Even in Darkness She Chose to Rise (Tatiana and Jasper) novel Chapter 78

r 78 A Call Ignored

Every breath felt like sharp needles piercing her lungs, a constant torment.

Suddenly, her eyes flew open. She leaned over the side of the bed, coughing violently, bringing up mouthfuls of blood that splattered onto the floor.

The coughing wouldn’t stop. Her face was ashen, and she lacked the strength even to sit up.

Darkness crept into her vision. Each gasp felt like a countdown to death.

With tremendous effort, she found her phone and tried to make a call. Her vision blurred. She instinctively pressed the first number in her call history – Jasper’s, from the night before.

Her head felt like it was splitting open. Warm liquid trickled from her nose, dripping onto the white bedsheets.

The phone rang for a long time before someone answered.

“Hello? Mr. Jackson’s secretary. Mr. Jackson is currently in a meeting. Please state your business.”

Her consciousness was fading. Coughing wracked her body. She managed to force out a few words. “Please… tell him… I don’t feel well… I need to go to the hospital… Can I?”

She was confined to the house, unable even to leave. She needed Jasper’s permission.

“Very well, miss. I will inform Mr. Jackson when his meeting concludes.”

The call ended. Tatiana lost consciousness.

On the other end, the secretary pursed her lips in disgust. “Still pulling the same old ‘playing sick‘ routine? How pathetic. Hmph, she’s not even worthy of polishing Ms. Lowell’s shoes!”

Today’s meeting was critical. Jasper was always meticulous about work, rarely allowing interruptions.

But today, he couldn’t shake a profound sense of unease, a nagging feeling that something terrible was happening.

Finally, he cut the meeting short. “Let’s take a break.” He stood and left the conference room.

His secretary was waiting outside. Felix was off today, replaced by another secretary named Wendy.

“Anything come up?”

Wendy hesitated, thinking of the phone call, then shook her head. “No, Chairman. Nothing.” The Chairman doesn’t care about that woman. Why let her ruin his mood? A good secretary shields her boss from unnecessary distractions.

Jasper paused, rubbing his temples. “If any calls come in, bring them to me immediately.”

She hesitated again.

He noticed her subtle reaction, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Are you hiding something?”

Pinned by his sharp gaze, Wendy panicked, unable to conceal anything. “N–no…”

“Tell me!” he snapped.

Wendy crumbled. “Y–yes, there was a call, but… but…”

His expression changed instantly. “Give me the phone.”

During important meetings like this, Jasper never carried his phone. He disliked interruptions, entrusting it to Felix, who would screen calls and only notify him if absolutely necessary.

Wendy didn’t dare hide anything further and quickly handed over the phone. “Here. It was… Tatiana called earlier.”

He scrolled through the call log. Sure enough, there was a received call from two hours ago. Tatiana’s number.

Since leaving the hospital, she almost never called him, except last night from the police station. Why would she call today?

Without hesitation, he dialed her number back and asked Wendy, “What did she say?”

The call didn’t go through. Her phone was off.

Wendy stammered, “Tatiana… she was pretending to be sick again… saying she didn’t feel well and needed to go to the hospital… I think she was just trying to get your attention, Chairman. You shouldn’t believe her. It’s just one of her little tricks…”

“Shut up!”

Startled by his ferocity, Wendy looked up and met his eyes, nearly fainting from fear.

“As of today, you’re fired. Get out.”

Wendy tried frantically to explain. “I…”

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“Get out.”

Jasper spun around and strode away, an inexplicable panic rising within him, intensified by the unanswered call.

He drove back to the manor himself, speeding.

“Tatiana!”

He threw open the door to her room, only to find it empty.

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