Belated Moonlight: He Regretted Only After I Left-Chapter 174: I Know the Truth Behind the Fall!
"Vegetative... state?"
Isla Sutton’s body swayed violently, her already swollen and red eyes widened in disbelief.
She opened her mouth, but only a short gasp escaped from her throat, as if an invisible hand was choking her breath. Then, her body limply fell backward.
"Mom—!" Stella Sterling screamed hoarsely, her soul seemed to scatter in fear, instinctively reaching out to support her, but her limbs were too weak from shock...
At that moment, a pair of powerful arms darted out like lightning, firmly catching Isla Sutton’s falling body.
Shane Donovan frowned, carrying the unconscious Isla Sutton horizontally, and said in a deep voice to the nearby doctor, "Quick! Check on her!"
Another chaotic commotion ensued.
Nurses rushed over, pinching pressure points, checking blood pressure.
Stella Sterling clung tightly to her mother’s body, watching as doctors and nurses placed her onto a gurney and wheeled her into the adjacent room.
Shane Donovan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his voice low and hoarse, "Go check on your aunt, I’ll take care of things here."
Stella, bewildered, turned her head toward the emergency room.
The door was still open, she could vaguely see the busy medical staff inside, and the lifeless outline of her father on the bed, surrounded by various tubes.
That was her father.
Yesterday, he was still smiling, serving her food, talking ambitiously about achieving new heights.
But today, he lay here, possibly never to wake again.
A metallic taste rose in her throat, and she forcibly swallowed it, her nails digging deep into her palms, leaving crescent-shaped blood marks.
"...Okay." She heard her own hoarse voice.
Isla Sutton was overwhelmed with anger and worry, leading to physical exhaustion and fainting.
With some medication and a good sleep, she would recover.
Stella Sterling stayed by the bedside, watching her mother, whose brows remained tightly knit even in sleep, feeling like her heart was pierced repeatedly by countless needles.
Outside the window, the sky turned from deep dark to gray, the dawn barely breaking.
She was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Unknowingly, she fell into a groggy sleep, leaning over the bed.
But her sleep was not peaceful.
The dream was bizarre and surreal.
One moment, her father was falling from a high-rise, his figure growing larger;
The next, Shane Donovan was turning away, leaving decisively;
Then her mother’s piercing cries...
She struggled in the dream but couldn’t wake up.
Until—
"Buzz... Buzz..."
The phone in her pocket vibrated continuously, pulling her forcefully out of the chaotic nightmare.
Stella jolted awake, her heart pounding fiercely.
Her forehead pressed against the cold bed edge, leaving a red mark.
She looked around blankly, taking a few seconds to realize where she was.
Her mother was still asleep, her breathing more stable.
It was already bright outside the window.
The phone was still vibrating.
Instinctively, she reached for her phone, the screen lit with a glaring light.
It was a text from an unknown number with no name attached.
Her fingertips swiped across the screen, unlocking it.
Just one line of text appeared before her eyes—
"I know the truth about the fall."
...
Stella stared at that line, her fingertips instantly cold.
She almost immediately dialed back, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest, ringing in her ears.
The call was answered after a single ring.
She forced herself to calm down, lowering her voice to viciously ask into the receiver, "Who are you?!"
There was a long silence on the other end, so long that Stella almost thought it was a prank.
Just as she was about to hang up, a man suddenly let out a low laugh, "Miss Sterling, I am Owen Callahan."
Owen Callahan?
Stella’s breath hitched for a moment, her mind blanked briefly, then a vague figure struggled to emerge from the depths of her memory—
Her brother Aidan Sterling’s friend, previously her parents seemed to... have attempted to matchmake her and Owen Callahan?
Then... what happened later?
She vaguely remembered, after that gathering, Owen Callahan was beaten terribly, his face bruised, ribs broken, hospitalized for a long time.
Her brother had suspected Shane Donovan and had even taken her to visit him afterward...
At the time, she was puzzled, only feeling odd, questioning the enmity between the two, but her brother had dismissed her questions with vague answers.
Later, this person faded from her life, and she never heard her brother mention him again.
Those deliberately forgotten fragments now, because of this phone call, abruptly became clear and sharp.
But...
How could Owen Callahan know the truth about her father’s fall?
And why contact her at this particular time?
Countless questions boiled like bubbles in her chaotic mind.
She pinched the web between her thumb and index finger tightly, the pain barely keeping her calm, "You said you know the truth about my father’s fall?"
"Yes." Owen Callahan answered bluntly.
"How do you know?"
"You don’t need to know how I know." Owen Callahan’s voice was cold, "Believe it or not. But I’m telling you, your father, Theodore Sterling, didn’t commit suicide by jumping—he was pushed off the top floor!"
"Boom—!"
Stella felt a cold chill rush from her feet to the top of her head, as if all the blood in her body instantly froze, her entire being engulfed in icy numbness.
Pushed... off?!
Her mouth opened, but her throat was too dry to make any sound.
She had her suspicions before, but never expected her guess to be so bluntly confirmed, the immense shock sent her vision spinning, almost making her unable to stand.
She clung to the cold wall, her nails nearly digging into its surface, her voice trembling with extreme shock and anger, "Who... who pushed him?!"
There was a brief silence on the other end, only Owen Callahan’s slightly heavy breathing could be heard.
A few seconds later, a name, like an ice pick laced with poison, squeezed through Owen Callahan’s clenched teeth, word by word:
"It’s Shane Donovan."
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
The smell of disinfectant in the hospital corridor became overwhelmingly strong, nauseatingly pungent.
Stella stood frozen, clutching her phone, with only Owen Callahan’s statement echoing in her ears.
Shane Donovan...
The person who pushed her father off... was Shane Donovan?
How could that be?!
Absurd!
It’s too absurd!
Stella’s grip on her phone tightened instantly, her nails deeply embedded in her palm. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
"You’re lying!" She blurted out, her voice trembling with ultimate fury, "Owen Callahan, do you know what you’re saying?!"
It seemed Owen Callahan anticipated her reaction, letting out a short, cold chuckle.
"Lying? Stella, why do you think I’m contacting you now? Because I’m bored, wanting to see The Sterling Family as a joke?"
His voice suddenly rose, "Do you know why I was beaten half to death, lying in a hospital for three whole months?! Four ribs broken, spleen ruptured, barely escaping death!"
She forced herself to remain calm, her voice dripping with undisguised sarcasm, "You want to say it was Shane Donovan? And because of that, you fabricated this lie for revenge?"
"Revenge?" Owen Callahan found it amusing, his laugh twisted, "Revenge on him? I pity you! Pity your entire Sterling family being toyed with by him!"
He paused, then his tone turned eerily sinister, each word like a venomous serpent whispering into Stella’s ear, "Because I saw with my own eyes—Shane Donovan molested you back then!"
