Semua Bab Married To My Best Friend; Her Blood, My Passion : Bab 101 - Bab 110

Evans POVThe silence in the kitchen stretched so tight that I could hear the faint hum of the refrigerator. Hailey stood directly across the marble island from me, her small hands flat against the edge, leaning forward as if the distance between us was the only thing keeping her upright. Her question hung in the air, cold and sharp, cutting through the quiet room.I looked down at the old photograph lying between us. The black and white image was grainy, but the face of the man standing next to Helena Frost was unmistakable. It was her father, looking decades younger, his jaw set in that familiar, formal way. I had looked at that exact same image months ago, in the dark of my study, feeling the exact same sickness that was currently washing over her face."Eight months," I said, my voice sounding rougher than I intended. I didn't try to look away from her. I owed her that much. "Marcus found the connection when he was digging into the early financial backers of the initial facility."

Evans POVI didn't argue with her. I held her against my chest on the kitchen floor for a few seconds longer, feeling the terrifying stillness in her body, and then I nodded my head against her shoulder."Okay," I said, my voice cutting through the heavy silence of the room. "We leave."I got to my feet and pulled her up with me, guiding her over to a chair before I pulled out my phone. The next forty-eight hours became a blur of silent, frantic coordination. I stayed up through the nights, working from the small desk in the corner of our bedroom, utilizing secure channels that had absolutely no connection to the Wilson family name or the corporate registry. I moved personal assets through secondary offshore accounts, shifting funds into private liquidity where the board members couldn't track the movement.Marcus was the only person I contacted outside of the house, calling him from an encrypted burner phone at three in the morning."I need the deed to the property near Grasse," I to

Hailey POVThe phone screen felt burning hot against my fingertips as I held it, my eyes locked on that tiny, pixelated loop of video. My breathing stopped entirely, the air trapping itself in my chest like a solid block of ice while the world around me seemed to tilt on its axis. I knew that movement, the subtle, elegant tilt of the chin, the precise, measured stride that even the heavy night shadows and a dark coat could not fully conceal."Hailey?" Calix's voice cut through the fog in my brain, low and sharp with immediate concern, his hand reaching out to steady my elbow as I swayed on my feet. "What is it? What do you see?"I couldn't look up at him, my gaze completely glued to the screen as the figure vanished past the northern edge of the camera’s frame. "It's her," I whispered, the words sounding dry, like autumn leaves scraping across concrete. "That isn't Helena Frost, Iris. That is the woman who tucked me in when I had fevers. The woman who taught me how to tie my shoes."I

Hailey POVThe harsh overhead light flickered once, buzzing softly as it illuminated the small basement room. Hailey stands in the doorway and looks at the woman who made her. Frost is older than Hailey imagined, smaller, quieter. She does not look like a monster. She looks like a woman who is very, very tired.Her hair was entirely white, pulled back into a loose knot, and her hands rested flat on the fabric of her faded wool skirt. She did not jump when Evans stepped into the space, his hand instinctively reaching for the inside of his jacket, her pale eyes simply tracking his movement with an exhausting calmness."I wondered which of you would find this place first," Frost said, her voice sounding thin, like old parchment scraping against wood.I clamped my jaw shut, stepping past Evans so I could see her clearly, my heart hammering against my ribs while my deception-sensing ability automatically flared to life inside my chest. The room smelled intensely of moldy paper and dried in

Hailey POVThe heavy mahogany door clicked shut behind me, but the sharp echo of Marcus’s voice through the cell phone speaker remained vibrating in the small space of the private office. My knees went weak, a cold, heavy weight dropping straight into the pit of my stomach as I sat down on the edge of the leather armchair. I stared at the dark wood of the desk, my mind spinning backward through every single hour of the last few months, replaying every interaction I had ever shared with the woman we had brought into our home.Lena had been everywhere, moving through our lives like a shadow we never thought to question. I closed my eyes and pictured her standing over Nancy in the hidden medical chamber downstairs, her fingers adjusting the clear plastic tubes of the blood transfusion with absolute precision. I remembered the soft, reassuring smile she gave us when Nancy finally opened her eyes after five years of absolute silence, a warmth I had trusted without a single second thought.