To Love a Shadow, To Be the Sun novel Chapter 202

“What?” Gareth looked at her, utterly baffled.

Nanette’s hand, still tethered to the IV drip, clenched into a fist. Her face, drained of all life, looked so hollow it seemed her eyes might pop out at any moment.

She looked like a corpse propped up in bed—a ghost refusing to let go.

“You and that woman already have a child together, and you still can’t be honest with me?” she rasped.

Gareth, startled, blurted out, “That’s impossible—I’ve always taken precautions! How could there be a child?”

Nanette started laughing, tears streaming down her face.

“My ex-husband racked up gambling debts. If I didn’t give massages, my daughter would’ve been sold off. And in the end, she still despises me for it.”

“I thought meeting you was some kind of blessing, that my suffering had finally moved heaven. But you? You’re just a weak man, forever under your son’s thumb, and now you’re using Elara to keep me in line.”

“Gareth…”

The heart monitor blared its alarm.

But Nanette grabbed his hand, her deathly eyes boring into him.

“This is your fault—you owe me! You killed me! Lina is my only daughter. You have to make your son marry her, or I’ll become a vengeful spirit and haunt you every single night…”

She never finished the curse. Her breath rattled and then stopped.

She remained arched on the bed for half a minute, stiff and defiant, before finally collapsing in on herself.

Gareth was so terrified that his legs gave out and he fell to the floor.

Lina arrived at the hospital in a hurry.

When she saw the white sheet draped over Nanette’s body, tears gushed down her cheeks.

“Mom, why couldn’t you wait for me?”

“I tried calling you,” Gareth said, his voice ragged, “Why didn’t you answer?”

Lina wiped her tears. “I was in treatment for depression. Doctor told me to turn my phone off and get some rest.”

Gareth sank into a chair, silent.

“Did my mother leave any last words?” Lina asked, her voice trembling.

Gareth’s mind was a whirl of confusion, still stuck on Nanette’s accusation about a child.

“We barely spoke. She just asked me to look after you.”

Lina pressed a handkerchief to her face, hiding the hatred she couldn’t suppress.

Elara blinked in confusion. “What happened?”

Summer’s voice was tense. “You pulled off a double play—now Brian’s neck-deep in trouble, too.”

“What?” Elara’s eyes widened.

Summer explained, “Brian’s at war with his own father. Gareth just pushed his ‘black sheep’ son onto the board as a shareholder. Now, after that disastrous miscalculation with the electric truck division, the board’s frozen some of Brian’s authority. He’s got sixty days—if he can’t turn things around, they’ll force him out.”

Elara couldn’t believe it. One move against Nanette had ended up taking Brian down a notch, too.

“He’s brilliant—sixty days is plenty for a comeback. The Vincent family’s mess has been festering for years. Nanette’s death is just the spark. If Brian’s plan fell apart, that’s his problem, not mine. I’m not running.”

Summer grew frantic. “Brian only got this sixty-day grace period because Felice Vincent resigned as board chair to buy him time. Remember how you crossed him at the anniversary dinner? He made you pay for that, didn’t he? If you stay… do you really think you’ll survive this time?”

Definitely not.

Without another word, Elara dragged her suitcase toward the door.

“My ticket leaves in an hour, right? I need the earliest flight out—now!”

At the front entrance of the company, she stopped.

Summer hadn’t caught up, but the custom black Maybach was already waiting at the curb, its polished body gleaming coldly in the evening light—like a predator poised to pounce.