Chapter 19



In the hospital room, Kallie clung to Linsey, who was about to settle into the extra bed.

Kallie’s fingers flew across her phone keyboard. “You should head home. The nurses are here. I’ll be okay by myself. It’s just a sprained arm. You don’t need to stick around for that.”

“How can I just leave you here by yourself?” Linsey protested, unwilling to leave.

Kallie sighed, paused, and then fabricated an excuse, typing it out on her phone. “I’m worried Jake might drop by later.”

As expected, Linsey wavered. “Is he really trying to make amends?”

Earlier that day, when Jake and Kallie had gone golfing, Linsey had thought their relationship was on the mend. However, the situation with Sarah had escalated, and Jake had not only ignored it but had also defended Sarah. This had left Linsey feeling let down.

Kallie nodded reassuringly, typing out her response. “Don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control.”

“Alright then…” Linsey finally gave in, bombarding Kallie with a series of cautions before she left.

But the moment Linsey stepped outside the hospital, doubt crept in. If Jake truly cared, wouldn’t he have shown up sooner? Maybe I’ll leave once he arrives, she thought.

With that thought, Linsey picked up some snacks at a nearby store and headed back to the hospital, planning to use the excuse that she had forgotten her keys to return to Kallie’s room.

However, as Linsey emerged from the elevator into the corridor, she spotted a shadowy figure stealthily making his way into Kallie’s room. There were only two wards on this level, making it impossible for Linsey to mistake one for the other. She paused briefly and then yelled at the top of her lungs, “What are you up to?”

Linsey hastily dashed toward Kallie’s room. She knew Jake wouldn’t lurk about like this. She burst through the door with a forceful kick, but she was too late.

A man was pulling Kallie from her bed, his hand clamped around her neck as he dragged her toward the wide-open window. Kallie’s upper body was perilously dangling outside, her grip on safety visibly slipping.

“Hold it! Police!” Linsey screamed.

Her voice jolted the man. In his momentary hesitation, Kallie lashed out with a forceful kick to his abdomen.

Caught off guard, the man groaned in pain. However, the momentum caused Kallie to stagger backward, teetering on the brink of falling from the sixteenth floor—a certain death.

As Linsey sprinted toward Kallie, a blur of motion zipped past.

Steven, quicker on his feet, reached the window first. He snatched Kallie by her hospital gown and yanked her to safety. They both tumbled onto the floor in a heap.

“Kallie! Are you alright? Are you hurt?” Linsey dashed forward, tears streaming down her face, her expression filled with lingering fear.

Silently, Steven rose from the floor and delivered a powerful kick to the lower back of the man in black. He channeled all his strength into the kick, causing a loud crack to echo from the man’s back as the latter fell, immobilized by pain.

Linsey assisted Kallie back to her bed, just as the nurses hurried in to tend to her.

Kallie’s neck bore bruises from the man’s grip, and her recently set arm had been dislocated again, bringing tears of pain to her eyes.

As Kallie’s arm was tended to, Linsey looked at Kallie with deep sympathy. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t left, none of this would have happened.”

Kallie shook her head, dismissing the blame.

“It’s that guy’s fault!” Linsey snapped, her voice strained as she approached the injured man and stomped on his head. “Did Sarah send you?”

At this point, Sarah was the only one with the motives to harm Kallie.

The man, writhing in agony, only whimpered, offering no information.

Meanwhile, Steven had already made a call to Jake.

When Jake was informed of the attack on Kallie, he sprang up and rushed out. But as Jake was leaving, he caught Linsey’s accusation and paused, turning to gaze at Sarah, whose face showed only concern.

“You’re coming with me,” Jake stated firmly to Sarah.

As Sarah and Jake stepped into the room, Linsey burst out with a loud, mocking laugh. “Have you come to make a confession?” She scoffed, her gaze fixed on Sarah with intensity. “Feeling cornered as the other woman, you resorted to hiring someone to eliminate Kallie?”

“What… What are you saying? I don’t know anything about this…” Sarah’s voice wavered, her eyes brimming with tears as she stood quivering behind Jake, her complexion turning ashen.

“Oscar-worthy performance,” Linsey mockingly commented and then raised a phone. “A simple phone call will confirm if you were the one who hired this man.”

Linsey pressed a button on the phone, and moments later, Sarah’s phone chimed.

“This is his phone,” Linsey declared, gesturing toward the unconscious man on the floor. “He took the last call from this number. When I called it back, your phone rang. So, Sarah, what’s your explanation?”

.

.

.