Chapter 501 The World Fell Silent

Chapter 501: Chapter 501 The World Fell Silent

The moment Liam saw the figure lying on the bed, the tightness in his chest eased.

He let out a quiet breath, warmth spreading through him as the tension slowly left his body.

What had he been so worried about?

Perhaps they had both been too busy lately. With work keeping them apart and Diana spending so much time at the office, he had started imagining problems where there were none.

Liam stood in the doorway for a moment before quietly removing his suit jacket.

Diana was a light sleeper. She often stayed up late working, leaving her sleep schedule completely out of order. Over the years, Liam had grown accustomed to coming home quietly after business dinners, careful not to disturb her. He had become remarkably good at moving around without making a sound.

After showering in the adjoining bathroom, he returned to the bedroom and slipped beneath the covers.

The room was dark, and the familiar scent of Diana’s perfume lingered in the air.

She had worn the same fragrance for years. Its scent had become so deeply ingrained in his memory that he could recognize it anywhere. It was as familiar to him as the sound of her voice, a part of his life he had long since stopped noticing consciously.

In fact, whenever he went to bed without that familiar scent beside him, he struggled to fall asleep.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, reaching for her. “I’ll come home earlier from now on.”

He drew her into his arms.

Diana had always seemed to fit perfectly against him. Even when she was asleep, she would instinctively shift closer, finding a comfortable position against his chest.

But this time, she didn’t move.

Liam looked down at her in the darkness.

“Are you still awake?”

Perhaps she was pretending to be asleep.

Diana said nothing.

She didn’t move, either.

Liam sighed, the corners of his mouth lifting into a helpless smile.

“Come on, sweetheart. I said I was sorry. I won’t do it again, okay? Just this once. I know how stubborn you can be when you’re angry. Remember how you used to ignore me for ten days, sometimes even two weeks?”

The woman in his arms remained silent.

Liam gently pinched her cheek.

“Tell me what I have to do to make it up to you. I’ll do whatever you want, all right?”

Her cheek felt cool beneath his fingers.

Frowning, he reached for her hand.

It was cold, too.

Liam’s expression changed.

The temperature in the house was carefully regulated. Even though it was February and a cold snap had settled over the city, the heating kept the rooms comfortably warm.

Diana sometimes had cold hands and feet, but they would usually warm up once she was under the covers.

Tonight, however, her skin remained cold.

A flicker of unease passed through him.

Was she sick?

His heart sank. He immediately reached for the bedside lamp.

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I was wrong, okay? Are you feeling unwell? I’ll take you to see a doctor.”

The light came on.

Liam finally saw Diana’s face clearly.

She was deathly pale, her lips drained of color. Her eyes were closed, and she showed no reaction whatsoever.

His entire body went rigid.

It felt as though something had pierced straight through his heart. His pupils contracted, and for one terrifying moment, he could barely breathe.

“Didi?”

He touched her cheek again.

“Didi, why aren’t you answering me?”

He called her name repeatedly, but she remained silent.

The stillness was unbearable. It was the kind of silence that made fear crawl beneath his skin, freezing him from the inside out.

Liam’s lips trembled.

“Didi!”

He pressed his fingers against her neck.

There was no pulse.

He leaned closer, searching desperately for the slightest sign of breathing.

Nothing.

Diana wasn’t breathing.

She had stopped breathing.

For a moment, Liam felt as though every bone in his body had turned to dust. His mind seemed to shut down, instinctively shielding him from a reality too terrible to comprehend.

Then he moved.

Scooping Diana into his arms, he rushed out of the bedroom.

His legs nearly gave way halfway down the hall, but he forced himself to keep going. He held her tightly against his chest, terrified that even the slightest stumble might hurt her.

“Don’t do this to me, Didi.” His voice broke. “Please. Are you playing another prank because you’re angry with me? Is that it?”

He carried her outside and climbed into the waiting car, cradling her against him.

He couldn’t drive. His hands were shaking too badly, and he could barely think straight.

The driver hurried over, took one look at Liam’s face, and immediately understood that something was terribly wrong.

He got behind the wheel and sped toward the nearest hospital.

He had worked for the Mercer family long enough to know how composed Mr. Mercer usually was. He had never seen him like this.

Liam’s normally controlled expression had shattered. His eyes were bloodshot, his face drained of color, and the terror in his gaze was almost frightening.

The driver didn’t dare ask what had happened to Mrs. Mercer. He could only press harder on the accelerator and pray they would reach the hospital in time.

The moment the car stopped outside the emergency department, Liam jumped out with Diana in his arms.

“Help! Someone, please!”

His voice tore through the entrance.

“My wife needs help! She’s not responding!”

Medical staff rushed over with a stretcher. Liam reluctantly laid Diana down, his hands lingering on her as the team wheeled her into the emergency department.

“Please, save her,” he pleaded, following them inside. “You have to save my wife!”

A doctor and several members of the emergency team immediately began assessing Diana.

Liam stood beside the bed, barely able to breathe as he watched them work.

Then the doctor’s expression changed.

After checking for signs of life, the doctor looked at Liam with grave eyes.

“Sir, I’m very sorry. Your wife has no signs of life.”

For a few seconds, Liam couldn’t understand what he was hearing.

Then the meaning struck him.

She was gone.

The words cut through him like a blade.

A deafening roar filled his ears, drowning out every other sound in the emergency department.

“No!”

He clutched Diana against his chest, his voice rising into a desperate, broken shout.

“That can’t be right! How can this be happening to Didi? She’s always been healthy! She’s never had anything seriously wrong with her. How could she just—”

His voice cracked.

He couldn’t finish the sentence.

He refused to let go of her.

His hands trembled uncontrollably, and his entire body shook as he tried to make sense of what had happened.

Only a few hours earlier, everything had been normal. He had gone to work, attended his meetings, and returned home expecting to find his wife waiting for him.

How could she suddenly be gone?

Diana had always been so full of life. She laughed loudly, argued with him when she was unhappy, and never hesitated to tell him exactly what she thought.

How could someone like her simply disappear from his world?

They had to be wrong.

Someone had to be wrong.

“Save her!” Liam shouted, turning toward the doctor. “You have to save her!”

He seized the doctor’s arm, his grip so desperate that the man winced.

“Do something! Where’s the defibrillator? The medication? Why aren’t you doing anything? She’s my wife! You can’t just stand there and tell me she’s dead!”

He clung to the smallest possibility, the faintest chance that someone might still be able to bring her back.

That sliver of hope was all he had left.

The doctor steadied himself and spoke as gently as he could.

“Sir, please. I understand that this is devastating, but we’ve assessed her, and there are no signs of life. I’m so sorry.”

Liam stared at him.

His pupils trembled as the doctor’s words echoed through his mind.

No signs of life.

Was this real?

Hadn’t it been an ordinary day?

Was he still dreaming?

This had to be a nightmare. He would wake up soon, wouldn’t he?

He tried desperately to convince himself that none of it was happening, that he would open his eyes and find Diana beside him, complaining about how late he’d come home.

But the sounds of the emergency department surrounded him, and Diana’s cold body in his arms made it impossible to keep lying to himself.

Tears spilled down his face.

Liam lowered his head and kissed Diana’s forehead again and again, as though his touch might somehow bring her back.

“Didi, please. You’re just teasing me, aren’t you?”

His voice was barely audible.

“We haven’t even been married that long. You can’t leave me like this. I’m begging you, sweetheart. Please, open your eyes.”

He was losing his mind.

His Didi was still ignoring him.

Even now, when he needed her to answer him more than he had ever needed anything in his life, she wouldn’t say a word.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Liam fumbled for his phone.

His fingers shook so badly that he almost dropped it.

He dialed Rose’s number.

Rose would know what to do.

She had to.

She was a brilliant doctor. Surely there was something she could do, some way to save Diana.

Rose arrived at the hospital as quickly as she could, with Ryan beside her.

The moment they entered the emergency department, Ryan’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. He released Rose’s hand, allowing her to hurry forward.

Rose saw Diana.

For a heartbeat, she couldn’t move.

Her eyes widened, and her chest tightened painfully. She rushed to Diana’s side and clasped her hand, staring at her pale face as disbelief gave way to grief.

Then she turned.

Without hesitation, she slapped Liam across the face.

The sharp sound echoed through the room.

Liam was already barely aware of his surroundings. The force of the slap made him stagger backward, nearly losing his balance as he sank into a chair.

He slowly raised his head.

Rose’s eyes were red, but the expression on her face was one of disgust and hatred.

“If it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t be like this!” she snapped. “Liam, did you really think you could hide your affair from everyone?”

Liam’s body jerked.

He stared at her, his expression blank.

“What?”

Rose looked at him as though she could barely stand the sight of him.

“You’ve been keeping a celebrity as your mistress, and you thought nobody would find out? Liam, are you even human? Have you forgotten everything Diana went through to get where she is today? Have you forgotten how hard she fought for the life you built together?”

Her voice shook with fury.

“You know perfectly well that you’re her whole world. You know exactly how much she loves you!”

Rose’s breathing grew ragged as the words poured out of her.

“If you were going to hurt her like this, why did you save her in the first place? Why did you give her hope? Why did you make her believe she could finally be happy, only to destroy everything she had?”

She could barely contain herself.

Rose grabbed Liam by the collar and pulled him toward her.

“You let your mistress parade around in front of Diana and taunt her. You let that woman get pregnant with your child, too!”

Her voice broke, thick with rage and grief.

“Liam Mercer, you deserve to die! You deserve to die!”