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⚠️ Content Warning:
This chapter contains scenes of emotional shock, hospital-based manipulation, and silencing of a witness.
Themes of fear and psychological threat are present.
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Here is the polished and professionally formatted version of Chapter 5 — refined for Webnovel publication standards. It p
The hospital hallways were too white. Too clean. Too quiet.
Liv's heels pounded against the polished floor as she sprinted, ignoring the shouts of nurses behind her. Her lungs burned, her throat closed, and her mind repeated the same desperate thought.
> Please let her be alive. Please…
She burst through the ICU wing doors like a storm, wild-eyed and breathless.
Zavian was already there, leaning against the wall with unnatural calm.
"Liv," he said smoothly. "She's stable—for now. Doctors are trying everything."
"Where is she?" she snapped.
"They're monitoring her vitals closely. You can't go in yet—"
"I need to see her!" Liv's voice cracked, raw with panic.
Zavian gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Breathe. You look like you'll collapse before she does."
Her lips trembled, but her strength gave out. She slumped onto the bench just outside the ICU, burying her face in her hands.
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Moments Earlier – Outside Room 217
Nia lay motionless beneath tangled tubes and wires, her face pale and bruised. Machines beeped rhythmically, the only proof she was still alive.
Just outside, a nurse carrying her chart paused near the doorway.
That's when she heard them.
Two voices. Low. Sharp.
"…So she survived," Zavian muttered.
"Barely," came Kavian's cold reply. "And that's the problem."
The nurse's blood ran cold.
"If she wakes up," Kavian continued, "everything falls apart. Our names. The finances. Liv's loyalty."
There was a silence. Then Zavian's voice again—low, deliberate.
"Maybe she doesn't need to wake up."
The clipboard slipped slightly in the nurse's hand.
A small gasp escaped her lips.
And Zavian looked up.
Their eyes met.
His expression shifted instantly—from casual to calculating.
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Back Room, Staff Wing
She shouldn't have listened.
She should have walked away.
Now, the nurse stood trembling as Zavian cornered her near the back storage room.
"You heard something you weren't supposed to," he said flatly.
"I… I swear I won't tell anyone—"
"But you already heard it." His voice was ice. "And if anything leaks—even a whisper—I will end you."
She froze, staring at him in horror.
"Your job? Gone. Your license? Erased. Your family?" He leaned in. "They'll suffer for your mistake."
Tears streamed down her face.
"She's just a girl… she didn't deserve this," the nurse whispered.
"Neither did we. But life isn't fair." Zavian stepped back. "You'll resign tonight. Disappear. If you breathe a word to anyone, you won't get a second chance."
She nodded, shaking, clutching the edge of the cabinet for support.
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Later – ICU Room 217
Liv followed Zavian down the corridor in silence.
She wasn't crying. Not yet. She had no tears left after the fights, the guilt, the business… the betrayal.
They reached the door.
Zavian opened it.
And there she was.
Nia.
Her sister. Her only constant.
The girl born just thirty-five seconds before her—yet who had always felt like a lifetime older.
The one who carried her burdens, dried her tears, and believed in her when no one else did.
Now she lay motionless, skin pale, lips cracked. Machines beeped steadily beside her.
Liv took one shaky step forward.
She opened her mouth.
But no words came out.
Not I'm sorry.
Not I missed you.
Not even her name.
Her throat burned, her heart pounded, but her lips wouldn't move.
She stared at Nia like she was a ghost.
A flicker of movement—Nia's hand twitching—nearly made her scream.
Zavian's voice behind her broke the silence.
"She needs rest. You should let her heal."
Liv nodded numbly and turned to leave, tears finally welling in her eyes.
As the door closed, she looked back one last time.
> Please wake up, she begged in her mind.
Before I lose you again.
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Meanwhile – Across the City
The nurse packed her belongings with trembling hands, her resignation left unsigned on the desk.
She didn't know where she would go.
Only that she had to run.
Because she knew too much.
And someone had already decided that Nia wouldn't survive to speak the truth.
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[End of Chapter 5]
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> If this chapter was emotionally heavy, please take a moment to breathe. You're not alone.