Fake Daughter Is the Real Legend novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: The Sealed Instruction

Leander's POV

The hospital corridor at three in the morning smelled of floor cleaner and old coffee.

I sat in a plastic chair outside Gregory Ashcroft's door with my elbows on my knees.

Bethany was asleep across two seats, in the dark dress, with her head against the wall.

The doctors had been blunt.

A small stroke, they said, a weak heart, and months of heavy metal in his blood.

He might come back, or he might not.

Marin had sat with her father all day holding his hand.

She finally slept in the chair at his bedside, and I carried her to the waiting-room sofa myself.

Now I was the one awake.

"Leander."

The voice was so thin I thought I'd dreamed it.

I stood and pushed the door open.

Gregory lay propped on the pillow, grey and small, with his eyes open and clear.

"Sir," I said. "Don't try to talk."

"I'll talk." He lifted a finger. "Sit. Please."

I sat on the edge of the chair beside the bed.

"You remember what I said to you in the study," he said. "Six years ago."

"Every word."

"Say it."

My throat tightened. "If anything happens to her, drive her out before you let anyone near her."

"Yes." He shut his eyes briefly, and opened them. "I was afraid, even then. I knew something was wrong in my own house and could not find it. I couldn't trust my own judgement, and I could not trust Helen. So I trusted you."

← Chapter 21 · All chapters · Chapter 23 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend