In that suffocating void, the image of the man I had loved for eleven years didn't fade—it disintegrated, piece by piece, until nothing remained.
Then the world went black.
When I opened my eyes, blinding light flooded my vision. John had finally released me.
"Michelle, you are impossibly stubborn," he sneered, looming over me. "Still refusing to repent? Then take a look at this."
He shoved a tablet in my face. On the screen, a news headline flashed: Chapman Group Facing Imminent Collapse.
I frowned, confusion cutting through the haze. My father's company had been stable for years. I forced words through my damaged throat, the sound grating and ugly.
"John... you did this?"
His expression was terrifyingly calm. "This is the price of defiance."
I looked at the screen again. My father's face was deathly pale in the footage. A chill ran down my spine. I scrambled up and clutched John's sleeve, my pride shattering instantly.
"I was wrong. I'll go apologize to her right now. Just let my dad go, please." Tears stung my eyes. "This is my fault. It has nothing to do with him..."
I didn't wait for his answer. I sprinted toward Faith's hospital room.
But I was too late.