LOGINADRIAN'S APARTMENTAdrian stepped into the quiet sitting room with a towel still wrapped around his head. Water drops fell slowly from the ends onto his shoulders but he did not bother fixing it. His eyes locked straight on Cole, the man who usually run things for him discreetly. Cole sat waiting with a thick folder on his knee like it held the final piece of a dangerous puzzle.He dropped into the chair across from Cole and pulled the towel down around his neck. The room felt charged with heavy silence. "Tell me what you found," Adrian said in a low voice that demanded every detail.Cole opened the folder carefully. He placed the first sheet on the table between them and spoke in a steady tone. "The test is clear sir. Jeffery Rothwell does not match George Rothwell. The man we know as Jeffery has no biological link to George at all. No shared pattern. Nothing."Adrian picked up the paper and scanned it line by line. His fingers tightened around the edges until the paper almost wrink
Jeffery stood in the doorway for a long moment. His cold eyes locked onto the nurse standing too close to Clara's bed. The file in her hands shook just a little as she turned to face him under the harsh hospital lights.He stepped inside slowly and closed the door behind him with a quiet click. The room felt smaller right away with his presence filling every corner and pressing down on the air. The machines kept beeping steadily but the atmosphere grew thick and heavy between the three of them like something bad was about to break."What are you doing near her?" Jeffery asked again in that deep cold voice. He moved closer to the bed with slow steps that made the nurse press her back against the side rail. She held the file tighter against her chest like it could somehow protect her from what might come next in this tense space."I came to check her charts and vital signs," the nurse said quickly. Her voice stayed steady on the outside but her fingers gripped the papers harder than
He 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
Clara lay still on the bed, her breathing slower now, not perfect but no longer fighting her the way it had moments ago. One of the medics adjusted the sheet slightly over her and glanced at Jeffery before speaking. “She’s stable for now, but she needs proper care at the hospital,” he said, his ton
Jeffery’s arm tightened around Clara. “Stay with me, please,” he said, but her grip on his shirt was already weakening. Her lips moved slightly like she was trying to answer, but nothing came out properly. Her breathing came uneven, short, her chest couldn’t keep up with her body. His hand adjust
Jeffery let out a slow breath before speaking. “We should go back and join others.” He picked up a long white shirt from the bed and stepped closer without waiting for her response. The fabric hung from his hand between them. “Wear this.”Clara didn’t argue. She slipped it over her dress in one sm
Her fingers pressed into him without realizing it, her body already leaning closer for balance.Jeffery saw it immediately. Not just the hold.The way she clung.His grip tightened around his board, his jaw setting slightly as his eyes stayed there longer than they should have. Sophia noticed his