It was a sinner's suicide for anyone to work at Coopers Incorporation. It was no surprise that people aimed to stray far from the Devil known as Mr Elijah Cooper.
Cold, demanding, and rough, he ruled over everything with an iron grip and a calculati...
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Nora's P.O.V
The moment my eyes fluttered open, I was met with the blinding white of the hospital ceiling. A dull ache pounded at the back of my head, and my body felt heavy, as if weighed down by exhaustion rather than sleep. The doctor had said I collapsed due to extreme stress. They gave me medication, let me rest. But rest meant nothing when my world was still falling apart.
I forced myself up despite the lingering dizziness and made my way to her. My mother.
She lay there, motionless, her face eerily still, as if carved from stone. Her breathing was shallow, her skin pale. I wanted to hold her, to feel the warmth of her hands wrapped around mine, but she didn’t move. She didn’t even know I was here.
The helplessness clawed at my chest.
“You need to eat something, Nora,” Jane murmured, standing beside me with a plate of food I had no intention of touching.
I didn’t respond. I had spent the last few hours by my mother’s bedside, watching, waiting, hoping for any sign that she’d wake up, that she’d squeeze my hand, that she’d let me know she was still here. But she didn’t. She remained lost in a place I couldn’t reach.
A single tear slipped down my cheek, hot against my cold skin. My fingers clenched into fists as rage burned inside me. Someone did this to her. Someone hurt my mother, and they would pay.
Without thinking, I slammed my fist against the metal railing of the hospital bed, the loud clang echoing through the room.
“Oh my God, Nora!” Jane gasped, grabbing my wrist. “You’re going to hurt yourself!”
I yanked my hand away. It wasn’t her fault. I knew that. But the anger, the frustration—I didn’t know where else to put it. I didn’t trust anyone. Not now.
Arthur.
His name ran through my mind like venom. The police couldn’t find him after the accident. His apartment was empty. He had vanished, and that only made me more certain—he did this. He tried to kill her. And I would find him.
My fingers trembled as I reached for my mother’s hand, holding it tightly. “You have to wake up,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Please, Mom. Just wake up.”
Jane took a step back, sensing my need for solitude. “I’ll leave you alone for a bit,” she said softly before slipping out the door.
I closed my eyes, trying to drown out the sound of the hospital machines beeping steadily, but my mind betrayed me. It pulled me back to a different time, a different nightmare—one that never truly left me.
Flashback
"Why did you do that, you little freak?"
The stench of alcohol filled the air before I even saw him. My father stood in the doorway, his stance unsteady, his eyes wild with fury. His favorite mug lay shattered on the floor, broken into jagged pieces. I had knocked it over by accident, but accidents didn’t matter to him.
