He motioned for a nearby nurse to take care of Mara and then slipped away, leaving her to her grief.
Victoria was in agony, mustering all her strength to go to Mara's side, attempting to lift her spirit, but the result was both of them collapsing to the floor in despair.
"Victoria, Victoria," she cried out. "Ah, please—tell me this is all a joke, right? They're lying to me, and it has to be a lie. Everything was fine when I left home this morning, and now they're telling me Dad's practically a vegetable. It's a lie, isn't it? Tell me!"
Mara was shaking Victoria, desperate for answers, while Victoria could only cry; she couldn't accept the truth herself, so how could she convince Mara to accept it?
Although Mara always seemed to be at odds with her father, deep down, they knew she loved him dearly. Her antics were just attempts to catch Elton's attention—a mischievous child at heart. Now, faced with the reality that Elton may never wake up, she was undoubtedly in torment.
Victoria hung her head in shame, believing it was all her fault that her father was in this state. She leaned on Mara's shoulder in her suffering, ignoring Mara's resistance; Victoria had no one left to rely on.
Balfour clenched his fists in silence, unsure how to confront this reality. At that moment, he was the outsider, the one least qualified to tell them not to be heartbroken.
What to do?
"I'm so sorry," he murmured, but his apology was drowned out by the sisters' sobbing, and no one responded to his regret.
Since their father had fallen into a coma, Victoria had lost her smile.
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