Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)

There was something magnetic about him-something that drew you in, but made you wary all the same.

Rupert had arrived.

He strode toward Sylvia, and just then, Bridget spun her wheelchair around and threw herself into his arms.

"Mr. Rupert, I'm fine, really. Don't blame Sylvia. I just wanted to talk to her, that's all. After all, we're getting married in a month."

"There's nothing to talk about with her."

Rupert's voice was cold as ice as he gently helped Bridget back into her wheelchair.

Bridget frowned, leaning into Rupert. "Mr. Rupert, please, don't be like this. She's family, after all."

"She isn't." Rupert's gaze was steely, void of warmth.

"Well, if she's not family, then I guess she's just a stranger." Bridget glanced at Sylvia, putting on an act of helplessness.

A chill shot down Sylvia's spine.

Suddenly, words echoed in her mind, as if from another lifetime.

"Sylvia, eight years with Mr. Rupert can't compete with me. The moment I came back, he couldn't wait to push you aside for me and his son. He even said-he said he never saw you or your daughter as his own. You were always outsiders."

Sylvia clutched at her chest, gasping for breath. Her face grew paler by the second, her eyes rimmed bright red-so red they looked almost bloody.

"Get out! Get out!"

She lurched toward Bridget, but her strength gave out, and she crashed hard onto the floor.

"Go away! All of you, just die! Die!"

"Sylvia! Calm down! You can't get agitated!" Chris rushed forward, catching her before she could hurt herself further.

"Kill him! I want him dead, Chris! I hate him!" She clung to Chris, wild and desperate. "Kill Rupert!"

She looked up, locking eyes with Rupert's cold, indifferent stare. He looked at her as if she were a stranger.

After three seconds, Rupert's face didn't change. He simply turned Bridget's wheelchair and left the room without a word.

Sylvia watched his retreating back, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. With a pained grunt, she glanced at the IV in her arm and collapsed, utterly spent.

Chris sighed, scooping Sylvia into

Worbet

his arms and tucking her back bed Hershot antirritated look at the young nurse hovering by the

"How did Bridget even know she was here?"

"I'm sorry, Dr. Chris. But Ms. Simpson is just so pitiful... She lost her baby, and she doesn't even blame Sylvia."

"You people..." Chris's chest tightened. For a moment, he thought maybe Rupert had the right idea after all.

After dismissing the nurse, Chris barely had a chance to sit when he heard Sylvia muttering under her breath.

"12252050 red house, 12252050 red house..."

At first, Chris thought she was delirious, but when he leaned in, she kept

repeating the same numbers, over and over.

Suddenly, a

thought struck him. He

called the nurse back in. "I have

Watch hen't

lose in, you h

me?"

As soon as Chris left, the nurse rolled her eyes and muttered, "She lost someone

else's baby, and now she's playing the victim."

With that, she shut the door and stalked off, ignoring Chris's instructions completely.

...

Hospital parking lot.

The family butler hurried to the car, stooping respectfully by the window.

"Mr. Rupert took Bridget and left Sylvia behind."

"What's your take?" Tristan leaned back in the leather seat, eyes closed, sounding

more like a judge than a father.

"Maybe Mr. Rupert had a soft spot for Sylvia once, but with his first child involved... he won't let this go."

Tristan's eyes snapped open, a cold

smirk on his lips. "So why is Sylvia still alive and well, then? I can barely control Rupert anymore. Before

anything else happens, I wont

.n

let a

woman like Sylvia stain our family

name."

"Understood, sir." The butler nodded.

...

Inside the hospital room, everything was eerily quiet.

A doctor in a white coat and surgical mask slipped inside, glanced at Sylvia lying motionless on the bed.noveldrama

He pulled a syringe from his pocket and quietly injected it into her IV line.