasn’t felt it. I had. Losing my parents left a wound that’s never really healed. Some pain can’t be fixed with words, and I had nothing to give him. All I could do was hold the phone and listen to Jace’s quiet sobs on the other end.

After a while, when his voice evened out, I finally asked, “When’s the funeral?”

“Three days,” he said, his tone hollow.

I wanted to say I’d be there, but I wasn’t even sure I could get out of bed, let alone show up. All I could manage was a faint, “Okay.”

“Rea, will you come?”

I didn’t know how to answer. I stayed silent, the same question swirling in my own head—could I really go?

Then Jace said something that hit me like a freight train. “Mom told me that in his last moments, when he could barely speak, he was calling your name.”

Tears stung my eyes. I tilted my head back, staring at the ceiling. “I’ll go,” I said softly.

Jace didn’t say anything else—just hung up.

Lena came in later to check on me after I told her I needed to leave. She ran a few tests, poking and prodding, before giving me a once-over with her usual doctor glare. “You’re not bleeding anymore, and everything looks stable. But no heavy lifting, no tripping, no wild movements, and if you feel even a little off, you call me. Got it?”

Having an OB-GYN as your best friend? Life. Saver.

I nodded, though I wasn’t exactly brimming with energy. Lena frowned, like she could see straight through me. “Alright, I’ll switch shifts and go with you.”

I blinked. She’d sworn off trading shifts after a patient had complications the last time she did, but here she was, ready to break her rule for me.

“You don’t have to,” I said, not wanting her to feel pressured.

She rolled her eyes. “Mr. Johnston was always kind to me when I tagged along to the Johnston house for free food and drinks. Going to pay my respects isn’t about you—it’s about him.”

Her saying that made me feel a little better. If something happened, at least I’d have Lena there.

“Oh, hey, any updates on that case?” I asked, trying to switch gears.

The last I’d heard, the deceased patient’s family member—the one who’d kidnapped her—was already locked up.