Chapter 778
Chapter 778:
Neal gave no response. Bloodstained fabric clung to his rigid frame, his jaw working in silence, sharp angles slicing through the cold, sterile hospital lighting.
Minutes later, Sloane and the others arrived, slightly breathless. They had been in another car, one that couldn’t keep up with Fernanda’s breakneck speed. Traffic lights had slowed them down.
“Fernanda, where is Bonita?” Sloane’s voice cracked with worry.
“In surgery,” Fernanda replied, pointing to the OR doors.
“Will she be okay?” Sloane’s distress was palpable, tears welling in her eyes. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! The plan was simple—Bonita should have screamed as soon as Beckett made his move. Why did she stay silent?”
“Maybe she didn’t have the chance,” Levi, for once, had shed his usual playful demeanor, his expression grim. “We all knew this plan was risky. I said it from the start.”
“But it was the only way,” Gifford countered. “Without clear proof of violent intent, we couldn’t force a psych evaluation. Now, there’s no escaping it—Beckett will be locked up in a mental health facility.”
“It was pure luck that the knife hit her stomach,” Sloane whispered, unable to finish the thought. The alternative was too unbearable to voice.
“It is a relief that she is alright,” Fernanda said. “Bonita is not someone who rushes into things blindly. If she strayed from our plan, it means she had a strategy of her own.”
“That guy’s insanity shook me,” Levi added. “What if he’s back on the streets in a matter of days? If he walks free again, who knows what kind of madness he will unleash on Neal and Bonita? He was screaming his head off when they dragged him away…”
“That will not happen since he has been diagnosed with a mental illness,” Fernanda replied with composure. “Patients like him are confined to mental hospitals for treatment. It is not so easy for them to walk back into the world.”
“And what if he recovers and they let him go? A man like that is a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode.”
Fernanda turned, meeting Levi’s gaze with a faint, almost serene smile. “If fate is kind and he truly heals, then he will earn his right to freedom. But if he does not recover and still dares to seek a way out…”
𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢: gⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⧿ⅽ𝗼𝗺
She paused for a heartbeat before finishing, “Then escaping will be nothing more than a fantasy. I will see to it that he never steps beyond those walls again.”
The fluorescent lights painted her in an almost ghostly glow. Though her tone was gentle, it carried an unshakable certainty that left no room for argument.
Levi suddenly realized that this quiet, unassuming Fernanda was far more chilling than Beckett, who had raged and howled like a beast being dragged to its cage.
Because Beckett had been spewing threats, while she was simply stating a fact.
If Beckett did not recover, she would ensure he never walked free again.
“That is impressive.” Levi gave a genuine thumbs-up. “Fernanda, I’m truly grateful I am not your enemy.”
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