In the world of wealth and make-believe, Royally Kissed follows the tale of Paige Cadwyn, an heiress who believes that no man could ever love her despite her beauty and kindness. And when she falls hopelessly in love with Arthur Huxley, a senior in...
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—fiftyseven—
the violent ends
PAIGE WENT INTO Bradbury Medical Center, together with Lola and Willow. When they got into Jude's room, both Cain and Aoife wore similar expressions – vaguely surprised, but automatically relaxed when they noticed that Paige had thrown a smile to Lola's way.
Removing her hood, she had mildly implied a meaningful statement through her expression when Cain lurched his eyebrow up at her. Paige immediately shrugged it off, joining Robin who was lazed in the couch, her expression vacant. That made her look up at Cain again – perched atop by the edge of the settee, his figure hovering above Robin's head – and he emitted a suppressed breath, stiffly whipping his head back and forth.
"Robin?" she asked softly, her demeanor rather calculated as she didn't want to pull the girl's trigger. Reaching up to her head, she sifted her fingers through her hair and curled the stray ones behind her ear. Paige let out a relieved smile when Robin turned her attention to her, at last. It was as if she'd just gotten out of a bad dream, and Paige gave her a reassuring pressure on her hand. "You should eat. Unless you want your dad to get mad at you."
Robin got up, supporting her weight up against her side. She cast her lashes down, then stared slapdash into Jude's direction. Lola was sat near his bed while Aoife was rooted by the foot of it.
"Will he be okay?"
Paige could feel Cain's eyes boring into her head, but she dared not look. "He will be," she assured, and she meant it – because it was true. The real million-dollar question was: Will they be okay? "And he wants you to trust him. Hm?"
Blinking, Robin nodded. "Alright."
Aoife fell into steps near them. "I'll take charge. Robin, you love fried chicken, right?" Always the timid one, Robin nodded with a small smile. "Come. I know a great place" – she turned to Paige – "we won't be long."
Okay, she mouthed. "Thank you," added Paige to Aoife as soon as the two headed for the door.
All of them who was left snapped their heads to Jude's direction when he'd groaned so suddenly, albeit his eyes were closed. Without a moment's hesitation, Paige hurried to him and caged his hand to hers.
"Jude? Hey, it's okay."
When he'd heard her voice, he fluttered his eyes open but that made Paige felt horrified that she was sure her face turned blanched. This was just like the experience she had with her grandpa when he was close to his demise.
Jude's eyes were swollen, the whites had turned yellow, and he was too frail to even so much as open his mouth to speak. Paige had seen this before, and though she'd hate to admit it, the day of reckoning wasn't going any slower. Ultimately, it was heartbreaking to witness.
