[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-26032289AC7C-184":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},184,23,"Chapter 23: The Moment You Forfeited Your Right","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Maya shoved him away, her hands rough.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Callahan staggered, fighting for balance. The movement tore at the wound on his back. He gasped as blood bloomed, hot and fast, through his jacket.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Maya didn't hesitate. She dialed 911. Her voice was terrifyingly calm as she relayed their location and the situation. Once finished, she glanced at the downed attacker—a look devoid of any emotion—and returned to Callahan.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He slid against the car door, sinking to the pavement. His vision blurred, swimming with the loss of blood, but he forced his eyes to stay on her.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Maya...\" He reached out, fingers clawing for the hem of her jacket, but his strength vanished. His hand dropped limp before he could reach her.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Maya stared down at him. Crimson pooled beneath him, staining the grey concrete. Her lips parted, but she said nothing.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The wail of sirens cut through the night, growing louder by the second.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">As they loaded Callahan onto the stretcher, his eyes remained locked on hers. He watched her until the darkness finally pulled him under.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The red light above the surgery room glowed like a warning.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Maya sat on a hallway bench, her clothes tacky with Callahan’s drying blood. She stared at the stark white wall, her expression completely blank. Her eyes were hollow, unfocused.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Then, hurried footsteps echoed down the hall.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Peter and Martha Cole rushed into view. They looked frantic, disheveled—the picture of parents who had just seen their world collapse. Their gaze landed on Maya immediately.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Maya!\" Martha lunged forward, tears streaming down her face. \"My girl! Are you alright? You scared us to death!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She reached for a hug, but Maya stood up, stepping aside to avoid the contact.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Martha’s hands froze in mid-air. Her face twisted into a mask of pure shock.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Maya leveled a cold, detached gaze at them. Her voice didn't waver. \"I’m fine. Callahan is the one in emergency surgery.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Peter looked at his daughter—at the chilling distance in her eyes—and his own eyes brimmed with tears. He stepped forward, his voice trembling. \"Maya... Dad knows you were wronged. I was wrong. I shouldn't have treated you like that. Please, come home with us? We’ll make it up to you. We'll be better—\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Maya’s lips curled, though the smile lacked any warmth. \"Mr. Cole, Mrs. Cole, if I recall correctly, my parents died the day I signed the legal papers severing our ties.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Peter and Martha flinched as if struck. Their faces drained of color.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Martha sank into a chair, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with jagged sobs. \"Maya! Mom was wrong! I know it! I was blinded by selfishness! Please, just give us a chance to fix this!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Maya looked down at her mother, who was reduced to a frantic, broken mess.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">This was the woman who had once been too poised to even meet Maya’s eyes. Now, she was just hollowed out.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Maya felt nothing. No anger, no pity—just a cold, dead numbness.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Mrs. Cole,\" Maya said, her voice steady. \"Have some dignity.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Peter gripped the back of a chair, his knuckles white. He looked defeated, years older than he had moments ago. \"Maya! I’m begging you. I’ve been a terrible father. I’m so sorry! Please, just give us a chance to prove we’ve changed!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Maya stood abruptly, putting space between them.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She looked down at them, her gaze sharp, even mocking.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"What are you doing?\" Her voice was soft, but it cut through the silence. \"You used family obligations to hold me hostage before. Now, you’re using guilt to do the same?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Peter and Martha stared at her, stunned.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Five years ago, you brought me back to the Cole estate,\" Maya said, her tone clinical, as if recounting a stranger's life. \"You said you owed me. You said you wanted to make it up to me.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"In those five years, what did you actually do?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Did you give me the room I’d lived in for less than a month? No, you gave it to Alexandria.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Did you care when my fiancé abandoned me on my own birthday, leaving me to wait alone in a hotel?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Did you mourn when you forced me to terminate my pregnancy just so Alexandria wouldn’t be 'sad'?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Did you even notice when you locked me in a dark storage room with a fever, leaving me to die alone?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Did you blink when you forced me to take the fall for Alexandria’s crimes? You marched me to the police station yourself and handed me a criminal record.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Or was it when you stood by and watched as strangers beat me? I lay in the hospital half-dead, and not one of you asked if I was still breathing.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">With every word, Peter and Martha grew paler, their bodies trembling. The moments they had brushed off as trivial were laid bare. Each point was a jagged stone pinning them to their own guilt.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"You said I was your biological daughter.\" Maya laughed, and for the first time, tears rolled down her face. \"But did you give me even a fraction of the love a daughter deserves?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"No,\" she said, her voice sharp. \"You were only performing the 'obligation' of reclaiming a lost child. Your love, your care, your protection—it all went to Alexandria.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Now that you know she isn’t your blood—now that you know she played you—you regret it. But so what?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She looked at them, tears still falling, her gaze ice-cold. \"Does that mean I should be grateful? Should I forget the abuse, come home, and be the daughter you can summon when it's convenient and sacrifice when it's necessary?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"It’s too late.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She wiped the tears from her face, though more followed.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"The moment you chose her over me, you forfeited the right to be my parents.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"That severance agreement wasn't a threat. It was the last bit of dignity I had.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She took a steadying breath, straightened her spine, and looked them in the eye. \"I am Maya Cole. And I have nothing more to do with your family.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Don't ever disturb my life again.\"\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272930805]