Chapter 8
Out of nowhere, the doctor broke his silence.
"Who is the patient's family?" the doctor asked, his voice somber.
The doctor added, "There was heavy bleeding during the operation. We tried everything, but...
"The patient has passed away."
Victor couldn't believe any of that.
The news hit him like a bombshell.
His whole world was falling apart. He was barely holding himself together, refusing to accept the words he'd heard.
He staggered to his feet, barely able to keep himself upright.
Sophie was suddenly flung aside, nearly toppling out of her wheelchair.
Her face turned pale as she gasped, "Victor, what are you doing? I almost fell."
But Victor ignored everything else, moving in a daze straight toward Charlotte.
"Charlotte, aren't you going to say anything?" he demanded.
He was yelling at her, his voice hoarse with emotion.
"Didn't you see me proposing to someone else?" He shouted as he grabbed her hand, ice-cold beneath the sheets. "Get up! Quit faking! You think I'd be dumb enough to fall for this?"
But Charlotte just lay there, completely still, showing no reaction at all.
Victor's heart kept sinking, hitting rock bottom with every passing moment.
The doctor stepped forward and said, "Mr. Sterling, we're sorry about what happened to Charlotte. We know this is hard, but please try to accept it. Also, could you contact her family so they can make arrangements to have her body picked up?"
When Victor heard the word body, all the strength he'd been holding onto vanished in a flash. His eyes went wide as he spun around to stare at her.
He shouted, "How could she possibly be dead?
"Are you insane? She was fine. She just went in for surgery, and now you're telling me she's dead?"
He looked like he'd lost it. His expression was downright terrifying.
Victor kept shaking his head, his heart torn between denial and belief.
Suddenly, mocking voices rang out from the crowd.
"You fell for that, Victor?" someone jeered.
"Are you kidding? How could a healthy person drop dead like that?" another scoffed.
"Yeah, didn't you see the video? Charlotte knew you were playing her. Why shouldn't she turn the tables on you for once?" someone else chimed in.
Sophie said coldly, "Charlotte, drop the act. Everyone already knows.
"Come on, get up.
"I get it, you hate seeing Victor and me end up together, but you don't have to play this sick joke on all of us."
All those voices denying it echoed in Victor's ears, and deep down, he started to hope they were right. He grabbed onto those words like a lifeline, telling himself that it couldn't be real.
Victor called out, "Charlotte, quit fooling around and get up.
"Isn't it enough, making a scene in front of everyone?"
Victor stormed over.
He snapped, "You've taken this joke way too far. You even roped the doctor in to mess with my head.
"Come on, it was a little joke. Did you have to take it this far?"
As he spoke, he reached out and yanked the white sheet off the body.
There it was, a face so pale, drained of all color and hauntingly familiar, laid bare for all to see.
Victor choked back any sound, his words stuck in his throat.
He stared in horror at that face.
He'd expected to see her face twisted in panic and grief today.
Now, there was nothing, with no emotion at all. She just lay there, quiet and still.
It was like nothing had ever happened.
Victor kept staring, his eyes bloodshot, his whole body trembling.
Then, someone broke the silence, his voice full of disbelief.
"Wait, she's really dead?" that man asked.
Victor stood frozen, his back to everyone, not daring to turn around.
But he knew that all those people behind him, waiting for drama, had suddenly gone silent.
For a long time, no one said a word.
Finally, Sophie muttered, "Victor, the dead can't come back to life."