Divorce to Destiny: Reclaiming My CEO Husband
459 Mother!

(Jayden)

The flashing lights of ambulances and police cars light up the hotel's entrance as I run the last few of the distance. My stomach churns, the bile rising in my throat as I close in on the foyer. This can't be real. It doesn't feel real.

I enter the elevator and take what feels like the slowest ride in the world up to the top floor. My mind is full of everything. Mother, Lance. I know she did wrong, so much wrong.

But she was still my mother. She loved me. I could never fault her on that.

Outside the elevator now, I march towards the officers outside the open suite door.

I try to push past the uniformed officers at the door, my voice sharp and demanding. "I'm Jayden Brennan. That's my mother in there. Let me through."

Two of them grab me by the upper arms.

Another officer steps forward, raising a hand to block me. "Sir, we can't-"

"It's my mother! Do you understand?" My voice cracks with desperation. "Let me through now!" I yell, trying to get free.

"Let him through," A tall man in a suit standing in the room orders.

The scene inside hits me like a freight train. Blood. So much blood. A body lies covered on the floor, stark and unmoving. Lance.

My stomach drops, and I feel like I'm about to collapse.

But then my eyes land on another figure, barely conscious, being lifted onto a lowered gurney. Mother. Blood is everywhere-soaking the carpet, smeared across the once-pristine furniture, staining her clothes.

"Mother!" I rush forward, shoving past the paramedics to her side. My knees hit the floor beside her as her eyes flutter open weakly.

Her lips move, but no sound comes out. I grab her hand, slick and sticky with blood. "I'm here, Mother. It's okay."

Her gaze locks onto mine, and for the first time in my life, she looks small. Fragile. Vulnerable in a way I'd never imagined possible. "Jayden," she whispers, her voice barely audible, her tone laced with something I can't quite place.

"I'm here," I say again, my voice trembling. "Don't talk. Save your strength. The paramedics are here. They'll take care of you."

"Don't blame him, Jayden." She coughs, blood bubbles at the corner of her mouth. "My fault."

"Stop," I beg, shaking my head. "Save your strength."

Her fingers twitch weakly in mine, her grip so faint I can barely feel it. "Listen... to me."

I lean closer, desperate to catch every word.

"I was... wrong," she whispers, her breaths shallow and labored. "About... Winona. About everything. I'm sorry, my son."

My throat tightens, tears sting my eyes. "No, don't talk about that now. Just focus on staying with me, okay? Please."

Her eyes, clouded and dull, still manage to pierce me with their intensity. "You... love her. Don't waste it. Don't... let my mistakes... ruin you." "Mother, please"

"I did... love you," she interrupts, her voice fading. "Always. So proud."

"I know," I whisper, my tears falling freely now. "I know you did. I love you too."

Her lips tremble into the faintest shadow of a smile. "Good. You're... so much better... than me, Jayden. Always... were."

"Stop," I plead, my voice cracking. "Stop talking like this. You're going to be fine."

Her eyes close for a moment, and panic surges through me.

"Mom! Mother, stay with me!"

Her eyes flutter open again, just barely, her gaze distant now. "I'm sorry..."

Her hand slips from mine, and it feels like a physical blow.

"No!"

The paramedics gather around checking her vitals, writing on a clipboard.

"No. Not like this. Not this way." I say out loud, but I know she can't hear me. Her eyes now lifeless. They close them for her, and I feel the presence of that tall, suited man beside me. "Mr Brennan. Detective Ronald Harrison, I'm sorry for your loss. Do you know what happened here?"

The paramedics move to wheel her out, their voices blurring into the background noise of my spinning world. look to the covered body on the floor. "No. I just got a calD. and came right away." Narugi

"I'll need you to answer some questions."

"Fuck, man. My mother just died and that's my best friend over there. Do we have to do this now?"

I stand frozen, My mind screams at

me to get out of here, to do something, but my body refuses to listen. My mother is gone. Lance is gone. Lance killed her and then killed himself. He took her out for me. I know it. But she was my mother. Despite everything, I loved her.

The woman who raised me, who protected me with fierce,

unwavering determination. The woman who hurt me, betrayed me, manipulated me-but she loved me, in a deeply flawed way but I know

She did. ne

And now she's gone.

All those awful things I said to Lance and now he's gone. And I'm here. Alone. I walk out of the suite. I need some air. There's a seat in the hallway and sit down.

I fumble for my phone, my fingers trembling as I dial Winona. She answers almost immediately, her voice breaking through the haze.

"Jayden?"

"She's gone," I manage, my voice barely a whisper. "Mother's gone too."

"Jayden, I'm so sorry," she finally says, her voice choked with emotion. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I don't... I don't know what to do," I admit, the words falling out before I can stop them. "I don't even understand how any of this happened."

"I wish I could be there with you," she says. "Lisa is, well, she's devastated."

"Stay there. Tell her I'll... I'll bring him home."

"I will. Jayden, just keep talking to me until we figure things out, okay?"

"Okay. It was awful...the blood. She talked to me, Winona." I feel the tears roll down my face again. I drag in a sob.

"Oh, Jayden."

"I know she did wrong, but she was still...still my mother."

"Yes, she was. And she always did love you."

I nod. "Yes. But she was wrong. Wrong about you. She said she was."

"It's okay, Jayden. Right now, just do what you need to do to get through this."

"Lance, that idiot. Why? Why did it all have to end like this?"

"I don't know. I don't. But you can't know everything right now."

"I'm going back to my hotel. I should contact Gus."

"You stay on the line with me. Stay on until I know Viktor and Cass are there." I've got to get out of here. They'll replace me if they want me that bad.

I just can't be here right now. But I do keep the call connected to Winona. Right now, she's the only link to sanity I have in this madness.

Lance is gone. Mother is gone.

I have no clue how to navigate any of this.