When I got home, there was a white van parked in front of the entrance, the kind no one wants to see outside their house. The kind that only shows up when death has happened.

On the porch, a stretcher. Still. Covered with a white sheet.

My feet stopped. Cold.

No. No.

That can’t be her.

It can’t be Mom.

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I didn’t want to move forward, but my body did anyway, slow, stiff, like walking through water. The air felt wrong. Thick.

Then I saw Maria, one of the housemaids. She was crying. Her face looked hollow. She stepped toward me like she didn’t know how to do it.

“Ms. Stone passed away a few hours ago…” she said quietly.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Miss Isabella. I’m just glad you came back.”

Everything around me stopped.

I dropped to my knees beside the stretcher, blocking everything else out. The voices, the footsteps, the house, the sky were gone. Just that shape under the sheet, and the sound of my own heartbeat screaming in my ears.

I reached for the fabric. My fingers hesitated.

“Please,” I whispered. “Don’t let it be her…”

But I pulled it back.

And there she was.

My mother.

Still. Pale. Too cold.

“Mom?” I said. My voice broke. “Mom…”

I grabbed her hand, and it was ice. Not cold like sleeping but cold like stone. Like she’d already been gone for hours. My chest caved in.

“Wake up,” I whispered. “Please wake up.”

I kissed her hand. My tears hit her skin.

“I’m sorry,” I cried. “I came back. I’m here now. I’m here, Mom.”

I leaned over her, sobbing, holding her hand to my face like it would anchor me to something solid.

“I shouldn’t have left,” I whispered. “I should’ve come sooner. I thought we had more time.”

I couldn’t say more.

My whole body was trembling now.

“I chose him over you,” I said, voice cracking. “And I lost everything.”

The sobs came hard. I couldn’t stop them. Couldn’t breathe.

“You never gave up on me. Even when I did. Even when I couldn’t see straight, you were always there.”

I clung to her hand like I could pull her back from wherever she’d gone.

“I missed you so much. Your voice, your hugs… the way you said my name when I was being a brat. I just… I just wanted to make you proud.”

I laughed, barely. It came out sharp and broken.

Then more tears.

“You didn’t even wait,” I whispered. “I didn’t get to say goodbye. I didn’t get to tell you… you were right.”

I curled up next to her, clutching her hand like it was the only thing keeping me from sbreaking completely.

“Just wake up. Just yell at me. Please.”

I screamed.

Not words.

Just pain.

“I love you, Mom. I love you so much.”

And then everything blurred. My vision, my thoughts. My chest tightened until I couldn’t hold myself up anymore.

“I’m so sorry…” I whispered, just as everything went black.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my room. I turned my head. There was a man in a white coat at the door, flipping through a chart.

“She’s awake,” he said, and looked toward the hallway. “Vitals are stable.”

Lila walked in.

“What… happened, Doc?” I asked. My throat was raw.

The doctor cleared his throat. “You collapsed. From emotional stress, exhaustion… and your blood sugar had dropped dangerously low.”

He hesitated.

“We ran some tests."

My heart skipped.

He looked at Lila, then at me.

“You’re pregnant. Around seven weeks.”

Silence.

I blinked. My brain didn’t move.

What?

No. That wasn’t possible. I was at the hospital earlier. They told me it was negative. Ezekiel told me i'm not pregnant.

Lila was sitting beside me now. Her hands were trembling.

“I didn’t want you to find out like this,” she said. “But maybe… maybe this is something good.”

She took my hand, placed it gently on my stomach.

“Your mother might be gone, Isa… but there’s still life. You’re not completely alone.”

I couldn’t speak.

He lied. Ezekiel knew it.

He had to have known. The hospital would’ve told him. He let me believe there was nothing left. He let me walk away thinking I was empty.

He wanted me gone.

So he could be with her.

Celeste. The one who dared to stand in our house and call herself his fiancée.

My jaw clenched. My fists balled into the sheets.

Lila saw it. She reached for my hand again.

“You don’t have to go through this alone,” she said. “You’re not alone.”

We all are.

Suddenly six men, dressed in black, stepped in and bowed in front of me.

“Welcome back, Miss Isabella. We offer our deepest condolences.”

That night, At 8 p.m., they delivered my mother's ashes. A white vase. So final. She was really gone.

I drank that night. Just to fall asleep.

The next morning, I was still dazed, stomach twisting, when Lila knocked softly on my door.

“Lawyer Lancaster is here,” she said. “He wants to go over your mother’s will.”

I dragged myself out of bed. Threw on a robe. The hallway smelled like lemon polish and roses. Always roses.

In the living room, Lawyer Lancaster was already at the table, papers spread out like weapons.

“Good morning, Miss Isabella,” he greeted. “I offer my deepest condolences. Your mother was… a incredible woman.”

I sat down. Lila stood behind me like a silent guardian.

“She left everything to you,” he said.

I blinked. “What do you mean, everything?”

He started listing it.

“A global portfolio. Real estate across five countries. Estimated value… approximately 900 billion dollars. This estate. Ten luxury hotels. And…”

He paused.

“You are to take over as CEO of Stone Heart Group.”

My heart stopped.