Chapter 4

The moment I stepped into my private apartment,

my phone rang frantically.

"Mr. Graham, your father's heart condition has relapsed! He's in critical condition, please get to the hospital immediately!"

My heart plummeted.

I raced to the emergency room, where the attending physician was flipping through my father's chart with a grim face.

"Mr. Graham, the old blunt trauma to your father's chest has triggered severe arrhythmia. We need to perform emergency surgery right now!"

Blunt chest trauma.

That was the injury my father sustained years ago when loan sharks beat him half to death after Vivian took out private loans to fund her startup.

I took a shaky breath and immediately rushed to the payment window.

The receptionist swiped my card, only to hand it back with a helpless sigh.

"Mr. Graham, your account status is flagged as frozen. The transaction won't go through."

I froze.

That card was the retirement account Vivian and I set up for my father, with tens of thousands of dollars deposited into it every month.

How could it possibly decline?

Without time to think, I pulled out every card from my wallet and handed them over.

Card after card, the machine beeped with the same dreaded error: Transaction Declined.

The doctor came out for the third time, warning me that my father's vitals were dropping fast.

Fighting back the trembling in my hands, I called Vivian.

The dial tone rang on and on. Just a second before it went to voicemail, she finally picked up.

My voice shook uncontrollably. "Vivian, why are all my accounts frozen? My dad needs emergency surgery right this second..."

A brief silence followed, followed by a mocking scoff.

"Your little tricks are getting more elaborate by the day, Lucas."

"Julian was upset all afternoon because of you. Freezing your accounts for a month is already me showing mercy."

With that, she moved to hang up.

I could barely hold onto the phone.

"I'm not kidding! My dad is literally dying! I sent the medical notice to your phone, just look at it for one second..."

Her impatient voice cut me off. "How long are you going to keep acting?"

Only then did I look at my screen and realize the message had failed to deliver.

Vivian had blocked my number.

The doctor approached with the critical condition notice for the third time. Grasping at my last straw, I begged into the receiver.

"I'm not lying! The doctor is standing right next to me! Talk to him if you don't believe me!"

Before the doctor could utter a word,

Julian's voice drifted through the line.

"Vivian, what color suit do you think I should wear for our engagement party? Come help me pick!"

Vivian's tone instantly melted into warmth.

"White. It suits you best."

When she addressed me again, her voice was dripping with annoyance. "Enough. You already signed the divorce papers. Stop putting on this pathetic show just to get my attention."

"Your accounts will stay frozen until Julian says otherwise."

Click.

The call went dead.

When I dialed back, her phone was powered off.

A chilling numbness swept through my entire body.

I sank against the cold hospital wall,

staring blankly as the red surgical light flickered above the doors.

And then, it went dark.

"We did everything we could, Mr. Graham. Please accept our condolences."

Everything that followed felt like a blurry, surreal nightmare.

Contacting the funeral home, cremation, and filing the death certificate.

I didn't shed a single tear through the entire process, forcing myself to stay completely numb.

I had a portion of my father's ashes sealed into a small pendant, wearing it around my neck.

As if he had never left my side.

Once everything was settled, I used the last bit of cash in my wallet to buy a one-way plane ticket out West.

As I waited to board, Vivian finally remembered my existence.

A text came through.

"Your cards are unfrozen now. Don't ever use this kind of excuse to make a scene again."

"Keep some dignity, and I might still consider letting you attend my engagement party with Julian."