Chapter 3: The Devil You Might Need

ANNA POV

I could hear it, the constant beeping. It was almost driving me insane.

I still couldn’t open my eyes, but it felt like my consciousness was coming back. I struggled for a few seconds and slowly pried my eyes open.

The bright lights in the room nearly blinded me, and I immediately shot my eyes shut, groaning in pain.

"You are  awake," someone said beside me.

I struggled to open my eyes again, this time adjusting to the light, and saw a nurse next to me.

The constant beeping I had  been hearing was the hospital monitor.

I looked around and realized I was in a hospital. "What happened?" I groaned.

A splitting headache shot through my head. I reached for my temple to massage it and realized it was bandaged.

"What, what happened?" I said, shocked. Then all my memories started flooding back.

I immediately remembered. I had just left Steven’s house and got hit by a bike.

My whole body ached, and my head hurt like crazy. Damn, the collision must have been intense.

"I will go get the doctor," the nurse said, rushing out of my ward.

I was still trying to collect myself when, just a few minutes later, the doctor walked in.

She examined me and asked a bunch of questions, which I answered. When she was done, she said,

"I will tell your husband to come visit. You have  been unconscious for hours, and he’s been waiting for you."

My husband? What husband?

Could it be Steven? I mean, we are  not married yet, but… we are close. And the accident happened near his house, so he must have seen me and brought me to the hospital.

He cares about me so much.

"Yes, please tell him to come in," I said with a smile. The doctor nodded and walked out of the ward with the nurse.

I sat up straight, a smile on my face. Seeing him would at least take my mind off the intense pain I was feeling.

I waited for a while. Then the ward door opened. I lowered my head for a moment before saying, "Steven, I am  so happy you came. I thought I was going to…"

I lifted my head, but the words died in my mouth.

"You are not Steven," I said. "Who are you?"

Standing before me was a man I didn't recognize, yet he had the kind of presence that made it impossible to look away.

 If I had ever met someone like him, I would have definitely remembered. He wasn't just handsome; he was a force of nature.

Was it his height, an impressive 6’4"? Or the perfectly sculpted features of his face? Or maybe the physique I could tell would be perfect even under that long black coat he wore.

Who is this?

"Did you... did you walk into the wrong room?" I stammered, clutching the edge of the bedsheet.

"Hello, Anna."

I glanced around, wondering if I had hit my head so hard that I was seeing things.

“H…h..how did you know my name?” 

 He sat down, crossing one long leg over the other, looking completely at home in the hospital room. He was calm, collected, and dangerously confident.

There was something about this man’s presence that felt different.

It was like he sucked the air out of the room the moment he walked in, making it hard to breathe.

"I had to tell the doctors I was your husband," he said. "It was the only way they would let me in”

I arched an eyebrow, feeling increasingly weird. I suddenly felt cold and it had nothing to do with the air condition "I am sorry... Do I know you? Because I am  pretty sure I would remember being married to a stranger."

He didn't flinch at my sarcasm. He simply glanced at his watch and took a slow breath. 

"You don’t know me" he replied "I don’t have much time, so I will  make this brief."

"Brief?" I repeated, my hand slowly sliding across the scratchy hospital sheets toward the emergency call button. He was breathtakingly handsome, yes, but there was something about the way he stared at me that felt..unstable."

"I have a proposal for you Anna” 

"What kind of proposal?" I asked, my fingers hovering just an inch above the red button.

There was silence for a while, both of us holding eye contact, before he casually dropped a bombshell.

"Marry me."

He said it like he was ordering a coffee. No emotion. No hesitation. 

"Marry you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You want me to marry you? We haven't even exchanged last names."

“It’s sudden, I know," he said, leaning forward. His scent was something I could not explain but it was oddly.. addicting . "And I don’t expect a 'yes' today. But I want you to consider it. The man you are  with right now? He is a  mistake you can't afford to keep making."

He paused. "I am not claiming to be the 'good' option. But I am the only one who can keep you from losing everything. One day soon, you are  going to realize you need me

"I think you’re fucking crazy," I said, just as I was about to press the emergency button.

"No need for that," he said, stopping me just in time.

He stood up and said, "You are  curious about who I am. I am  someone who knew your father. I made a promise to him to take care of you. The first step in keeping that promise is making sure you don’t marry that human you are  with.”

Human?

Why did he say it as if he isn’t human or something

I had my assistant send you a video, but it seems that wasn’t convincing enough for you."

"What video?" I asked. Then it clicked. "You sent that anonymous video?"

He didn’t answer.

He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a card, and tossed it onto the bed. "Don’t throw it away. I am sure you will  need me one of these days, Miss Storms," he said, walking toward the door. Before leaving, he added, "I trust you will  make the right decision."

And with that, he left the hospital ward.

What the hell was that?