30 Days of Passion and Revenge-Chapter 235: The Final Goodbye

His hand moved away from her eyes as Lily watched the white sheet being pulled back over the body. Alex placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Let’s go wait outside."

"Okay."

Lily wasn’t sure if her AuroraVirus symptoms were acting up or was sheer shock, but she felt completely drained of energy. Her legs were weak, and she had to rely on Alex to help her out of the room.

"Are you alright?" Alex asked with concern.

"I’m fine," Lily replied with a forced smile.

In the hallway, a military doctor pushed another body on a stretcher toward them. The doctor shook his head at the soldiers. "The blast was catastrophic. Another one didn’t make it."

"Let them identify the body," one of the soldiers instructed, gesturing toward Alex and Lily.

"Alright."

The doctor pulled back the white sheet. Alex instinctively moved to cover Lily’s eyes but was too late. The face beneath the sheet was revealed to them both.

It was Henry Anderson.

Alex cast a glance at Lily.

When the sheet was lifted, Lily was transported back to years ago, when her uncle shielded her eyes, repeating softly, "Be a good girl, Lily. Wait until your mom has her makeup done before you look... wait until she’s ready..."

The memory overlapped with the present.

For a moment, Lily felt nothing. Her mind and emotions were completely blank.

Her father lay there, his features still intact—no visible burns, his face pale and stiff, his eyes closed tightly.

He looked as though he were simply asleep.

Why was he covered with a white sheet? Wasn’t that only for the deceased?

"Lily..." Alex called softly, frowning as he watched her step forward, one slow step at a time.

Lily reached her father’s side. His middle-aged face still retained a trace of handsomeness, his eyes shut firmly. When she touched his face, it was still warm.

Her father’s body was still warm.

"He’s not dead. Save him," Lily said firmly, turning to the doctor. Her tone was calm, almost unnervingly so.

He’s not dead. He’s alive. Why weren’t they saving him?

The doctor froze for a moment before replying, "His heart has stopped, and he’s brain-dead. Resuscitation was unsuccessful. We did everything we could. When he was brought in, he was in the most critical condition. The fact that he held on this long shows how strong his willpower was."

The most critical condition?

She had seen so many people following behind Ethan. How could her father’s condition have been the worst?

"But he’s still warm," Lily insisted.

"That’s because he just passed away," the doctor explained, looking at her with a mixture of confusion and pity. "Please, may I ask your relation to him—"

"Excuse me, could we speak privately?" Alex interrupted, cutting off the doctor before he could press further. He led the doctor and the soldiers away from Lily.

The long hallway was empty except for Lily and her father’s still-warm body.

"Dad, please wake up," Lily whispered, gently caressing his face. "Wake up, and I’ll take you home..."

But the man lying there didn’t respond.

"Dad, don’t do this. Wake up. Don’t sleep like this. It’s scaring me..." Lily murmured softly, her trembling fingers stroking his face repeatedly. "Wake up, please, Dad. Don’t play this game with me..."

It felt like one of those childhood games her father used to play with her. He would pretend to be asleep, only to suddenly open his eyes and laugh out loud, teasing her.

Her father had always been a man with a sense of humor.

But this joke wasn’t funny at all... This game wasn’t fun anymore...

Her father’s body was growing colder by the second. Lily was stunned, frantically rubbing his face, her voice growing hoarse.

"You said you wanted me to forgive you. Why are you lying here? Get up. Get up, please..."

"Don’t just lie there. Talk to me, please..."

"I’m Lily. I’m your daughter. Your real daughter."

"Don’t sleep anymore. I’m begging you, Dad. Don’t sleep anymore..."

From the other end of the hallway, Alex spotted her hunched over the body, murmuring endlessly to her unresponsive father.

He approached her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.

"Lily, let me call the doctor. Your father is still alive. He’s not dead," Lily pleaded, grabbing Alex’s hand as she lifted her tear-filled eyes to him, her gaze filled with desperate hope.

"Lily, don’t do this." Alex’s voice was filled with pain as he gently grasped her arms. Looking into her eyes, he said softly, "I’ll take your father to complete the formalities. We need to take care of his remains."

"Remains?" Lily immediately let go of his hand, her voice hoarse as she cried out, "He’s not dead. He’s still warm. I want to take him to another hospital—"

"Lily." Alex’s voice was soft yet firm as he held her trembling arms and bent slightly to meet her gaze. "I know this is hard to accept, but your father is gone."

Your father is gone.

Your father is gone.

Your father is gone.

Those words echoed endlessly in Lily’s ears, replaying like a haunting melody she couldn’t escape.

She stood there, frozen, unable to react. Her mind was consumed by Alex’s words: "Your father is gone."

"Lily, I’ll handle everything for you. Go and rest. Don’t exhaust yourself," Alex said gently. He assumed she had accepted the truth because she wasn’t responding, so he began pushing her father’s body away.

Lily stood rooted to the spot, watching as Alex pulled the white sheet back over her father and pushed the stretcher further and further down the hallway.

Dad... is dead?

"My daughter has always dreamed of being a director. She’s a girl with big ambitions. She’ll definitely be successful one day."

"Lily, when you’re on stage accepting an award, remember to thank your parents for their support and love, okay?"

"I’ve nearly fulfilled my revenge. I have fame, and I have wealth... but I’ve lost my family, and I’ve lost my daughter."

"Lily, forgive your father. I want to stay by your side and take care of you."

"Your father told me to tell you he’ll do his duty as a father and do something for you."

Fragments of memories flashed chaotically in her mind like scenes from a film.

The last time they spoke, she had said to him, "I can’t forgive a father who used his own daughter. Don’t bring up the past with me."

She had refused to forgive him.

She had rejected his attempts at reconciliation.

Watching Alex push her father’s body away, the white sheet covering him like a shroud of death, Lily suddenly realized...

She would never have a father again, not in this lifetime. She had lost both her parents.

The father who had doted on her as a child. The father who had used her as a pawn. The father who had begged for her forgiveness.

It was all over.

Love or hate no longer mattered. That person was gone. She would never have a father again. Not in this lifetime.

"Dad—!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the hallway, shaking everyone to their core.

Alex froze, turning back.

Lily ran toward her father’s body, throwing herself over him. She yanked the white sheet back, revealing his familiar yet pale face. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"Dad, wake up... Please wake up. I forgive you, Dad. As long as you wake up, I’ll forgive everything. Dad, don’t scare me..."

"I haven’t become a director yet. You said you’d watch me accept an award... Dad, I’m begging you, don’t scare me. Wake up, please..."

"Dad, open your eyes and look at me. Please, just look at me..."

Lily sobbed uncontrollably, her face pale and drained of all color. She clutched her father’s cold hands tightly, crying and calling out to him over and over.

As if her desperate cries could bring him back to life.

But Henry Anderson could no longer hear her. No matter how loud she shouted, he would never wake up again.

"Lily..." Alex tried to push the stretcher forward. Still, Lily clung to her father’s body, refusing to let go, throwing herself over him.

Two soldiers stepped forward to gently pull her away. They nodded respectfully to Alex. "Mr. Carter."

Lily’s hands were still gripping her father’s, but one of the soldiers pried them apart. No matter how hard she tried, her father’s hand slipped.

She couldn’t hold on.

She couldn’t hold on to anything.

She had never been able to hold onto anything from the past to the present.

"Let me go..." Lily cried, struggling against the soldiers’ grip. Their strength was too great. Each held one of her arms, preventing her from taking another step.

Alex looked at her with deep pain in his eyes before pushing Henry’s body away.

Through her tear-blurred vision, Lily stared at the retreating figure of her father, the white sheet covering him like a final curtain.

Memories flashed before her like a reel of film:

The joy and happiness of her childhood. Her family’s bankruptcy. Her mother’s suicide. Nine years of living cautiously with her uncle. The scandal of her parents’ affair was exposed at the Carter family centennial celebration.

Standing before her mother’s grave, father and daughter parting ways.

It was all a past she could never undo.

And now, her father was gone, and she had never reconciled with him. She hadn’t even had a proper conversation with him before his death.

"Ah—!"

A piercing scream tore through the hallway, gut-wrenching and filled with despair.

The two soldiers looked at each other, silent, as they held her firmly.

The sunlight streamed through the glass window, lighting up the rest area. Lily sat on the sofa, the warm rays falling on her face, but she found them unbearably harsh.

So harsh that she didn’t even dare to open her eyes.

"Have some milk," Alex said, handing her a steaming cup. The warm aroma filled the air.

"Thank you," Lily said quietly, taking the cup with trembling hands. Her eyes were red and swollen, her voice hoarse and broken.

"It’s just a cup of milk," Alex said gently, sitting beside her. The warmth in his eyes was like sunlight, soft and comforting.

Lily clutched the cup tightly, looking up at Alex. "It’s not just that. Thank you for staying with me and for helping me handle everything. If it weren’t for you... I wouldn’t have been able to see my father so soon."

Even if it was only to see his lifeless body...

"Your eyes are so red," Alex said, frowning as he brushed her hair aside. His gaze was filled with deep concern. "Seeing you like this makes me feel terrible."

"When can I bring my father home?" Lily asked, her voice trembling.

"At least three or four days. This situation is dire," Alex replied. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Thank you," Lily said softly, taking a few sips of the warm milk. The heat spread to her cold stomach but couldn’t warm her body.

Her hands and feet remained icy.

"You really scared me earlier. I’ve never seen you like that before," Alex said tenderly.

Even on the night of the Carter family celebration, when the truth about her parents’ affair was revealed, she had maintained her composure.

But just now, in the hallway, she had completely fallen apart.

Her screams, raw and piercing, had been so intense that even the hardened soldiers had been shaken.

Lily’s hands trembled violently as she held the cup. Her voice was low and hoarse as she said, "I lost my mom... and now I’ve lost my dad too..."

And Ethan’s fate remained uncertain.

She suddenly felt like she had nothing left to hope for.