“Rina, I think you need to pick up the phone.”
Rina barely acknowledged the George’s words, lazily reaching for her ringing phone at the edge of the bed. She sighed, half-expecting it to be Nathan again.
“Yes?” she answered, her voice sharp with irritation.
“This is the Central Hospital. Am I speaking with Miss Rina?” a formal yet urgent voice asked.
Her brows furrowed. “Yes, this is Rina.”
“Mr. Zayn Graham has been involved in an accident, and we require your immediate presence before proceeding with a blood transfusion and other treatments. Can you come?”
The words hit her like a freight train.
Rina’s breath caught in her throat. Zayn.
Never had she imagined she’d find herself in this situation-standing on the precipice of something irreversible.
“I’ll be there immediately,” she said, her voice shaking.
She grabbed the first set of clothes she could find and rushed out of the house, her heart pounding with dread.
She arrived at the hospital in record time, barely aware of how she got there. Bursting through the entrance, she ran straight to the reception desk.
“Where is my husband?!” she demanded.
The receptionist looked up, startled, before signaling a nurse.
“Ma’am, I need you to remain as calm as possible,” the nurse began, her voice soothing but firm. “Your husband sustained a critical head injury in the accident. His occipital lobe was severely affected.”
Medical jargon. It meant nothing to Rina in this moment. All she wanted to know was-
“What does that mean? Is he going to wake up?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
A doctor emerged from a nearby corridor, flipping through a file. “Mrs. Powers, could you step into my office?”
Rina shook her head furiously. “I don’t care about an office. Just tell me the truth. What’s wrong with him?”
The doctor hesitated, then sighed. “He’s in a coma.”
Rina’s world tilted.
“A coma?” she repeated, as if saying the word would make it less real.
“We don’t know when he’ll wake up, but there’s still hope. We need to monitor him closely and-”
“I want to see him.”
The doctor nodded, stepping aside to let her through.
The moment she entered the room, her breath caught in her throat.
Zayn lay on the hospital bed, pale as death, his body motionless beneath crisp white sheets. Wires and tubes connected him to machines that beeped steadily, the only sign that he was still alive.
Rina’s legs wobbled, and she gripped the doorframe to steady herself.
A sob broke free from her throat.
She had been so consumed by her anger, so determined to shut him out, that she had refused to see what had been right in front of her.
Now, it might be too late.
Hands trembling, she dialed his parents.
“I’m sorry,” she choked out. “Zayn… he’s been in an accident. He’s in a coma.”
His mother’s sharp inhale was all it took for Rina to break down completely.
Zayn’s parents arrived that night, their faces etched with grief.
His mother covered her mouth with trembling fingers as she stared at her son’s unconscious form. “My goodness… how did this happen? Where was he going?”
Rina swallowed hard, unable to answer. How could she? No matter what she said, all fingers would inevitably point to her.
And then there was Nathan.
Had he already gotten to them? Had he painted her as the villain before she even had a chance to explain?
The guilt was unbearable, but the thought of being blamed outright made it even worse.
Mr. Graham exhaled heavily. “We need to talk about the company.”
Rina blinked. “The company?”
“We need someone to take over Zayn’s responsibilities before the news leaks. If shareholders begin to worry, we’ll have a crisis on our hands.”
Rina flinched. Zayn was in a coma, and they were already talking about business?
“That’s too sudden,” his mother said, her voice thick with exhaustion. “Our son is in a hospital bed, and you’re worried about corporate stability?”
“I’m being practical,” Mr. Graham countered. “The company can’t run itself.”
Before anyone could respond, Nathan stepped into the room, his presence immediately shifting the air.
“I don’t understand why everyone is so concerned about shares when my brother is fighting for his life,” he said, his tone laced with just enough emotion to sound genuine.
Rina almost scoffed. He was good-too good.
Nathan had orchestrated this whole mess, and now he was playing the concerned brother?
His mother shot him a pointed look. “Don’t even start, Nathan. You and your brother are not the same, especially when it comes to handling finances. We all know that.”
Nathan’s expression darkened. “So, what? You’d rather hand the company to someone else?”
“I’m saying your father should step in until Zayn recovers. That way, we don’t have to involve the press or risk instability.”
Nathan clenched his jaw. “I don’t want to fight over this, but why do you all assume I can’t handle it? It’s my brother’s company too.”
Tension thickened in the air.
Rina, sick of the argument, finally spoke up.
“I think Nathan should be given a fair chance to run the family company for now.”
Silence fell.
Nathan turned to her, surprise flashing in his eyes before he quickly masked it with satisfaction.
Zayn’s mother, however, looked at her in disappointment.
Rina met her gaze, but she didn’t waver.
She wasn’t doing this for Nathan. She was doing this because, right now, there were bigger battles to fight.
And her only focus… was Zayn.