Chapter 131

The black Maybach screeched to a halt outside the Military Medical Hospital in the eastern district.

The tires' piercing squeal startled sparrows from the treetops.

Evelyn Carter had just unbuckled her seatbelt when fragmented voices drifted from the hospital room.

"...Mom, it's Margaret. Don't you recognize me?"

"Margaret?"

"Yes, yes! I'm your daughter-in-law Margaret."

"Shouldn't Alexander be home from school by now? I made osmanthus cakes..."

Margaret Hamilton's muffled sobs filtered through the door. "Mom, Alexander is in his thirties..."

Alexander Hamilton shoved the door open violently.

On the bed, Grandma Hamilton wore an oxygen mask, her clouded eyes wandering aimlessly.

"Grandma." Alexander dropped to one knee beside her.

Margaret hastily wiped her tears. "Look, Mom. Alexander's here."

A skeletal hand trembled upward before falling limply. "No...my Alexander is only this tall..."

Alexander's Adam's apple bobbed. "Grandma, I've grown up."

"Where's Evelyn?" The old woman suddenly became agitated. "Has Evelyn come?"

Evelyn stood frozen in the doorway, her breath catching.

The room reeked of antiseptic and impending death. Heart monitor beeps punctuated the silence as IV fluid dripped methodically.

Margaret approached with red-rimmed eyes. "The doctors say it's multi-organ failure..."

Evelyn counted the needle marks covering the old woman's papery skin.

"Her heart stopped this morning." Margaret's voice shook. "The medications are barely sustaining her now."

A shrill alarm erupted from the monitors.

Nurses rushed in to adjust settings until Grandma Hamilton's breathing stabilized.

"She's been asking for you." Margaret clutched Evelyn's icy fingers. "Kept calling for her granddaughter-in-law..."

The bedridden woman's eyes flew open. "Evelyn!"

Age-spotted hands seized Evelyn's wrist with shocking strength.

"I'm here, Grandma."

"Alexander wronged you..." Tears carved paths through wrinkled skin. "That Annabelle is no good..."

Silence swallowed the room.

Margaret shook her head frantically. "I never mentioned the divorce..."

The heart monitor's line spiked erratically.

"Did the surgery hurt?" Grandma Hamilton's sudden question struck like lightning. "They said you removed my great-grandchild..."

Evelyn whirled toward Alexander. His face had drained of all color.