The Bride of Endless Deaths novel Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The moment the words left his mouth, a cry of alarm erupted from the operating room.

“Dr. Blake, we’ve got a problem! The patient’s showing severe rejection to the artificial heart. Her blood pressure’s crashing-oxygen saturation down to sixty!”

“What?!”

Julian Blake whipped around to face me, panic flooding his eyes. Beside him, the heart monitor flatlined, its shrill beeping cutting through the room like knives.

He yanked on a fresh pair of sterile gloves, ready to jump in and save me, but another doctor seized his arm

and held him back.

“It’s no use. She’s gone…”

My breathing had stopped. My face drained of all color, pale as death itself. I lay motionless on the operating

table.

“No way!” Julian roared. “What are you all standing around for? Start resuscitation-now!”

Terror swallowed him whole, a gut-wrenching premonition screaming that he was about to lose Evelyn

Hart for good.

But the team only looked back at him with pity in their eyes. Rage and despair surged through him until his vision swam-then he coughed up blood and collapsed into darkness.

He didn’t know how long he was out.

When he came to, a nurse was adjusting his IV drip. He struggled to sit up, his voice hoarse, desperate. “Evelyn-where’s Evelyn? How is she?”

The nurse’s face was heavy with sorrow. She let out a long breath. “Dr. Hart passed away. Her body’s already been sent to the funeral home for cremation.”

Evelyn Hart, who had saved countless lives, had died on the operating table.

“That’s… impossible…” Julian’s voice cracked.

He seized the nurse’s hand, about to demand answers-when a voice echoed inside his mind, the voice of his

Arcane Pact.

[Contractor, your wife, Evelyn Hart, is truly gone…]

Julian felt his blood turn to ice, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. “No! Evelyn can’t be dead! She’s the Lead Character-she can’t die!”

Chapter 6

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Ex-Husband step aside

Lady Boss Returns

“And I got her the best artificial heart money could buy! How could this happen?!”

In his mind, the plan had been flawless: Sierra Prescott, carrying the Lead Character’s heart, would survive, while Evelyn-protected by her Lead Character aura-would pull through as well.

Then his debt to Sierra would be repaid, and he could finally be with Evelyn, free of every burden.

So where had it gone wrong?

His Arcane Pact knew the answer, but without authorization from my own Pact, it couldn’t speak.

[Go to the funeral home and see for yourself. I’ll consult my colleagues.]

Julian ripped the IV from his arm and staggered out of bed-only to run straight into Sierra, who had just woken up. Her face lit with joy, and she flung herself toward him, arms wide.

“Julian! We did it!”

He swerved aside and shoved her back, his voice like ice. “Get away from me.

‘Sierra stumbled, shock flashing across her face. “Where are you going? I just woke up-aren’t you going to stay with me?”

But Julian didn’t even look at her. He stormed out without a word.

By the time he reached the funeral home, a crowd had already gathered. Shoving through the throng, he spotted my assistant, Mark, and grabbed him by the shoulders, his voice ragged with anguish.

“Where’s Evelyn?!”

Mark’s eyes were bloodshot, blazing with fury. He shoved Julian back. “Dr. Hart’s dead, and it’s your fault!”

“If you hadn’t forced her into that transplant, she’d still be alive! I’ve worked with her for years – I know her heart was fine!”

“Julian Blake, you’re a murderer! You killed her!”

The crowd, many of whom owed their lives to the antiviral drugs I had developed, erupted in outrage.

“You bastard! A life for a life!”

“Dr. Hart was such a kind soul–how could you do this to her?!”

They surged forward, fists flying, pummeling him.

Julian curled into himself, shielding his head but offering no resistance. He only muttered again and again, “It’s impossible… Evelyn can’t be dead… She’s the Lead Character…”

“Stop it! All of you, back off!”

Chapter 6

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Ex-Husband step aside Lady Boss Returns.

Sierra’s voice cut through the chaos as she rushed in with a group of people. She threw her arms around Julian, holding him tightly. “Julian, are you okay?”

But Julian’s eyes were vacant, staring past everyone as if the world had turned hollow.

Then, once more, the electronic voice of his Arcane Pact sounded in his mind.

[Contractor, I’ve confirmed with the Prime Arcane Pact: the Lead Character, Evelyn Hart, is indeed

deceased.]

[However, she chose to exit the Contracted Realm of her own volition.]