The room was quiet except for the rhythmic beeping of the monitor. Jade still sat in Caleb's embrace, her eyes red and puffy, her hands trembling slightly. Caleb kept on stroking her hair while holding her gently, yet firmly. Jade wanted answers and so did Caleb, but both remained silent, relishing the occasional moment of vulnerability.
Jade remembered how he had always been her anchor, standing by her even in her worst times. She always had him to fall back on whenever she felt lost but even the strongest anchors break under pressure. She felt it in the way his hands trembled ever so slightly while stroking her hair, yet he still stood firm, fighting for her. Though, she couldn't figure out why he hid the report from her.
They stayed that way for a long time. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours. It was getting late. Finally, after moments of hesitation Caleb stood up,"it's getting late, you should take rest. Tomorrow is a big day."
Jade asked, sighing in exhaustion,"What's tomorrow?"
Caleb hesitated before replying,"I know it might be too much for you but it has to be done. It can't be delayed anymore…"
"What is tomorrow?" asked Jade more firmly this time.
It was at that moment, Caleb realised that she wouldn't let the matter slide. He was reluctant to tell her unsure of how she would react. He sighed heavily,"Tomorrow is your coronation as the head of the Collins Family Empire."
Jade's breath hitched in her throat. She had not expected this. She knew she would have to take over as the family head one day but she didn't expect it to be so soon…not tomorrow at least.
She stared into her uncle's obsidian eyes and parted her lips to say something, but closed them again. She saw his slightly hunched posture and the dark circles around his eyes. He was tired yet, he was over-exerting himself–bearing all the burden alone silently, without complaint, all for her. She knew he would somehow postpone it if she told him to, but she didn't want to become a burden to him, like she had always been to her mother.
She didn't want him to think of her as a burden like her mother had. So, she silently nodded. Caleb was relieved to see that, though he was also worried about her. He tucked in the blanket around her like he did, when she was a child, afraid of monsters under her bed. He gently patted her head, kissed her forehead and bade her goodnight before leaving her alone in the hospital room.
Jade lay on the hospital bed staring at the ceiling. Sleep was far from her. She had far too many questions with no answers. Her father's post mortem report flashed before her eyes. She couldn't understand why someone would do that to her father, how someone could kill him so brutally and why? She closed her eyes to shut out all the thoughts and feelings but instead of silence, she heard it. A whisper… faint, distant.
"He wasn't who you think he was."
Her eyes shot open. Her hands gripped the edge of the blanket. Her frantic gaze roamed all over the room, but there was nobody. The room was still and so was the hallway outside. She sat up slightly, heart racing. It must've been her imagination, she thought. She tried to lie back down when she heard it again.
"You'll see soon enough."
Jade flinched. This time she was certain. It wasn't a nurse, it wasn't Caleb and it wasn't her mind. The voice was not human – not exactly. It held a coldness, an echo that didn't belong in the realm of living. A shiver ran through her spine. The air around her felt colder. "Who's there?" She whispered only to be met with silence – suffocating silence.
She pressed the call button for the nurse. Her fingers hovered over it, tempted to press it twice, thrice, anything to make her come as fast as she possible. Every second felt painfully long. Soon enough, she heard footsteps in the hallway, coming towards her. The nurse opened the door and walked to her bed. She asked politely,"Do you need something ma'am?"
Jade fumbled nervously,"Umm…uhh…water. I wanted to drink water." She couldn't possibly tell the nurse that she had heard whispers from someone. The nurse didn't say anything but pointed towards the side table, where a glass full of water sat. At that moment, Jade felt so embarrassed that she wished the earth would swallow her. She smiled nervously at the nurse,"Umm…I didn't see it. Sorry."
The nurse was a woman in her mid-forties. She had seen a lot of patients, she knew that Jade was lying. She had seen the cold sweat on Jade's forehead the moment she entered. She smiled softly, and said,"It's okay if you had a nightmare. I can stay in the room and watch over as you sleep, if you are scared."
Jade didn't expect that, but she was relieved. She was indeed scared – too scared to sleep. She nodded slowly, unable to form words. The nurse laid down on the couch, and Jade lay on the bed, quietly. She clung to herself and the blanket, as if her life depended on it and dozed off. The nurse, too, dozed off after a few moments.
At the far end of the room, Tristen's form shimmered faintly. He had not expected her to hear him, but she had. That stirred something in him – something long buried. He hadn't come to warn her; he had come to haunt. Yet, as he watched her clinging to herself on the bed, like the world might crush her, something shifted.
Yet again, for a moment, he saw her not as his enemy's daughter, but as a girl clinging to the last shreds of safety, cracking under the weight of the world she didn't ask to inherit. It infuriated him because there was no place for pity – not anymore. She would take her father's place soon…and when she did, he would be waiting, watching – every step, every breath, every lie, and breaking her from the inside.
"Because…vengeance isn't just about blood.
It's about justice and nobody escapes it – not even the innocent. Justice will come for all."
She wasn't like Vincent, but that didn't change her blood. It didn't change what she had inherited. He whispered, his voice like a blade across glass,"You'll suffer, Jade Collins – not because I hate you, but because I have to, because someone has to pay…and you were born with his blood in your veins."
Jade stirred, she felt someone's gaze on her. She felt the shift in the air around her – the way prey senses a predator in the bushes. Tristen watched her from the shadows, the ghost of a man carved from vengeance.
Because vengeance wasn't just about blood.
It was about justice,
And justice never forgot a face – even when it didn't deserve to be remembered.