Chapter 541 Impossible

“The money was taken just a few days ago. The paperwork is here, signed and marked by your mother’s hand. Not even your grandfather knew why she borrowed so much or what she planned to do with it.

“Preston, you are my son. Your sister is already hopeless. You cannot keep falling apart like this.

“You know exactly what kind of family the Bells are. Jude, Marcus, and your grandfather are already closing in. We have almost no room left to breathe.”

“This time, even if we make it out alive, we will be stripped to the bone.”

Ryan’s words cut like ice.

When he finished, he looked toward Daphne’s body.

After a moment, he turned his head away.

The weight of everything pressed on him at once, leaving him restless and drained.

He knew Jude would not strike at him while he was down.

But Marcus’s family would never waste a chance this perfect.

Inheritance and power were battles where every obstacle had to be crushed.

If Ryan stood where Marcus stood, he knew he would have pressed his rival down without a trace of mercy too.

And still, the aftermath of Sunlight Plaza loomed over him. Injured victims waited for help. Repairs had to be made. The family name and reputation needed saving. Daphne’s debts demanded answers. Enemies watched in the dark, ready to move.

Preston and Rebecca could stay here, clinging to tears and the memory of someone who could not return.

Ryan could not.

If Daphne had lived, he would have forced the truth out of her without hesitation.

But now the moment was gone.

The dead could not answer, and there was no use in demanding anything of them.

Preston’s chest rose and fell hard as he fought for breath.

When he finally came back to himself, he rushed out of the hospital room.

Ryan was already gone.

What filled Preston then was fear, and a deep guilt that burned in his chest.

“Dad… I’m sorry… I really am sorry…”

Only now did Preston understand just how much Ryan had been carrying.

Daphne’s death and the ruin of Sunlight Plaza meant his holidays were gone.

The sun climbed above the horizon.

It was half past seven.

The holiday.

Every member of the Jenson family stood outside the hospital room.

Not one left.

Not one rested.

They endured together, waiting for Blair to wake.

Russell was given permission to enter the ICU once more. He put on the sterile gown and stepped inside.

Blair’s vitals were steady now. If she lasted another twelve hours, she could be moved to a normal room.

The doctors believed she would open her eyes soon.

They told Russell to sit with her, to speak her name, to remind her of the life they had built together.

Even while unconscious, she would hear him deep inside her mind.

The voice of the one she loved could spark her brain, and maybe, just maybe, bring her back faster.

Russell dropped to his knees beside the bed. His eyes stayed on her pale face. Tears gathered again, spilling past his control, burning red around his eyes.

“Blair… Blair… please wake up. I cannot stand to see you like this.

“You do not want to keep lying here while we all suffer in worry. The doctors said you should be waking. Blair, open your eyes. Look at me.”

He called her name over and over. His voice was thick with grief as he poured out every memory, every piece of their life together.

Those who stood nearby wiped their eyes. Those who listened felt their hearts ache.

Then at last—

He heard a sound, faint but real.

“Ru… Ru…”

It was beautiful.

The broken whisper struck him like a blow, then filled him with wild joy. “Blair?! You are awake?! I am right here! Right here!”

If her hand had not been bound to the IV line, he would have seized it with all his strength and never let it go.

“Tilda… Tilda…

“I am sorry… Mommy is so sorry…

“I truly am sorry….

“I am sorry, my love… I still cannot let go… My heart… it hurts so much…”

The name she called was not his.

It was Tilda’s.

In that instant, Russell heard the truth behind her broken words.

As Tilda’s mother, Blair knew the ruin of what she had done.

The guilt cut her soul to pieces, carving grief and regret that no one else could ease.

Russell had believed he knew her heart. He had thought she was learning to set it aside.

But now he saw the truth.

Blair’s guilt for Tilda would never fade.

It would cling to her all her life, no matter how much love she received, no matter how much happiness surrounded her.

Nothing would ever wash it away.

It would follow her until the end, carried with her into the grave.

And so he realized—

All this time, Blair had hidden it.

She had swallowed her sorrow, forcing it down, just so her family would not worry.