Chapter 796:

🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙

Lianne lay motionless in the oversized bed, her complexion drained of all color, almost indistinguishable from the white pillow beneath her head.

Crossing the room, I carefully scooped her up without removing the blanket wrapped around her. The faint coldness radiating from her body seeped through the fabric, making my heart tighten.

“Lianne, think about this carefully.” I swallowed the panic clawing at my chest, rested my chin lightly against her hair, and spoke as gently as I could. “Has anyone unusual come near you recently? Did anyone offer you food or a drink that you accepted?”

She rested weakly against me, each breath shallow and strained. After what felt like forever, a faint, self-mocking smile touched her lips. “Ethan… I’ve secretly envied Melisa for a long time.”

Her sudden change of topic caught me off guard, and for a second my mind went blank.

𝗗o𝗐𝗇𝘭𝘰a𝘥𝘢𝘣𝗹е 𝖯𝗗𝘍𝗌 𝗈𝗇 𝗴а𝗅𝗻𝘰𝘃e𝗅𝘴.со𝘮

“In the past, you always kept your distance from other women,” she continued in a frail whisper, exhaustion weighing down every word. “But lately you’ve been talking to her constantly. I understand you’re only trying to help me recover, yet every time I saw you calling or messaging her… it still hurt.”

“I’ll erase her contact information right now.” Without the slightest hesitation, I reached for my phone. “If that’s what you need, I’ll never speak to her again.”

“No.” Her freezing fingers closed around my hand before I could move. “I know you don’t have any feelings for her. This sickness has simply made me overly sensitive. I can’t stop myself from thinking irrationally.”

She slowly lifted her face. For an instant, genuine vulnerability shone through her tired eyes. “I’m telling you everything I’m feeling. After hearing this… do you still believe I don’t love you?”

The fragile look on her face left me speechless. It felt as though someone had slammed a heavy blow straight into my chest, stealing the air from my lungs.

Before I found my voice, she spoke again, barely above a whisper. “If there’s truly no way to save me… Ethan, don’t trap yourself because of me. And no matter what… don’t go with me when I die. Ruby and Silas still need their father.”

“Stop.” My voice cut through her words with unmistakable force. “I refuse to discuss that possibility. You’re going to survive. That’s not a request. It’s a certainty.”

I inhaled slowly, forcing my emotions back under control before returning to what mattered.

Only after repeated questioning did she finally knit her brows together and pull a tiny fragment from the haze of her memory. “You prepared everything I ate.” She hesitated before continuing, “The only exception was when I ran into Melisa in the hospital hallway. She noticed I looked unwell and handed me a bottle of water. I didn’t suspect anything and drank a little.”

An icy sensation crawled through my body. My expression hardened instantly.

.

.

.