Chapter 14 - The Deathbed Confession
Three hours later, I stood outside the private ICU room at St. Jude's Memorial Hospital.
Through the glass window, I could see my father lying motionless on a hospital bed, surrounded by a complex web of beeping monitors, intravenous lines, and a steady oxygen mask.
My mother was sitting in a plastic chair in the corner, her head bowed in quiet prayer.
I pushed the door open quietly and stepped inside.
The soft squeak of my shoes on the linoleum floor caused my mother to look up.
She didn't look angry; she just looked profoundly exhausted, like a woman who had aged twenty years in a single week.
"How is he?" I asked quietly, keeping my distance from the bed.
"The doctor says his heart suffered a severe ischemic episode," she whispered, her voice shaking.
"He's stable for now, but he needs complete rest. They said... they said if he experiences another shock like that, his heart won't survive."
I nodded slowly, keeping my eyes fixed on the man lying beneath the white hospital sheet.
Suddenly, a weak, raspy cough broke the silence.
Richard Bellamy’s eyelids fluttered open.
His clouded, tired eyes moved slowly around the room before finally locking onto me.
My mother gasped, standing up and rushing to his bedside.
"Richard? Can you hear me? Don't try to move."
My father didn't look at her.
His gaze remained fixed entirely on me, standing near the foot of the bed.
With trembling, fragile fingers, Richard pushed the oxygen mask slightly down from his mouth.
"Ethan..." his voice was a dry, gravelly rasp, barely louder than a whisper.
I didn't move. I slowly stepped closer, looking down at the fallen titan of industry.
"I'm here, Dad," I said evenly.
Richard swallowed hard, his chest rising and falling with visible effort.
"I... I was wrong," he whispered, a single tear escaping the corner of his eye and tracing a slow path down his wrinkled cheek.
"About what?" I asked, my voice remaining neutral.
"About you... about Marcus... about everything."
He closed his eyes for a moment, gathering what little strength he had left.
"I built an empire out of pride... and I handed it to a thief... while I threw away the only son who actually had the strength to protect it."
My mother covered her mouth with her hands, sobbing softly into her palms.
"It's too late for apologies, Dad," I said quietly.
"The empire is gone. Bellamy Holdings is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Apex Capital. Your legacy has been rewritten."
Richard opened his eyes again, looking at me with a strange, peaceful surrender.
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"I don't care about the empire anymore, Ethan," he whispered, his hand trembling as he reached out toward me across the bedsheets.
"I just wanted... to know... if my son could ever forgive a foolish old man."
