Chapter 20: Street Clash

The night air was cold, but the atmosphere outside the hospital was suffocating. Olivia stood frozen on the sidewalk, her mind a chaotic blur.

How did Aiden know? She hadn't said a word to him about Chloe’s disappearance.

“Why should I get into a car with the same man who threw me out in the middle of the night?” she thought, her eyes locking onto Aiden’s through the glass.

The memory of the gravel under her heels and the roar of his engine leaving her behind stung like an open wound.

She wanted to scream at him, to hail a taxi and never look back. But then, his words echoed in her mind: “My father didn't just take Chloe.”

He knew. If there was even a fraction of a chance he knew where her sister was, she had to take it.

She reached out, her fingers trembling as she grasped the handle of the door opposite him.

"Well, well. If it isn't our latest, pitiful trophy wife."

The voice was like a blade. Olivia stiffened as Vivian Sumall stepped into the light. Vivian’s eyes flicked to the hospital sign, then back to Olivia with a look of pure, calculated venom.

"A hospital?" Vivian purred, her lips curving into a cruel smirk. "I see. Someone was out having a little too much fun, I guess.

And now you’re here to shed innocent blood? Oh, you poor, sordid thing."

Olivia’s stomach turned. She knew exactly what Vivian was implying, and the lie was as disgusting as the woman telling it.

Ignoring the bile rising in her throat, Olivia reached for the door again, desperate to escape the interaction.

"Don't you dare walk out on me, you adulteress!" Vivian hissed. She lunged forward, grabbing Olivia’s arm with a grip that threatened to leave bruises.

Her face was inches from Olivia's, her teeth gritting in a snarl. "I know Aiden isn't responsible for that thing you're trying to get rid of. Who is he, Olivia? Who’s the real father?"

The accusation hung in the air, foul and heavy. Olivia stared back, her eyes burning with a silent, fierce rage. She didn't flinch.

The tension between them was a physical force, a battle of wills played out under the flickering streetlights.

The car door suddenly swung open. Aiden stepped out, his presence immediately shifting the gravity of the scene. He looked at Vivian, then at the way she was clutching Olivia’s arm.

"Vivian?" His voice was a low, dangerous warning.

Vivian’s head snapped toward him, her expression shifting instantly from predatory to sweet. "Oh! Aiden, you're here."

"What the hell is going on?" Aiden demanded, stepping closer. The bruises on his face and the dried blood on his knuckles looked even more menacing in the pale light.

Vivian let go of Olivia’s arm, smoothing out the emerald silk of Olivia’s dress with a fake, motherly doting.

"Oh, nothing serious, Aiden. We were just having a little girl-to-girl conversation. Right, Olivia?" She flashed a plastic smile that didn't reach her cold eyes.

Aiden didn't smile back. He looked intently into Vivian’s eyes - a silent, lethal command to back off. For the first time, Vivian looked away, a flicker of shame or perhaps genuine fear crossing her face.

"Get in the car, Olivia," Aiden ordered.

Olivia didn't hesitate this time. She slid into the seat, the leather cold against her skin. Seconds later, the car roared away from the curb, leaving Vivian standing alone.

"Ridiculous," Vivian muttered with a smirk, watching the taillights fade.

She turned toward her own car, her mind already spinning the next web. But as she walked, a thought stopped her: What was that on his face? Did he get into a fight?

The drive back to the Logan estate was agonizing. The interior of the car felt like a vacuum where sound couldn't travel.

Olivia sat as far from Aiden as possible, her head leaning against the window. She had a thousand questions: Where is Chloe? What happened to your face? Why did you come back for me?

But the words felt like lead in her mouth. Beside her, Aiden stared straight ahead.

He wanted to explain the blood on his hands; he wanted to tell her that he had spent the last three hours fighting his father’s men to save himself , he wanted to tell her the reason he had to abandon her on the street.

But his pride, a jagged and towering thing, kept his lips sealed.

They reached the penthouse in a cloud of unspoken resentment.

Olivia stepped out the moment the car stopped, her heels clicking rapidly as she headed for the hallway leading to her room. She just wanted to lock the door and disappear.

"The young man with Chloe," Aiden’s voice cracked through the silence of the foyer, stopping her in her tracks. Do you know him?"

The question hit the silent atmosphere like a match to gasoline. Olivia paused, her back to him. She didn't turn around, but her heart skipped a beat.

Olivia’s grip tightened on her clutch. She slowly turned her head just enough to see him in her peripheral vision.

"How do you know Mark, Aiden?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "And why are you asking me about him when you should be telling me where my sister is?"

Aiden took a step toward her, the light hitting the raw cuts on his hand. "Because, Olivia," he said, his voice dropping to a haunting whisper, "I do not know where your sister is.

An anonymous number texted me” He lifts the phone towards her. Olivia stood still, her eyes wide opened as she reads ....“Why did Sebastian kidnap Chloe? There's a young man with him, he doesn't look strong. Looks like he might die in that abandoned space if care is not taken” 

Olivia felt the floor tilt.