"Mr. Delgado... your father's oxygen tube... it was pulled out."
The world tilted. The sentence struck me with the force of a physical blow.
Clutching the remnants of my mother's ashes, I raced to the hospital.
When I arrived, it was too late. A white sheet had already been drawn over my father's body.
"Who did this?" My voice was a broken rasp, trembling with rage so profound it felt like it would tear me apart. "Who the hell did this? I told you to guard this room! How did someone get in?"
After Layla had used my father's life as leverage, I had replaced all the staff and security. I thought I had made him safe.
The caregiver looked down, trembling.
"It was... it was Young Master Gilbert," she stammered. "He came in and said your father was wasting medical resources. He claimed to hold the hospital shares... and ordered the rescue efforts to stop."
"He owns shares in this hospital. One word from him, and we're finished."
The caregiver dropped to her knees, trembling, terrified of being held accountable.
"Mr. Delgado, please. Don't fight him."
Her pleas barely registered. My mind was stuck on loop: Bryce making a scene at the mourning hall, mocking the dead. A dark, suffocating rage expanded in my chest, impossible to suppress.
I took a taxi back to the villa. The moment I stepped out, thumping bass assaulted my ears. Laughter and music spilled from the house where I was supposed to be grieving.
"If Brandon's old man hadn't saved Sis, she never would've looked at him."
"I won't let her marry anyone else. She's mine!"
"First marriage, his mom dies. Second marriage, his dad dies. Let's see if he has the guts to try for a third!"
Bryce's arrogant voice scraped against my sanity like a jagged blade.
I kicked the front door open. Strode to the stereo. Cut the power. The silence was deafening.
I didn't say a word. Just walked up to Bryce and backhanded him across the face.
Smack.
He stumbled back, clutching his cheek. His delicate features twisted into disbelief.
"You hit me? No one has ever dared to touch me!"
He screamed for his friends. Within seconds, a swarm of bodies tackled me, pinning my arms to the floor.
"So your parents are dead. Big deal," Bryce spat, standing over me. "Why act like it's the end of the world? Haven't I suffered enough too?"
He ground his heel into the back of my hand, twisting until I couldn't stifle a cry.