Chapter 506 Yvette Coma
Yvette pressed her bloodless lips together, her chest heaving with labored breaths. She moved toward Felix and Gabrielle, but her weakened state made her sway with each step, as if a gentle breeze could topple her at any moment.
"I want to go home," she whispered, her voice barely audible yet filled with unwavering determination.
It felt as if an invisible force was pressing down on her, each breath a battle. Eyes shut tight, she tried to steady herself, but emotion crashed over her in waves—an unseen fist clenching her heart, refusing to let go.
Felix and Gabrielle exchanged a meaningful glance, their silence heavy with unspoken concerns. They were caught in a web of conflicting demands—Albert's threats, Yvette's defiance, and Violet's conditions all pulling them in different directions.
Gabrielle clenched her fists. They were the innocent ones, yet all the pressure fell on them.
Her voice cracked with desperation. "Ms. Orlando, why won't you help us? If we get the formula, you'll be the first to receive treatment. You'll recover quickly and return to your husband and children."
Yvette's eyes flashed with fury. Taking a sharp breath, she snapped back, "Stop with the noble pretenses! Your promise to treat me first is nothing but a ploy to make me a test subject for Clifford! I've told you—I want to see Albert. I want to go home. Otherwise..."
A wave of exhaustion and rage crashed over her. Her vision blurred, and her legs gave way beneath her. She heard Gabrielle's startled cry, but lacked the strength to respond. Darkness crept in from the edges of her consciousness.
"Albert..." she murmured his name as she collapsed, the sound so faint it seemed to dissolve into the air before reaching her own ears.
Outside the room, Felix and Gabrielle stood with ashen faces, worry lines etched deep into their foreheads. When Thalion approached with test results in hand, they rushed to meet him.
"How is she?" Gabrielle demanded, her voice tight with anxiety.
Thalion adjusted his glasses, his expression grave. "Ms. Orlando's condition is actually better than Clifford's. While her indicators continue to deteriorate, they're still more stable than his."
Felix and Gabrielle shared a complex look—relief that Yvette wasn't dying warring with renewed worry for Clifford.
"Use whatever means necessary," Felix commanded, his voice steel. "Keep her alive. She cannot die—do you understand?"
Thalion nodded. "She can still be managed with conventional medications, combined with our experimental treatments..."
"But don't those have side effects?" Gabrielle interrupted.
"They do, but if we want to keep her alive, we can't afford to worry about minor complications."
"Fine. Start the treatment," Felix said, glancing at the closed door. "Just remember—she must survive."
As Thalion disappeared into the room, Felix exhaled heavily, the weight of their situation pressing down on him.
"What a mess," he muttered bitterly. "We've gained nothing and lost everything. If we hadn't used her for testing... Now we're left with failed experiments and a half-dead hostage."
"How can you say we've gained nothing?" Gabrielle protested. "Without the testing, she might not have survived this long! Thalion said the treatment works—it just has side effects."
"But if she dies before seeing Albert..." Felix's voice dropped to a whisper, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Given Albert's vindictive nature, the Hayes family would be wiped off the map, just as she predicted."
Gabrielle watched him carefully, words forming and dying on her lips. They'd crossed too many lines already—imprisoning Yvette, forcing her into medical trials, even terminating her pregnancy for their experiments. Their fate was sealed regardless.
"Felix," she ventured cautiously, "what if we share the medicine with Albert once we get it? Maybe we could negotiate, ask for mercy..."
"Absolutely not!" Felix's rejection was immediate and fierce. "Even with a formula, development and testing take time. We don't know how much medicine the Swift family actually has—Clifford must come first! If anything happens to him, what was the point of any of this?"
"But..." Gabrielle tried to continue, but Felix cut her off impatiently.
"Don't be naive!" His frustration boiled over. "Albert has a vendetta against Violet—the Swift family wouldn't use this as leverage unless it was life-or-death serious. Violet will likely trade the medicine to save her own skin."
Felix's frown deepened, the knot in his chest tightening with each breath. "If we interfere and give Albert the medicine, we'd be destroying Violet's only bargaining chip. Cross her, and she'll cut off Clifford's supply entirely. The consequences would be catastrophic."
The blood drained from Gabrielle's face as the full implications hit her. Her voice trembled as she spoke, "I understand... I'll follow your lead completely."
Panic crept into her voice. "But what do we do now? If we don't hand her over, Albert won't lift the sanctions against Violet, and she won't give us the medicine. But if we do return Yvette and Albert discovers what we've done to her... once she's back in his hands, the Hayes family becomes his primary target. The consequences..."
Felix fell silent, the weight of their impossible situation crushing down on him. He knew the stakes all too well, but for Clifford's sake, he had to see this through to the bitter end.
"Then what do we do?" Gabrielle's voice cracked with fear, tears threatening to spill. "What about Clifford? What about the Hayes family?"
Felix's expression hardened with grim resolve. "We delay returning Yvette as long as possible. The moment we get Violet's medicine, we test it on Clifford immediately."
"Not on Yvette first?" Gabrielle asked, startled.
"We don't have enough medicine for extensive testing!" Felix's voice carried a note of desperation. "It's all or nothing now. As his father, this is as far as I can protect him."
His voice dropped to a determined whisper. "If there's any improvement, we take Clifford and leave the country immediately—before Albert can exact his revenge."
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