LOGINHe picked up the chart and started writing with unsteady hands, noting every intervention and vital sign.Outside the hospital, the press had not left. They had been waiting since the car first arrived hours ago, and they were still there - cameras ready, microphones out, restless and hungry. The footage from the amusement park played on every screen and every phone: Clara on the stage in the peach dress making her pregnancy announcement, the crowd cheering, then the sudden shots and chaos. Jeffery dropping to one knee. Logan's car speeding away."Mrs. Clara Rothwell shot at anniversary celebration following pregnancy announcement. Condition still unknown. No statement from the Rothwell family."The city that had been celebrating that evening had turned into something else. People talked in groups. They watched the videos again and again. They felt helpless, the way people do when something big happens to someone they feel like they know.The Rothwell camp had said nothing yet.They
Clara had been moved from the operating room to a private bed on the same floor. The machines came with her beeping steadily, breathing for her, watching every small sign of life. The small team that had stood through all seven hours of surgery now stood quietly around the edges of the room, tired and silent.The doctor stood at the foot of the bed, his shoulders heavy. Jeffery stood near the door, hands inside his pockets, watching everything with that same calm face he had worn since they arrived."The injection, sir," the doctor said. His voice was low and careful. "We are in a position where both options carry serious consequences, and I need you to understand that before we decide anything."He looked directly at Jeffery."If we give it to her now, it will wipe her memory the way you want. But her body has just been through seven hours of surgery. Her brain is under more stress than it has ever been in her life. Giving her the agent right now means the chances of her surviving i
Logan hit the accelerator the moment the car doors closed. The city blurred past the windows. Traffic tried to slow them down but Logan went around it anyway, cutting through small gaps, pushing the engine harder than it was meant to go. The tires screeched at every turn.Jeffery sat in the back with Clara across his lap. His hand pressed hard against her wounds, trying to hold the blood in. The peach dress was soaked through. She was barely breathing. He checked his watch. Looked at the road ahead. Checked his watch again."Faster," he said."Sir I am already..""If you cannot drive faster then stop the car and let me drive."Logan drove faster.The hospital entrance was ready when they arrived. Two nurses stood outside with a stretcher. The doors were propped open. The path had already been cleared.The car stopped hard. Jeffery kicked the door open before Logan could turn off the engine. He lifted Clara himself, both arms under her, and placed her on the stretcher in one smooth mo
The peach dress lay waiting on the bed. Full length, long sleeves, high neck. The kind of dress that hid everything. She stared at it for a long moment, her stomach already knotted tight. She didn't touch it. Today was the day. The whole city would be watching her stand beside Jeffery like the perfect wife while Eclipse Breed hunted her head for half a billion dollars.She walked to the window instead.The door opened behind her.Jeffery stood there, already dressed in a sharp suit. His eyes went to the dress, then to her."Put it on," he said."It covers everything. I can't wear it," Clara replied, still facing the window."Put it on, Clara."She turned slowly. For a second she thought about fighting him again, but the memory of his hands on her last night still burned."They want your head. If they cannot get that, they might start with your legs. Even if you lose one today, it should stay hidden under expensive fabric."Clara held his stare, then picked up the dress. The fabric fe
The car sat two blocks from a quiet restaurant, engine off, windows fogged from the cool evening air. A man had been waiting in the driver's seat for twenty minutes when Adrian finally climbed in. No greetings, no small talk. Just the comfortable silence of two men who had buried enough secrets together to skip the unnecessary words.The man spoke first, keeping his voice low."Since you're back in the city, sir, Malcolm's been asking about Daniel. Keeps wanting to know when his reliable shadow is coming back to work."Adrian stared straight ahead through the windshield, watching the empty street. Daniel. That name had wrapped around him for years like a second skin he couldn't quite peel off. The quiet, dependable employee who showed up on time, filed his reports without complaint, and blended into the furniture at Rothwell Enterprises. Working under Malcolm as Daniel had given him keys to rooms no outsider could have entered-late-night conversations, hidden files, movements that pow
The knock hit the door like a fist that had already decided it was coming through regardless.Clara sat up in the dark.She had not been sleeping. She had been lying with her eyes open listening to a quiet house and a loud head, and the knock pulled her upright before she had finished deciding to move. She crossed to the door and opened it.Jeffery stood in the corridor.Smoke on his clothes. Eyes that had not softened from whatever the night had asked of them. A smirk sitting on his mouth that had nothing warm behind it.He walked past her into the room.She turned to face him."I just got back from your organization," he said. He closed the door. "Safe houses...All gone." He looked at her the way he looked at things he had already finished thinking about. "The best part is they did not need me to point the finger. They looked at everything and landed on you. Their own girl chose her husband over the mission. Sold them out."Clara's mouth opened."What?" The word came out before sh
“Are you sure this man really loves you, Clara?”Clara stayed quiet for a moment after Mei’s question settled between them. The room felt heavier than before. The sound of distant waves pressing against the resort’s shore slipped through the open balcony doors, soft but constant.Then she finally
The entire beach club slowly quieted the moment the lights around the stage dimmed lower.A soft blue glow spread across the platform while the speakers released a deep rhythmic beat that rolled smoothly through the air like slow fire. The ocean breeze pushed against Clara’s hair the moment she st
The instructors eventually started explaining safety procedures while everybody listened with different levels of seriousness. Clara surprisingly looked calm.Jeffery moved slightly closer toward her afterward. “You’re seriously not scared?”Clara shrugged lightly. “I’ve already been emotionally fr
“Mei!” Clara gasped, heat rushing to her face. Mei laughed loudly before escaping outside quickly. The moment the door closed completely, silence returned again. Heavy silence. Clara quietly walked toward the bed area first before removing her heels. Jeffery remained near the entrance watc







