Page 332 of Hateful Games

I blink, realizing they’re falling from my eyes. Even as I stared at my mother’s prone body, I didn’t cry. Yet, seeing my stubborn and strong Rosalie lying still has reduced me to tears.

“I’m so sorry, Rose,” I whisper, sitting down when my strength weakens. Running my hand through her hair, I whisper even though she can’t hear me, “Forgive me. Wake up, please. I need you, Rose.”

I hold her palm between both of mine and kiss it.

“Come back to me. I’m here.”

Silently crying, my chest hollow, I stare at her sleeping form. Every second she doesn’t open her eyes, I die a little more inside. Concern for her overweighs the rage boiling underneath.

Her uncle and father.

I should’ve dug deeper.

No clue how much time passes when the door clicks open. I don’t even look up as I growl, “I’m not leaving her.”

“Not asking you to,” replies Nathan. “She’ll make it, Nova. Don’t worry.”

“How can I not? It’s because of my mistake she’s lying here.”

“You can’t blame yourself.”

I sharply meet his solemn eyes. “Bianca and Iris were right. I don’t deserve her. I’ve brought her nothing but pain.”

He goes quiet.

“Who else was found at the house?” I already know the answer but I still pray I’m wrong and that I didn’t make the biggest mistake of my life last night by sending her away. Refusing to believe her because I was angry and fell for her father’s crafted treachery.

“Two more bodies. Her father, who has also admitted, and a third dead body, who they are trying to identify,” he replies. “Why do you ask?”

“The other is her uncle. Mihir faked his brother’s death after he assaulted Rosalie when she was a kid.”

“Fuck.”

“I all but served her on a platter to them, Nathan. She almost died trying to protect me. How am I ever going to fix it? I can’t survive without her. I barely made it a week before turning to the bottle and self-destructing without her.”

He rounds the bed to stand by my side and lays a supportive hand on my shoulder. Squeezing, he says, “You’re going to fix it by loving and fighting for her. No matter how long it takes.”

I’ll never leave her side or stop loving her, even if it’s from afar.

After a while, Nathan leaves. However, I’m not alone for long before Bianca and Iris enter the room. Neither of us say anything and simply watch Rosalie, waiting and praying for her to wake up.

The doctor came by to check on her twice, removed the oxygen mask when she was able to breathe on her own, and kept repeating to me that her body needs rest to heal. That she’ll wake up soon and to not stress. Meanwhile, the police came by once and told me to call them as soon as she wakes up to take her statement. After they got nothing substantial from questioning us. I kept the information of the third person being her uncle to myself.

Mihir, on the other hand, has suffered severe burns after the ceiling fell on top of him. They’re keeping him sedated. It’s become public knowledge that the fire was deliberate. I’m saying nothing of my suspicions until Rosalie wakes up.

While her mother, Lily, is flying from Greece and will land tomorrow morning.

I don’t move a muscle from beside her and decline any offer of food.

Like I could stomach any.

I’m resting my head on the side of the bed, my hand wrapped around hers, when it shifts. A small movement that I would’ve missed if I wasn’t closely counting every single breath she was taking.

Her hand moves again and I look up into a pair of dark eyes that own me.

Standing, I lean over and tuck her hair away, feeling like I can finally breathe again without it suffocating me. I roughly whisper, “Rose.”

She slowly blinks.

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