Chapter 3

3.

I didn't have many relatives left in this world.

Since Pierce refused to answer the phone, the funeral home put my ashes in a temporary storage area, waiting for someone to pick them up.

The policy was simple: if no one came within three days, the ashes would be disposed of with the other unclaimed remains.

Maybe that was for the best.

I was lonely in life. At least I'd have company in the dirt.

Back at the hospital, the red light above the OR started flashing, and a loud alarm blared.

"Patient is hemorrhaging!"

Nurses scrambled out of the room, desperately calling the blood bank.

Pierce jumped up and grabbed a nurse by the shoulder. "What's going on? How could you mess up the surgery?"

"Calm down!" Lucas stepped in and pulled Pierce back, holding up a file. "Quinn didn't follow the fasting orders before surgery. She had food in her system, which caused complications and severe bleeding…"

"Then save her! How much blood do you need? I'll buy the whole damn supply!"

Pierce didn't care that Quinn was the one who made the mistake.

"You can't just buy blood, Pierce! The blood bank has protocols and limits!"

Lucas was at his breaking point.

But he had underestimated how reckless Pierce could be.

"Use my connections. Tell the blood bank that every drop they have belongs to Quinn Young today."

"If you don't, I will personally see to it that this hospital is shut down!"

He tossed the threat out coldly and went back to staring at the OR doors.

A nurse walked up again, holding a thick stack of paperwork. She called out, "Mr. Sterling? We have a body identification and release form for a Sierra Sterling. It says you are the next of kin…"

He cut her off before she could finish. "How much did she pay you to act this out?"

The nurse blinked, confused. "Excuse me? What money?"

"Sierra is a plague. Does she really have to pull this stunt while Quinn is in a life-or-death situation?"

"I'm busy saving the woman I love! I don't have time for Sierra's pathetic little games!"

Pierce pulled a wad of hundred-dollar bills from his wallet and threw them at the nurse.

"I'll pay you double whatever she gave you. Tell her to go play dead somewhere else. I'm not falling for it!"

Even with the official documents right in front of him, he was convinced I was faking.

His handsome face was twisted with rage, making him look almost monstrous.

I smiled bitterly and shook my head. As he wished, I had gone very far away―so far that we would never have to see each other again.