The Unwanted Wife and Her Secret Twins (Mia and Kyle) novel Chapter 332

r 332 Needs to rest

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Chapter 332 Needs to rest

Mia’s POV

Kyle’s breathing had become more shallow since disconnecting from the oxygen, each exhale a deliberate effort.

I could smell the antiseptic on his skin, sharp and medicinal, mixing with something else— something that reminded me of autumn leaves, dry and fading. It was strange how illness had its own scent, how it changed the very chemistry of a person until they became someone else entirely.

Kyle shifted against the wall, and I heard the soft rustle of his sweater against the painted surface. His eyes were fixed on some point beyond my shoulder, avoiding direct contact.

“Mia,” he finally spoke. “What do you want me to do?”

The way his hands had developed a slight tremor that he was trying to hide by keeping them pressed flat against his thighs.

“I want honesty,” I said. The words tasted like copper pennies on my tongue, metallic and bitter. “I want you to tell me why you pretended to be Jackson Maxwell. Why you’re not pretending anymore. You sent Taylor back to prison–don’t try to deny it. Are you really going to keep everything from me, even now?”

Kyle’s throat moved as he swallowed, and I could see the effort it took. The IV site on his arm was already showing a small bruise where he’d pulled out the line, a purple bloom spreading under his pale skin.

He remained silent for a long time, his eyes still focused on that invisible point beyond my shoulder. When he finally spoke, his voice had taken on that infuriating tone of patient explanation.

“Mia, none of that matters anymore.” Each word was pure pain. “I just want you to know that everything I did was to protect you and the children’s safety and happiness. I hope I’ve accomplished that, but from now on…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, letting it dangle in the sterile air like a thread that had been cut before the weaving was complete.

Something hot and sharp exploded in my chest. Tears and laughter came to my eyes at the same time. The laughter felt like broken glass working its way up from my lungs, cutting everything on its path to freedom.

“Do you think you’re so noble, Kyle?” The words erupted from me with a force. “Do you think you’re some kind of martyred saint, making all these grand sacrifices for the greater good? Why can’t you understand this now, after everything we’ve been through?”

Chapter 332 Needs to rest

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I wiped at my eyes with the back of my hand, tasting salt and the bitter residue of old makeup. “I don’t need your protection. I never needed your protection the way you think I did. What I needed- what I still need is for you to tell me everything. You’ve never trusted me, Kyle. Not once in all the years I’ve known you.”

My voice was getting louder, and I could hear the hysteria creeping in around the edges.

but you

“I have the strength to face this with you. I have the strength to face anything with you, won’t let me. You keep making these decisions about my life, about our children’s lives, without ever asking what we actually want.”

Kyle’s face had gone ashen, but his expression remained that maddeningly controlled mask. I wanted to shake him, to crack through that.

“The threat was real. I couldn’t be certain I could completely eliminate it without risking your safety or the children’s. I can’t-” He stopped. “I can’t stand by and watch you walk into danger while I’m powerless to help you.”

“That’s not your choice to make. Don’t you see? We’re not having the same conversation.”

I leaned forward, trying to catch his eyes, to force him to see me instead of whatever scenario he’d constructed in his head. “Your children need to see you in person, Kyle. Not just watch you from across a playground, not just wonder why daddy doesn’t come home. They have the right to know their father. Have you ever thought about that? Not what you think is best for them, but what they actually need?”

“Mia,” he said quietly. “I don’t want them to remember me like this.”

The simple statement hurt me. I looked at. At the way his clothes hung loose on his diminished frame. At the purple shadows under his eyes that spoke of sleepless nights and pain that couldn’t be medicated away. At the tremor in his hands that he couldn’t quite control.

“Kyle,” I said. “They barely remember you at all.”

His hands clenching and unclenching against his thighs. The hospital room felt too quiet suddenly, filled only with the distant sounds of medical equipment and the soft whoosh of the heating system.

Kyle looked down at his hands, studying them as if they belonged to someone else. “Taylor will never bother you again,” he said, his voice taking on that formal tone again. “Bringing her into your life was my mistake. She should never have been able to hurt you or the children.”

Kyle looked down at his hands, studying them as if they belonged to someone else. “Taylor will never bother you again,” he said, his voice taking on that formal tone again. “Bringing her into your life was my mistake. She should never have been able to hurt you or the children.”

The abrupt change of subject felt like whiplash.

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Chapter 332 Needs to rest

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“I don’t care about Taylor anymore, Kyle.” The words came out flat, drained of the anger that had been driving me. “I don’t care about your schemes or your investigations or your elaborate plans to protect us from threats we didn’t even know existed.”

I shifted on the hard floor.

“I just want you to live,” I continued, and the simplicity of the statement surprised me. “Even if we never see each other again after tonight. Even if you disappear back into whatever shadow you’ve been hiding in for the past four years. I just want you to be alive in the world somewhere.”

“I want that too,” he said, so softly I had to lean forward to hear him.

I was about to respond when the door opened suddenly, flooding the room with bright light from the hallway. A nurse stepped in, her sneakers squeaking slightly on the polished floor. She was young, with kind eyes and the efficient manner of someone who’d seen everything.

“Mr. Branson, I was just checking-” She stopped short when she saw Kyle sitting on the floor, the IV equipment abandoned beside his chair. Her gaze moved quickly between us, taking in the scene with professional assessment.

“Sir, you can’t disconnect your monitoring equipment. Your oxygen levels-”

“I’m fine,” Kyle said automatically, but even I could hear how unconvincing it sounded. His breathing was definitely more shallow than it had been earlier.

The nurse crouched down beside him, her movements practiced and gentle. “I can see that you’re having a conversation, and I respect that, but we need to get you back on oxygen. Your heart rate is elevated and your pulse ox is probably dangerously low.”

I watched as she efficiently began reconnecting the monitors, her hands sure and steady. Kyle submitted to this with the resigned patience of someone who’d been through the process countless times.

“There,” she said, clipping the pulse oximeter back onto his finger. “That’s better. Your oxygen saturation was at 84 percent–that’s not safe, especially with your condition.”

The small device immediately began beeping in a pattern that sounded more stable than the irregular rhythm I’d been hearing earlier. Kyle’s breathing seemed to ease slightly as the oxygen began flowing again.

“I’m going to need to let Dr. Patel know about this,” the nurse continued, making notes on her tablet. “Disconnecting from life support equipment is serious, Mr. Branson. If you’re having thoughts of self

-harm-”

“I’m not,” Kyle said quickly. “I just needed to have a conversation without the machines.‘

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Chapter 332 Needs to rest

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The nurse looked between us again, her expression softening slightly. “I understand that this is a difficult time for your family. But your body needs this support right now. Your immune system is severely compromised, and any additional stress could be dangerous.”

She turned to me with professional courtesy. “Visiting hours ended several hours ago, but given the circumstances, I can give you a few more minutes. However, Mr. Branson needs to rest.”

Chapter 333 All the ash we leave behind

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