***** Seeing Patricia in this current state, Zach remained completely silent. He didn’t speak or interrupt. Instead, he just stood there, watching. To an outsider, the sight might have made him appear heartless. But if someone were to look closely at his hands right now, they would notice something else entirely. His fists were clenched so tightly that the muscles along his forearms had become rigid. The truth was… Zach was far from being heartless. He simply had no idea how to express what he was feeling. So, he allowed her to pour out every ounce of hatred, grief, and fury she had been carrying for years. Her accusations came like a storm… sharp, relentless, and heavy with pain, yet Zach simply stood there and endured it all. He watched quietly as Patricia’s voice grew hoarse from shouting, her shoulders shook with each breath, and the strength in her body slowly drained away. By the time she finished, she looked completely exhausted, breathing heavily as though sh

***** For reasons none of the three could clearly explain, Zach’s words did not feel like ordinary promises spoken in the heat of the moment. It was as though his words carried a strange, undeniable authority… like a vow that had been acknowledged by an invisible power. None of them could quite explain why they felt that way, yet the sensation was undeniable. …. For what felt like an eternity after Zach made his vow, the family of three just stayed there, not moving or breathing at all. It was as though the air itself had thickened enough to press against their lungs and pin them in place. Their eyes, wide and uncomprehending, stayed locked on Zach, their mouths slightly parted with disbelief. Even the atmosphere seemed to hold its breath, the intensity of his words lingering and weighing heavily. Then… Patricia blinked, her lashes fluttering as though she were dragging herself back from somewhere far away. In the next second, she shook her head sharply and almost vio

***** Despite the waves of mockery, ridicule, and biting condescension thrown at him by both Patricia and Anita, Zach remained completely unmoved. He neither interrupted nor refuted them, and neither did he allow even the faintest flicker of emotion to surface on his face. It was as though their words simply failed to reach him… as though they were arrows loosed at a wall of steel, sharp in intent but utterly ineffective in impact. Yet the moment he finally spoke… A heavy, oppressive silence settled over the room, pressing down on every breath and heartbeat, and making even the air seem unwilling to move. All three stared at him in a daze, and with suspicious gazes, appearing as though he had just uttered something incomprehensible. Their brows knit together, their gazes narrowing slightly as they tried to make sense of what they had just heard. For a brief moment, it was as if time itself had stalled, no one speaking or moving, until finally… Jacob shifted s

***** Patricia burst into laughter so abruptly that it shattered whatever fragile tension remained in the room. Her shoulders shook, her head tilting back slightly as though she had just been handed the most ridiculous joke in existence. “You… you are not even a certified medical practitioner, yet you want to treat someone?” she managed between breaths, her voice dripping with mockery and disbelief, each word sharper than the last. Opposite her, Anita didn’t laugh, instead; “Hmph!” She snorted coldly, the sound sharp and cutting, her entire body trembling faintly with restrained fury. Where Patricia found amusement, Anita found deep, burning, and uncontrollable offense. “Since you are not certified, how exactly do you plan on treating my father?” she demanded, her voice sharp as her eyes locked onto Zach with fierce intensity. There was something almost volatile in her gaze, a mix of desperation, anger, and disbelief that bordered on hostility And yet…