Chapter 314: Final Piece
Kayden
I chuckled breathlessly, nodding in response to his grounding words as I leaned back against his solid chest. "You are right, Rhys. You are entirely right. I shouldn’t waste a single breath on these people, because they are completely worthless after all."
"But... we are still your parents, Kayden," Linda suddenly spoke up from the couch, her voice timid but defensive as she stood up. "I know that we made terrible mistakes all those years ago, but you have to remember that we are your parents and we brought you into this world."
"To survive!" I retorted sharply, turning my glaring eyes on her. "The exact instance you had me, you abandoned me simply for being an omega! You went right ahead to live your glamorous life as someone else, completely forgetting that you even had a son. You left me with someone as incredibly cruel as Kelvin, and I had to suffer for your sins all those years ago!" I continued yelling, completely forgetting Rhys’s warning to stay calm.
I was just too angry, the venom inside me bubbling over because I had been waiting my entire life to finally let this out.
I placed a hand firmly over my chest, clenching my shirt tightly. "No real parent should ever abandon their child, and I can never forgive both of you for what you have done to me! I will never forgive you, no matter how much you grovel at my feet!"
Suddenly, a harsh, rattling cough broke from Kelvin’s chest, cutting straight through my loud words.
I just froze, staring at him coldly as he began coughing even harder, his thin frame shaking violently under the blankets. With every ragged cough, the heart rate monitor beside the bed began to beep erratically, the green lines spiking wildly across the screen.
But I didn’t care about his sudden pain.
"We all make mistakes, Kayden," Linda said quickly, rushing over to the bedside to rub Kelvin’s shoulder, trying to calm him down as his breathing grew shallower. "Now that we have finally realized it, you should just let it go and put it all in the past."
"Really?" It was Rhys who spoke up this time, his deep voice dripping with pure disdain as he stepped forward to stand firmly beside me. "Easy for you to say, Linda. You have been living a great, comfortable life ever since you got married to my father, so I don’t think that you deserve to say a single word about his past to him. Don’t you dare invalidate his feelings. I thought showing up at my door meant you were actually remorseful, but it seems that you are still the exact same after all. You are still the same selfish woman who cares about absolutely nobody but herself."
Linda looked completely dumbfounded at Rhys’s sharp words. She opened her mouth to respond, her face flushing with embarrassment, but no words could escape her lips.
A small, satisfied smile formed on my face, a wave of comfort washing over me knowing that Rhys had my back as always, protecting me even in this room.
"The boy is right," Kelvin muttered weakly after his coughing fit finally stopped, his breathing heavy and shallow. "You must be Rhys Calder. The last time your grandfather came here, he spoke very highly of you... and I can see that you truly cherish and love my son."
"Pardon me, sir, but you don’t deserve to call Kayden your son after what you pulled," Rhys shot back coldly, his posture rigid. "You outed his entire identity to the world."
"Because that man told me that my son would be happy to see the video," Kelvin explained shakily. "I only made that video because I was genuinely happy that he became what he had always wanted to be. I had no idea it was going to cause him trouble... I am so sorry, Kayden. I am truly sorry for everything. I was a shitty parent, and I should have done better. I regret everything, truly. If I could just turn back time..." He paused, his chest hitching as he coughed again, and this time, a thick splatter of dark blood escaped his lips.
Linda gasped in horror, her hands flying to her mouth. "Should I call the doctor, Kelvin?’’
Kelvin shook his head weakly, waving his frail hand dismissively. "It doesn’t matter anymore. My end is almost here anyway. I just want to spend my final moments with my son."
The way he said the word son sent a strange, cold shiver down my spine. Throughout my entire childhood, he had only ever called me by my name when he was angry, and every time he used the word son, it had been in a derogatory, hateful way. But hearing him say it now, in such an affectionate, parental manner, made the burning anger inside my chest slowly simmer down into a dull ache.
"I know that you may never forgive me," Kelvin muttered, his vision clouding over as he looked up at me. "But knowing that I have to die tonight... I just want to hold your hand, Kayden."
I heaved a deep sigh, the heavy weight of the room pressing down on me. I looked toward Rhys, waiting to see what he had to say, silently asking for his guidance.
When Rhys gave me a gentle, reassuring nod, I slowly moved closer to the edge of the mattress. For the first time in years, I reached out and touched his hand.
His fingers were freezing cold, and I could feel the sharp shape of his bones directly against my palm.
"Thank you, Kayden, for becoming such a great son," Kelvin whispered, tears streaming freely down his face as his grip weakly tightened around mine. "Thank you for enduring all those tears and becoming someone better. Thank you for everything that you have achieved... and lastly, thank you for coming here tonight. I really appreciate it. I am so sorry that I won’t be here to see more of your greatness, but I don’t deserve to see it after all."
I had thought I would feel happy, glad that he was finally apologizing on his deathbed because of how worthless he used to make me feel. But hearing those broken words come out of his mouth brought a fresh wave of tears to my eyes, and unable to help myself, I let the quiet sobs pour out of me.
Rhys immediately came to my side, wrapping his strong arm around my shoulders to hold me up, while my hand remained locked in Kelvin’s cold grip.
"I am also thankful to Rhoda for everything she did for you," Kelvin muttered, his voice growing incredibly faint. "It’s a shame I won’t be able to tell her that myself." I noticed that his hand was starting to shake violently against mine, but he didn’t stop talking, forcing the words out with his final bit of strength. "Rhys... I know you hate me too, but here is my last request. Can I touch your hand too?"
Rhys sighed quietly, saying nothing, but he stretched forth his palm over the bed.
As Kelvin began to lift his trembling arm, I tried to pull my own hand away to give them space, but Kelvin held onto my fingers with a sudden, desperate strength, pulling my hand up and placing it directly over Rhys’s palm.
"I hope that you both will always be happy together," Kelvin muttered slowly, his eyes drifting shut. "Please take care of my son... and be a better father than I ever was."
He offered us a small, fragile smile through his tears, and then he let out one final, sharp gasp. His hand suddenly went completely limp, sliding heavily down from our palms onto the white sheets.
Instantly, the lines on the heart rate monitor flattened out, turning into a loud, continuous, flat beep.
Kelvin’s body suddenly began to convulse violently on the bed.
Linda screamed at the top of her lungs, rushing out of the room to alert the medical staff. Within seconds, the door burst open and a team of nurses and doctors rushed inside, instantly pushing us out into the hallway to get us out of the way as they began trying to revive him.
I stood frozen in the hallway, staring through the small glass window of the door as they worked desperately on his unmoving body, but the monitor on the wall remained a flat, unwavering green line.
I slowly turned away from the glass, burying my face into Rhys’s chest as I hugged him tightly.
"He’s gone."
Rhys said absolutely nothing in return. He just tightened his powerful arms around me, holding me securely in the quiet hallway as the final piece of my past vanished forever.