Blood And Promises Novel by Sabrina Hart Chapter 21

Blood And Promises Novel by Sabrina Hart Chapter 21

Fragmented murmurs, mingled with painful moans, were like a rusty, blunt knife, carving a faint crack in the lake of Samantha’s heart that had long since frozen over.

“It won’t hurt if I blow on it…” “If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you…”

That was a very, very long time ago, so long ago it felt as if it belonged to a previous life. She had accidentally scraped her knee, and he had clumsily applied medicine for her. She cried from the pain, and he really bent down, blowing gently on her wound, then patted her head and said in a helpless tone, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here. If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.”

At that time, she broke into a smile through her tears, believing he was the most reliable person in the world.

At some unknown moment, cold liquid slid down her cheek, dripping onto the pristine bedsheet and spreading into a small, dark stain. Samantha raised her hand in a daze and felt her face wet with tears.

After Lindsay passed away, she thought she would never shed another tear for Richard. Yet at this moment, seeing him lying here lifeless, listening to his unconscious, fragmented confessions and those long-buried gentle murmurs, all the complex emotions—love and hate, pain, grievance, and unwillingness—that she had pressed deep in her heart finally broke through the ice and surged out.

She hated him. She hated his lack of trust, his favoritism, the humiliation and hurt he had brought her. But seeing him lying here on the verge of death, she could not help but feel sad. For the self who had once foolishly given her heart, and for the man before her, covered in wounds and unable to find peace even in his dreams.

Humberto entered at some point, standing behind her without a word, simply handing her a clean handkerchief.

Samantha took the handkerchief, wiped her tears away haphazardly, took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm down.

“Thank you for saving me.” She looked at the unconscious Richard, her voice soft but clear. “I will take care of the medical bills. From now on, we are even.”

After saying this, she did not linger and turned to leave.

But a burning, weak hand suddenly reached out from under the blanket and gripped her wrist tightly!

Samantha’s body stiffened. Richard had woken up at some point. His eyes were half-open, his gaze still a bit unfocused, but he locked onto her with certainty. Those eyes, always sharp and deep, were now bloodshot yet astonishingly bright, filled with the wild joy of regaining what was lost, and a nearly humble plea.

“…Sammy…” he began, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible. “Don’t… don’t go…”

Samantha tried to pull her hand back, but he held on tightly, though for someone gravely injured, his strength was already spent.

“Let go.” Her voice turned cold.

Richard did not let go. It was as if he used all his remaining strength, looking at her and saying, word by word, with difficulty, “Don’t… call it even… Sammy… I traded my life… can’t I… trade it for you to turn around… and look at me?”

His gaze was so bright, so scorching, filled with desperate hope and expectation. Samantha looked into his eyes, at this man who had once been so proud and now was humble to the point of begging for a glance, and somewhere in her heart, a sharp pain stabbed through.

But in the end, she still, little by little, firmly pulled her wrist out of his burning yet powerless palm.

“Richard,” she stepped back, putting distance between them, her voice calm and detached, as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with her. “Some wounds can’t be healed just by risking your life.”

“I am grateful you saved me. But that’s all there is to it.”

The faint light in Richard’s eyes faded away bit by bit, extinguished by her withdrawn hand and her icy words, until only a dead, ashen silence remained.

Samantha no longer looked at him and walked toward the door.

Humberto stood by the door, his gaze meeting the deathly pale Richard on the hospital bed. The two men’s eyes clashed in the air, without smoke or fire, but with the same biting coldness and unyielding strength.

“Richard,” Humberto spoke first, his voice not loud but carrying a clear warning. “I truly thank you for saving her. But if you think that by doing this, by playing the victim, you can keep entangling her and disturbing her life now—” He paused, took a small step forward, his gaze as cold as lightning, piercing straight at Richard. “I don’t mind making you disappear completely, in my own way.”