CHAPTER 85: CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE: LYDIA’S DEATH

Mason’s POV

The drive to City Hospital felt like the longest one of my life, I had to get the name of the mastermind from Lydia, no matter what!.

My father sat beside me, completely silent, his expression was hard and unreadable. The only sound in the car was the roar of the engine.

The one person who had answers to a lot of my questions about the past was on the verge of death and if she dies, I might never find out who the mastermind is.

I pressed harder on the gas pedal, weaving through traffic like a madman, ignoring all the red lights on the way.

"Slow down, Mason," my father finally said, his voice low but firm.

"I can’t," I muttered.

When we pulled up at the hospital, the emergency ward was a blur of flashing lights and shouting nurses. Paramedics rushed through the automatic doors, pushing a stretcher covered in blood.

My chest tightened when I saw Lydia’s pale face beneath the oxygen mask.

"Lydia Lancaster, age forty-eight," one of the paramedics said quickly to the doctors waiting. "Severe internal bleeding, multiple fractures, collapsed lung and her pulse is unstable!"

My father and I followed them as far as we could until a nurse blocked us at the door.

"I’m sorry, sirs, you can’t go in there, she’s being taken into emergency surgery."she said with a professional tone.

"How long will it take?" I asked immediately.

"There is no time frame sir, it all depends on the patient’s condition. We will keep you updated."she said without hesitation.

We had no choice but to wait.

Three hours later, I felt like my body had turned to stone. My hands were clasped so tightly that they had gone numb. My father was pacing, his jaw ticking in quiet frustration.

Finally, two doctors came out of the operating room, their faces grim and exhausted.

I stood up immediately. "How is she?"

The older doctor sighed heavily and slowly removed his mask. "We did everything we could. She has severe internal bleeding and multiple organ ruptures. I’m afraid... she is not going to survive the night."

My father cursed under his breath and slammed his hand against the wall. I just stood there, staring blankly at the floor, trying to process the words.

"She will regain consciousness briefly, but she won’t make it past twenty-four hours.... I’m sorry." the doctor added quietly.

My father took a deep breath and turned to me. "Call Mira."

"What?"

"She deserves to know," he said stiffly. "No matter what Lydia did, she is still her mother and she should see her one last time."

I sighed as I pulled out my phone from my pocket. I didn’t want to do it, but he was right.

It rang for a while before she finally answered.

"What do you want, Mason?" Mira’s voice came sharp and annoyed, like always.

I clenched my jaw and tried to suppress my irritation. "You might want to drop the attitude, Mira. Your mother has been in a serious accident."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. .

"What?" she whispered with a disbelieving tone.

"She is at the City Hospital. Get here as fast as you can," I said coldly and hung up before she could say anything else.

Thirty minutes later, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway. I looked up just in time to see Mira rush in, her face pale and streaked with tears.

But what made me frown even more was the man right behind her.

When did they get back together? Didn’t he say he broke up with her?

I just stared at Jasper, who was behind her as my frown deepened.

She didn’t even look at me when she passed, heading straight for the door of the room where Lydia was. The doctor stopped her briefly, then finally let her in after she begged.

I stayed behind the glass window, watching quietly and my father stood beside me with his arms folded.

We couldn’t hear what Lydia was saying, but the way Mira suddenly broke down and covered her face said it all. She dropped to her knees beside the hospital bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

Lydia reached out weakly and touched her daughter’s hair. The monitors beside the bed kept beeping slowly, the rhythm fading a little more with every passing second.

I looked away for a moment, my throat tightening unexpectedly.

I wasn’t the kind of man to pity someone who had betrayed my family, but watching her like that... I almost did.

Fifteen minutes later, Mira came out, eyes red and swollen and her makeup was completely ruined.

She walked straight up to me, her voice shaky but firm. "She wants to see you."

I stared at her for a moment. "Me?"

She nodded. "Please... just go."

I didn’t say a word as I stepped past her and entered the room.

The room was dim and filled with the steady hum of machines. Lydia lay there, pale and frail, her chest rising and falling with effort and her right hand was trembling as it rested on her stomach.

When her eyes found mine, she gave a weak and bitter smile. "You must be happy now."

I didn’t respond, I just stood beside the bed while staring down at her.

She coughed weakly, her voice barely above a whisper. "I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t gone digging into things that were buried."

"I guess we both made mistakes," I said flatly.

Her eyes watered, and for a brief second, I saw regret there....Genuine regret.

"I thought I could control everything," she said, her tone breaking. "But that person ... She is too dangerous. I thought if I helped her once, she would go away."

"You helped her abduct a child," I said coldly. "That is not something you walk away from, Lydia."

She turned her face away from me as tears streamed down her temples. "You think I don’t know that? I have been paying for it every day."

I wanted to feel angry, but all I felt was exhaustion and a hint of pity. .

"Then tell me the truth," I said quietly. "All of it, before it’s too late."

She looked at me again, her breathing shallow. "I will... but you have to promise me something first."

"What?"

"Protect Mira," she whispered. "No matter what happens. Don’t let anyone hurt her...Please."

I hesitated, watching her trembling lips. "I will."

She smiled weakly. "You sound like your mother."

Her voice dropped even lower. "The mastermind... the one who planned everything from the start... is.."

The door suddenly opened, and a man in a doctor’s coat stepped in.

He was tall, with a surgical mask still hanging from his neck. I recognized him vaguely, he had been in the hallway earlier.

"Doctor," I said quickly, as I stepped back slightly to give him space.

He didn’t answer, his eyes were completely blank and expressionless.

Something about the way he moved made the hairs on my neck stand up.

"Is everything okay?" I asked carefully, but he didn’t respond,

Instead, he walked straight to Lydia’s bedside and checked her pulse. Then, in one swift motion, he pulled a small scalpel from his pocket.

"Wait... what are you.. "

Before I could even finish, he plunged the scalpel into Lydia’s chest.

She gasped violently, her body arching off the bed as blood poured from the wound.

"NO!" I roared, grabbing him by the arm, but the man was faster than I expected. He twisted free, turned the blade toward himself, and slashed his own throat open in one brutal motion.

Blood sprayed across the white floor as he collapsed beside the bed.

The nurses screamed and alarms blared. I just stood there, frozen for a second, staring at the sudden turn of events in disbelief.

"Code Blue! Code Blue!" someone shouted.

Two nurses rushed in with a crash cart, pushing me back. My father burst in seconds later, his gun already drawn out of instinct.

"What the hell happened?!" he demanded.

"The doctor seems to be working with the mastermind" I couldn’t even finish as I was still covered in Lydia’s blood.

They tried to revive her, but it was useless. The monitor went flat within a minute, and the sound of the long, continuous beep filled the entire room.

Lydia Lancaster was gone and the man who killed her was gone too.

But one thing was clear, It was all a huge setup.

Someone had made sure she would never get the chance to talk.

I stood there, my fists trembling and my heart pounding in fury.

My father walked closer, his voice was low and cold. "This was no ordinary murder, someone’s cleaning up the mess before we can get to them."

I nodded silently. "And whoever it is... they are still out there."

The nurse quietly pulled the sheet over Lydia’s face. Mira’s sobs echoed faintly through the hallway.

I looked down at my blood-stained hands, and for the first time that night, I realized that I had underestimated just how deep this went.

Whoever the masterminds are, they definitely have strong influence and connections to be able to pull this off.

They were enjoying pulling the strings in the shadows.

I stepped out of the room, still in a daze. Mira was standing there, leaning against the wall with tears pouring down her cheeks.

Her voice cracked when she asked, "She is gone, isn’t she?"

I nodded silently.

She let out a painful sob and covered her mouth with her hands. Jasper moved closer to comfort her, but she shoved him away and turned to face me.

"She said you would protect me," she whispered brokenly.

I met her gaze and gave a slow nod. "I will."

She didn’t say anything else. She just looked at me with those terrified eyes and for the first time, I realized she had no idea how much danger she was really in.

Because whoever killed Lydia... wasn’t done yet.

That night, as I walked out of the hospital, my father placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Find out who did this," he said quietly. "No matter what it takes."

I looked up at the cold, starless sky and nodded.

"I will."

But deep down, I already have a hunch who was behind it.

Piper finding Christy so easily, the note, the timing and the silencing of Lydia. It all pointed to the same person but I was certain yet.

And if she thought she could hide in the shadows forever, she was wrong.

Because this time, I wasn’t just going after her.

I was going after whoever dared help her and I wouldn’t stop until I buried them all.