8 Chapter 8
“Vincent, I’m begging you, for whatever we once had, please, spare me!”
Hearing he could help his mother, Luke nodded vigorously.
She was damned if she confessed, damned if she didn’t. Despair washed over Tessa in a
crushing wave.
The words didn’t register. Vincent refused to believe them. He roared into the phone.
Consumed by rage, Vincent yanked on her ropes, demanding an answer.
His cell phone rang, shattering the tense silence.
Vincent’s smile vanished. “Who is this? Why do you have my wife’s phone?”
Before he could say more, an unfamiliar woman’s voice spoke.
As he stood there, lost and reeling, a small, soft hand slipped into his.
“Hello, are you Mr. Castellano, Isabella’s husband?”
“I’m sorry, I was wrong!”
“I… I just pulled a little trick,” she stammered, squeezing her eyes shut. “I faked the whole thing to make you think I had the surgery. The lung… it went to the patient in the next room. I saw she needed a donor, so I… I sold it.”
Terrified, Tessa began slamming her forehead against the floor, begging for mercy.
With that, the nurse hung up.
Vincent tried calling back, but the line just rang.
“Isabella!” he answered, his voice brimming with relief.
They left her there, bleeding on the manor floor.
“Sir, if you want to know if I’m telling the truth, you should come to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and see for yourself.”
“Speak! What did you just say!”
Vincent took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing himself to appear calm for his son. “No, that was a bad person who stole Mommy’s phone. Luke, will you come with Papa to the hospital to help me catch them?”
Even as the marble grew slick with her own blood, she didn’t dare stop.
With that, the two of them hurried out.
“You’re lying! Who the hell are you? Did you steal her phone?! I’m warning you, give it back right now, or you’ll regret the day you were born!”
Severe burns? Unsuccessful?
A warm trickle of blood ran from her hairline to her chin.
“You sold Isabella’s lung for money?!”
She slammed her head against the floor again and again.
There was a long moment of silence on the other end.
Because she knew. If Vincent willed it, her life would be over in an instant.
Vincent pulled it out and glanced at the screen. His heart leaped when he saw the name.
“Okay! I’ll help get her phone back so she’ll forgive me!”
“Papa, was that Mommy?”
“I shouldn’t have been so greedy! I shouldn’t have sold her lung! It’s all my fault, I’m sorry!”
“My name is Sarah. I’m a nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital,” the voice said calmly. “The owner of this phone, Isabella, was brought in with severe chemical burns from concentrated sulfuric acid. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. We were unable to contact any other relatives. Do you need to come down to handle the arrangements?”
Consumed by fury, Vincent kicked Tessa hard, sending her flying into the coffee table. A sickening thud was followed by her sharp cry of pain.
