Cole lunged forward and seized her hand, his grip almost painful. His voice came out rough, scraped raw by desperation. “Elliana, you have to save my father. Please. I can’t lose him.”
Tears finally broke free, streaming down his face. His eyes burned red with grief.
Elliana squeezed his hand back, her voice calm and steady as stone. “Let me check on him first.”
“How did I forget? Elliana is Dr. Atkinson!” Ruben practically shouted, snatching her hand. His tone lurched between panic and fragile hope. “With you here, we’ve got a real chance. Elliana, I’m begging you—save my son. Please.”
“I’ll do everything I can,” Elliana said, her voice firm with promise. She gave Ruben a reassuring look and then glanced toward Diane.
Up until today, Diane had been caring for Jarrett at the villa. Today marked the first encounter between Diane and Elliana. Still, Elliana recognized Diane instantly, having seen Diane’s photographs before.
Yet, there wasn’t time for pleasantries. With a quick, polite nod in Diane’s direction, Elliana disappeared into the emergency room.
Diane stood frozen, her face twisted with heartbreak. But as she watched Elliana vanish through those doors, something complicated flickered in her expression. She’d never met Elliana face-to-face, but she knew everything about Elliana—every incident, every consequence.
Elliana had driven Trinity out of the Evans family, and the Craig family had crumbled in the aftermath. But what cut deepest for Diane was that Elliana had pushed her daughter, Eva, out of the Campbell family. Diane had nursed a bitter resentment toward Elliana for months, clutching it tight like a weapon she’d one day use. If Jarrett hadn’t talked her down again and again, she would’ve stormed back long ago to confront Elliana herself.
But now, in this moment of raw desperation, all that resentment evaporated like smoke. Diane found herself praying that Elliana could save her son. She made a silent vow—if Elliana could bring her son back, she’d let every grudge die for good.
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Elliana, of course, had no idea about the shift happening in Diane’s heart. The second she stepped into that emergency room, she took complete control of Jarrett’s resuscitation.
While Elliana fought for Jarrett’s life inside, Cole refused to stand there and do nothing. He found a quiet corner and called Sophie, telling her everything—every brutal detail about Jarrett’s condition.
Sophie’s voice shattered instantly. Her sobs came loud and broken. “I was so wrong! I should never have left without a word back then. I destroyed him—that is all my fault!”
Cole couldn’t speak. He just stayed on the line, his own tears falling silently as hers echoed through the phone.
After the call ended, Cole pulled out a pen and paper and began writing his third application. Compared to the first two, this one was the simplest he’d ever written. On the blank page, he scrawled just one sentence: “We’ll weather every storm together, never leaving each other’s side.”
When he finished, he folded the paper carefully, tucked it away with the pen, and walked back to the emergency room doors.
Elliana had been inside for two hours now.
Since she’d entered, a nurse had been coming out at intervals with updates.
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