He Wanted an Heir, So I Gave Him Ashes Chapter 40

He Wanted an Heir, So I Gave Him Ashes Chapter 40

Cole looked at her, his gaze calm and steady. He saw the composure she was fighting to maintain, the hand clutching the document so tightly her knuckles had turned white.

After years as a rival, he understood the Walkers.

And he understood Ellie.

He knew she was lying.

But he didn’t call her on it.

“All right,” Cole said with a nod, picking up his car keys. “Then I’ll go.”

He reached the door, then stopped and looked back.

“I’ll let you know if there’s any news.”

The door closed softly.

The penthouse fell silent.

Ellie remained frozen, like a delicate statue. The business proposal she had read a hundred times now seemed to mock her.

Was Rhett… dying?

The thought shot into her mind, sharp and painful.

How was that possible?

He had just left Texas a few days ago.

Or was this some new trick? A ploy for sympathy?

Ellie’s mind was a mess. She stood abruptly and began to pace irritably before the huge floor-to-ceiling windows.

Cole arrived at the hospital. The doctor called him into a private room, his expression grave.

“The patient’s condition is complicated.” The doctor pushed a scan report toward him. “Our preliminary diagnosis is a rare hereditary neurodegenerative disease.”

“Judging by the speed of his physical deterioration, he may not have much time.”

“It would be best to contact his immediate family. They need to decide whether to keep him here or arrange for him to return to Texas.”

Cole listened without expression. When the doctor had finished, he simply lifted his phone and pressed send.

A clear recording of the doctor’s diagnosis, along with the steady beeping of a heart monitor, was sent directly to Ellie.

A few minutes later, the ward door opened.

Ellie stood there, her breathing shallow, her face paler than the man on the hospital bed.

As if sensing her presence, Rhett’s closed eyes trembled, then slowly opened. His vision swam from blurred to clear. When he saw her standing by the bed, he thought he was dreaming again.

He parted his dry, cracked lips. A single, hoarse syllable escaped.

“Ellie…”