Chapter 2 - The Sound of Glass ShatteringThe cold rain of Los Altos hit Camila’s face like millions of tiny needles, but she felt nothing. The numbing ache in her chest completely overshadowed the storm. She didn't look back at the mansion, nor did she care about the terrified, frantic shouting of Edwin behind her as the full weight of her words began to sink into his self-obsessed mind.
Climbing into her modest sedan—a car Edwin had always mocked as a "glorified tin can"—she started the engine. Her hands were steady. Cold, terrifyingly steady.
By 4:15 AM, she arrived at Saint Jude’s Hospital.
The sterile white lights of the emergency corridor felt blinding. Outside Room 404, her mother-in-law Beverly and sister-in-law Annika were already there, though not out of grief. They had caught wind that something was wrong through a frantic phone call from Edwin.
“Camila! You useless leech!” Beverly shrieked the second she stepped out of the elevator, her expensive diamond earrings shaking with rage. “What did you say to Edwin? The bank just called his secretary! They’ve frozen the corporate accounts! Are you out of your mind?”
Annika rushed forward, her face twisted in pure malice. “Did you steal something on your way out? If you’ve messed with our family’s assets, I swear—format your phone right now and call the bank back to fix it!”
Camila walked past them in total silence. She didn't stop, didn't flinch, and didn't offer a single word of explanation. Her icy detachment hit them harder than any scream could have.
She pushed open the door to Room 404.
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There lay George Stanford, the man who had built a silent corporate empire from the ground up, resting peacefully under a white sheet. He had spent his entire life protecting his daughter, even setting up an impenetrable legal fortress that would trigger the moment he drew his last breath—a fortress designed to obliterate anyone who dared treat his child like dirt.
Camila knelt beside the bed, gently pressing her forehead against her father’s cold hand. A single tear slipped down her cheek, catching the fluorescent light before she whispered into the empty room, "Rest now, Dad. I've got the wheel."
