Chapter Five

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• The Price of His Betrayal    One Hundred And Thirty-Four

  The room was dim, the curtains drawn tightly against the afternoon light. The smell of sterilizing alcohol still lingered in the air, mingling with the faint scent of lavender oil that Dr. Rosie always kept near her desk, the only softness in an otherwise cold, clinical world.He stood by the window, arms crossed behind his back, dressed in a dark, tailored shirt and slacks. The outline of his figure had changed since the hospital days, leaner, sharper, more refined. But what was most changed… was his face.It wasn’t just the bone structure, the newly sculpted jawline, or the subtle skin grafts that covered the old scars.It was the eyes.Colder now.Harder.Distant.Rosie sat at the small desk near the bookshelf, her white coat folded neatly over her chair. She wasn’t wearing her usual hospital uniform today, just a simple navy blouse and jeans, her hair pulled into a low bun, exposing the tired edges of her face.“You shouldn’t have gone to their house,” she said quietly, without l

• The Price of His Betrayal    One Hundred And Thirty-three

  The morning sun streamed gently through the kitchen window, casting a golden glow across the quiet home that now bore the weight of peace, hard-earned and cherished. Outside, birds chirped softly, as if singing a lullaby to a house that had seen too much thunder and rain. Inside, the warmth wasn’t just from the sunlight, it was from life. A new, simpler life. One built from the ashes of pain, stitched together with hope, and sealed with the laughter of a child. Crystal stood in the kitchen, a light hum escaping her lips as she flipped the last pancake onto the plate. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun, a few strands falling over her forehead. Her eyes, once hollow with sorrow, now carried a light that had returned slowly over the months, like spring returning after a brutal winter. In the corner of the kitchen sat a high chair, and in it, bouncing with tiny feet slapping the footrest, was little Zoey. Two years old now. Bright-eyed. Sharp. Laughing. And the carbon copy of Christ

• The Price of His Betrayal    Chapter One Hundred And Thirty-Two

  The corridor outside Room 314 was quiet, too quiet, like the world was holding its breath with her.Crystal sat alone on the bench, gently rocking her baby in her arms. She had been pacing earlier, walking the length of the hallway over and over again until her legs grew tired and her knees began to shake. Now, she simply sat… because standing didn’t help anymore. Nothing could ease the ache inside her, not even the gentle weight of her child pressed against her chest.Her eyes, red from sleeplessness, kept drifting to the closed hospital door just ahead.Adrian was there.Fighting.Or maybe…She closed her eyes, refusing to finish the thought. Her hands tightened around the baby, who was sleeping peacefully, as if he knew no storm had passed over them. His breath was calm, his fingers curled into the fabric of her blouse.“Your daddy’s in there,” she whispered to him, her voice shaking. “And he’s trying… trying so hard to come back to us. He promised. He said he’d never leave.”She w

• The Price of His Betrayal    One Hundred And Thirty-one

  The morning sun filtered through the half-closed blinds of Rosewood Private Hospital, casting faint golden streaks across the freshly mopped tiles and sterile white walls. The building was quiet, save for the low murmurs from the nurses’ station and the occasional beep from machines tucked behind closed doors.Inside Room 208, the air was colder than most of the hospital. The scent of antiseptics lingered heavily, mixed with the faint aroma of sterile linen and freshly brewed coffee drifting from the staff lounge.Dr. Rosie stood by the edge of the bed, her back straight, her pale coat pristine, a thick manila folder clutched in her hands. Her face betrayed no emotion, her eyes fixed on the figure lying motionless on the bed. Christian Blake, his body completely wrapped in clean white sheets, bandages hugging his skull and shoulders tightly. He lay still, eerily so. Only the faint rise and fall of the sheets had long stopped.A soft knock echoed on the glass door behind her.Before s

• The Price of His Betrayal    One Hundred And Thirty

  The hospital corridor was cold, eerily silent, save for the soft hum of machines and the occasional squeak of nurses’ shoes on polished floors. Officers stood on either side of the double doors, armed, alert, and expressionless. They didn’t say a word as the doctor pushed through the swinging doors, removing his gloves with slow, deliberate movements. Detective Rowen stepped forward. “How is he?” The doctor paused, exhaled, and rubbed a hand over his face. His eyes were hollow, dark from sleepless hours and the weight of the news he was about to deliver. “Christian Blake is… alive,” he said quietly. “But just barely.” The room seemed to stiffen at once. “He has multiple internal injuries,” the doctor continued, voice weary. “His ribs are fractured in more than one place, two of them punctured his lung. We’ve managed to stop the internal bleeding for now, but his vitals are unstable. He has a cracked spine, severe concussion, and his skull is fractured from the impact. There’s swel

• The Price of His Betrayal    One Hundred And Twenty-Nine

  Tears streamed down Crystal’s cheeks as she screamed again, this time more broken than angry. “How much did he pay you?! Huh?! How much?!” She raised her hand again, but a police officer gently held her wrist, pulling her back.“Ma’am, please…” one of them said softly. “Let us handle this.”Crystal trembled as she pulled her arm away, but her eyes stayed locked on Marianne, who now dared to speak.“I didn’t hurt the baby,” Marianne said hoarsely, her voice barely above a whisper. “I just… I just delivered the child to him. That’s all. I swear.”“Then where is my baby now?!” Crystal cried.“I don’t know!” Marianne cried out desperately. “I don’t know where he is now! It’s been two days. He didn’t tell me anything else. I swear I don’t—”“You better start talking, Marianne!” one of the female officers barked. “Everything you know. Right now.”Marianne hesitated. Her lips trembled. Then her voice cracked again.“He… He gave the baby to someone. A worker. Said it was a private person he t